VVA honors servicemen missing from Vietnam War

[boardman]

Vietnam Veterans of America honors servicemen missing from Vietnam War

PRESS RELEASE

VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 23, 2007
 
No. 07-002

Contact:
Mokie Porter
301-585-4000, Ext. 146

VVA  HONORS THE MEMORY OF TWO FORMER MEN MISSING IN ACTION

(Washington, D.C)–Vietnam Veterans of America paid tribute to two fallen American servicemen from the Vietnam War, 1st Lieutenant Fred Ramsbottom, and Pfc. William E. “Skip” Skivington, Jr., whose remains recently were repatriated to the United States. Ramsbottom was interred in Edmond, Oklahoma, on January 13 and Skivington was interred at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on January 23. Both men perished on May 12, 1968, during a fierce battle at the Special Forces Camp of Kham Duc.

“Because of the ferocity of the battle, it was impossible to recover their bodies,” VVA President John Rowan said. “Vietnam Veterans of America is proud—and humbled—by the fact that our organization played the leading role in finding out what happened to the 32 men who were unaccounted for in that battle and the at nearby Ngok Tavak two days earlier. Our Veterans Initiative Task Force made three trips to Vietnam—in 1994, 1995, and 1998—to help account for these men and worked closely and encouraged the Pentagon’s MIA office to undertake efforts to find and repatriate the remains.

 “We are pleased that after more than three decades the families will be able to benefit from the recoveries of their loved ones,” Rowan said.

 Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”