Commentary: POW/MIA Recognition Day - A Grandson Remembers

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. James M. Dobbs
  • 7th Air Force Plans and Coordination Directorate
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  This year's observance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day, Sept. 20, has a special poignancy to those with ties to the remembered.

As Americans, we should pause to remember our fellow citizens who were prisoners of war in POW camps -- like the heroes of Bataan, Changi and those held captive at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" -- as well as those who are still considered missing in action.

It's one thing, however, when that tie to those remembered is limited to the common bond of citizenship and to those you only know from history books or the movies. It's another thing entirely when that fellow American is a member of your family.

Sixty years ago this month my grandfather, Lt. Col. Barney Dobbs, was released from a North Korean prison camp. My grandfather had volunteered to go to Korea and was assigned to fly B-26 low level, night single-ship missions. On his 26th mission he was shot down, captured, severely tortured and placed in solitary confinement. For the next 19 months he remained at the mercy of his captors. When he was repatriated on Sept. 15, 1953, he returned home, grateful to be alive but physically, spiritually and emotionally battered.

Like so many other service men and women of his generation, my grandfather rarely spoke of his time in Korea (or his service during World War II). Few but those closest to him knew of his experiences or his sacrifices during his time in the military. Even fewer knew the full price he paid to serve his country so honorably.

My grandmother spent every day of those 19 months, wondering if her husband was dead or alive. With three young children to care for, she had to face the high likelihood that she would be raising them alone. As she watched the news one night, she spotted her husband's face among a group of POWs being released from North Korea.

Her dear husband would return to her, though not the same man she had said goodbye to so many months before. Barney returned home without the joy and laughter he had carried, and gone was the unshakeable belief in the good of his fellow man. His young children would never know him as he was before the war, and his wife would have to adjust to him as a new man.

My grandfather spent his last years in a care facility for alzheimer's patients. The disease robbed him of his memories and his ability to recognize those who loved him most. Yet, not even alzheimer's could erase his memories of Korea. He would frequently ask his caregivers and fellow patients to help him plan their "escape." There are some experiences that embed themselves in one's soul and can never be exorcised.

Carl Sandburg asked
Who paid for my freedom
What was the price
Am I somehow beholden?

I believe we are, each and every one of us. On POW/MIA Recognition Day, I remember not only the courage of my grandfather, but the courage of all our fellow Airmen and servicemen and women as they endured captivity. We also remember the equal courage of their family members as they also endured their loved one's captivity and the agonies of not knowing their fate. We are beholden to remember and that is how we honor their sacrifice.