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On his 33rd birthday, Air Pressure pilot Colonel Charles E. Shelton was shot down over Laos on April 29, 1965. Shelton was taking reconnaissance pictures for his nation through the Vietnam Warfare.
“He was believed to have been captured however he was by no means launched on the finish of the struggle and his stays had been by no means discovered,” says native information Laura. “For nearly three many years, his household labored to try to get him dwelling. Nevertheless it by no means occurred.”
The reminiscence of Shelton in addition to others listed as prisoners of struggle and lacking in motion are honored at a formidable memorial in Owensboro, Kentucky. The memorial at Smothers Park is known as the Colonel Charles E. Shelton Freedom Memorial.
Shelton stands with different POWs and MIAs within the memorial.
I had heard concerning the web site and when our American Countess cruise docked in Owensboro, I took the ship’s hop-on/hop-off motorcoach to the riverfront park. On the journey, our information Laura shared highlights of the city of 61,300, together with the story of native son Shelton.
Raindrops had began to evenly fall once I acquired off the motorcoach which appeared applicable for such a ravishing however hauntingly unhappy place. Shelton’s spouse Marian had pushed the federal government for years to seek out her husband. She grew to become the usual bearer for households preventing to deliver family members dwelling from the Vietnam Warfare.
Shortly after the Shelton’s 38th wedding ceremony anniversary in 1990, Marian dedicated suicide with a gun in her San Diego backyard. The 5 Shelton youngsters petitioned the US authorities to declare their father lifeless as a result of the household couldn’t take care of the emotional agony any longer of believing him to be a POW.
The memorial honors those that misplaced their lives in serving their nation.
“The federal government declared Shelton killed in motion,” Laura says. “They’d memorial providers for him at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery in 1994 however the household nonetheless has not obtained proof of his loss of life and his physique was by no means discovered.”
Greater than 2,200 are mentioned to be nonetheless lacking from the Vietnam Warfare, a lot of whom, like Shelton, had been recognized to be alive within the palms of the communists however weren’t launched on the finish of the struggle nor have their stays been returned.
When Shelton’s photograph reconnaissance plane was hit by floor fireplace, the pilot needed to parachute to floor. He was in touch together with his wing man, Capt. Richard Bilheimer, who watched Shelton land with no accidents.
Shelton’s household tried to free him from POW captivity.
A number of hours later, two rescue plane arrived, noticed Shelton on the bottom and communicated with him by way of radio. However a rescue effort needed to be referred to as off due to darkness and deteriorating climate situations. For 3 days Shelton evaded seize. On Could 5, 1965, the seek for Shelton was referred to as off and he was declared “Lacking in Motion.”
Nevertheless, info started filtering in that Shelton was captured after three days on the run. However authorities officers didn’t need details about Shelton and his heroism recognized as a result of it might admit U.S. involvement within the struggle.
Years after the struggle, Marian used the Freedom of Info Act to assemble data from reluctant authorities companies. Tales surrounding Shelton’s resistance as a prisoner are legendary. He fought again throughout interrogations and escaped a number of occasions.
He reportedly killed three of his captors with a metallic chair. After that, Shelton was stored in a gap with a grate over it, guards standing over him across the clock, the household was informed.
A poem written by LeAnn Thieman is engraved across the memorial.
The memorial in Shelton’s hometown remembers a younger man who was a starter on his Owensboro Excessive Faculty soccer group. An engraving on the massive memorial exhibits his household on the time he was shot down. On the opposite aspect of the memorial is a big engraving of Shelton, his certain palms damaged free, surrounded by different POWs and MIAs.
On stones surrounding the memorial is a poem titled “Come for Me,” written in 1987 by LeAnn Thieman.
Twenty years within the jungle has taken its toll on me.
I’m not the identical man I was.
However one factor’s constant – I lengthy to be free.
Please, Mr. President, come for me.
The scars of my torture won’t ever go away.
I’m fifty kilos lighter.
My hair is now grey.
However their shackles can’t chain the liberty in me.
Please, “mighty” lawmakers, come for me.
If my household believed there’s an opportunity I’d survived,
They’d battle to their deaths to show I’m alive.
Please, lovin’ household, come for me.
Some captors say you don’t know that I’m right here.
That I’m doomed to this jail yr after yr.
God bless America, the land of the free.
Please, pals and parishioners, come for me.
Different captors say you recognize I’m right here
However refuse to simply accept the proof so clear.
Will some citizen hear my plea?
Please, fellow countrymen, come for me.
I’ll think about my nation ‘until my dying day.
I’ll by no means imagine you might go away me this manner.
My nation tis of thee
Please, please, America, come for me.
Backside Line: Cruises are purported to be a contented carefree time and the American Countess journey is unquestionably that. However it’s good to pay homage to our POWs and MIAs at this loving memorial on our cease in Owensboro, Kentucky. As a stepping stone says at entrance of the Charles E. Shelton Memorial, “Take pleasure in your freedom. It has been paid for.”
Images by Jackie Sheckler Finch
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