A Salute to my POW

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Name: John Edward Conger, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 07 January 1950 (Columbus OH)
Home City of Record: Lebanon OH
Date of Loss: 27 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103954N 1062519E (XS555802)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: The unit was inserted by helicopter and began a sweep. While crossing a field, Conger's company was taken under fire by enemy machine guns. During the initial fire four men were wounded. PFC Conger moved up to attempt to knock out the machine gun nest and was reportedly wounded in the right shoulder and neck. Attempts to recover Conger and five other wounded individuals at that time were unsuccessful because of continuing fire. On January 28, U.S. artillery and aircraft shelled and bombed the area while U.S. ground forces cordoned off the area. By January 29, the area had been secured, but Conger and the other individuals could not be located. On October 13, 1969, the remains of the individuals who had been missing with Conger were found, but no trace of Conger was located. No further searches were conducted. PFC John Conger was declared Missing in Action. It was never learned whether he was killed that day in January or not. He might have survived to be taken prisoner. As reports continue to flow in indicating that Americans are still alive and captives in Southeast Asia, it becomes increasingly apparent that PFC Conger could be among them. If so, what must he be thinking of his country? =========================================================== "All Biographical and loss information on Vietnam Era POW/MIA's provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET.

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AT THE END OF THE VIET-NAM WAR....I GUESS I JUST ASSUMED THAT ALL OF OUR MEN WERE RETURNED TO THEIR HOMELAND (THE USA). IT SADDENS ME TO FIND OUT THAT THIS IS NOT TRUE. WHEN I CAME UPON A WEBSITE THAT WAS POSTED WITH INFORMATION ABOUT OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS THAT WERE NEVER RETURNED TO US, I WAS SHOCKED.
THE STORY ABOVE IS A TRUE STORY ABOUT JUST ONE OF THE MANY THAT ARE STILL MISSING. JOHN CONGER, JR. IS THE POW/MIA THAT I HAVE ADOPTED AND PROMISED TO WRITE LETTERS TO OUR GOVERNMENT CONCERNING HIS WHEREABOUTS AND WHY HE OR HIS REMAINS HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED SAFELY TO HIS FAMILY AND THE U.S.A. JOHN IS FROM MY HOME STATE OF OHIO AND LIVED SOUTH OF WHERE I GREW UP.
When I sent the form to adopt a MIA/POW as my cause, I only requested that I could have a name that was from my home state of Ohio. When I received the name though, it was even dearer to me as I have three people named John that are dear to me. My husband of 35 years is named John, his father's name was John and we have a wonderful son who is our firstborn of 33 years named John Jr. I truly can emphathize with the people and the parents of my adopted MIA/POW if I had not seen my husband or son since he left for a tour of duty with the Armed Services. How terrible and heartbreaking that must be.

JOHN DID HIS PART, NOW IT'S TIME TO DO OURS. PLEASE HELP SPUR OUR GOVERNMENT TO ACTION...IF YOU ARE ABLE. THANK YOU. CLICK BRACELET TO ADOPT YOUR MIA/POW OR PUT A CANDLELIGHT ON YOUR WEBSITE. THANK YOU.

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POEM FROM A MOTHER

Bring my baby home.....at least for a day
Even if I can't wipe the tears away - 

At least I can see him one more time...
And then in my heart, I'll know he's fine -

He was so young when he went away....
he had no idea it would be such a long stay -

He has suffered so much for you and I...
please bring my baby home before I die -

I just need to gaze on his face once more...
So long since he left our shore -

I'll hold him in such a long embrace...
Ahhhh..just to see that face -

It's weathered, It's worn...He looks so forlorn -

He has longed to be home for so many years...
He long ago forgot how to cry many tears -

He doesn't even know or remember who he set out to be...
He only remembers that he saved you and me And
the wonderful land once more that our forefathers named

when they reached this shore
"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"
"AMERICA THE FREE"

That's what my baby did for you and me -

PLEASE SET HIM FREE

He didn't ask much...
He was so proud to go do his duty with the rest of the crowd -

But he just wants to come home now and rest...
He is so weary -

Author/Trabonet
Copyright © July 1999

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Over 2,000 POW/MIA(s) are still missing since Vietnam. .

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WE CAN NEVER, NEVER SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR OUR MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED THEIR COUNTRY.

Thank you to OJC for "My Remembrance Award"

(awarded to me August 5, 1999)

Remembrance Award is Copyright of OJC..Please do not reproduce in anyway.

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I was so thirilled to receive this special award for John's site from Momwisdom. Click image to visit her MIA/POW. Thanks..

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Graphics used on this page were donated to OJC and borrowed by me from

A special thanks for these graphics. Also some graphics were designed by the Webmaster "Trabonet".

There have been ~Salutes~ to our Hero John. God Bless You All and Thank You

NOTE: When first the internet was new to consumers, we did our own web pages using the html language. There was a website called GeoCities. I was known as Trabonet back then, and this is a reproduction of a page that I did for my POW from the VietNam war. When GeoCities closed, someone backed that site up, and kept some of the pages. This is one that they kept. It is mine. They are now called reocities.com, I believe and you can view many other pages that people spent lots of times designing and making friends. Then it closed, and along came blogging and the web pages were templates with no need to learn the HTML. I enjoy the easy blogging, but I also miss having to design my own since there was more flexibility with doing it that way.

Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed learning something about my Hero/POW. Not sure if his family would ever see it, but you are welcome to scribble a comment or salute to John. Thank you.

Peabea

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