When members of the armed forces return home from their tour of duty, it is either a celebratory or somber scene. Some families never see either situation come to fruition because their loved one was either captured or missing in action. Tom Christ of Rolling Thunder, a veterans advocacy group, was this week's guest speaker at the Deer Park Rotary Club. He talked about the tasks at home and abroad to help families earn closure for their service member captured or considered missing in action.
Founded in 1987 Rolling Thunder, Inc. is a class 501(c)(4) non-profit organization with more than 88 chapters throughout the United States. Its membership has veterans and non-veterans who are united in the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by their watchwords, "We Will Not Forget."
Christ said Rolling Thunder also assists in finding food and clothing for veterans and homeless veterans; sponsors search mission ins Southeast Asia for POWs/MIAs, and the remains of those killed in action; visits VA hospitals and spends time with veterans suffering effects from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; and educates the public about issues faced by POW/MIA personnel and their families.
The organization also assisted in the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C., facilitated the POW/MIA postage stamp with the U.S. Postal Service; and petitions Congress to use the designation "Prisoner of War/Missing in Action " (POW/MIA) – a designation recognized by the Geneva Conventions - not "Missing/Captured." This will ensure that prisoners' rights and protections remain consistent under the Geneva Conventions.
"You don't see many of us around, but we all do what we are supposed to do," said Christ. Although there are many chapters throughout the United States, there are only two in Texas. The chapters are so new that he actually belongs to one in Oklahoma, which was founded before the Texas chapters.
"We all want people to know that there are many American prisoners of war that were left behind. We want to correct the past and to protect the future veterans from being left behind should they become POW/MIA," Christ said. "We are committed to helping veterans from all wars."Today, there are almost 92,000 American POW/MIAs still unaccounted for from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. The remains of two POW/MIAs from the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s and Operation Iraqi Freedom have been found and recovered. Christ said Rolling Thunder encourages people who think they have a POW/MIA lost from a past war to give a DNA sample. Doing so could help bring years of closure to families wondering the whereabouts of their lost servicemember.
For more information on Rolling Thunder, visit the organization's website at www.rollingthunder1.com.
