BIRCHIM, JAMES DOUGLAS
Name: James Douglas Birchim Rank/Branch: O2/US Army Special Forces Unit: FOB 2, CCN, 5th SFG Date of Birth: 16 July 1946 Home City of Record: Independence CA Date of Loss: 15 November 1968 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 144520N 1074549E (YB975330) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 3 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground Refno: 1322 Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2006.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On November 15, 1968, 1st Lt. Bircham was the patrol leader of an 8 man LRRP (long-range reconnaisaince patrol) of the FOB2, 5th Special Forces Group on a search mission in Laos. During the mission, the patrol was ambushed, and in evading the enemy, Bircham suffered a broken ankle and fragmentaion wounds. He radioed and requested that the patrol be extracted that evening.
Because of the difficult terrain, which prevented the helicopters from landing to exfiltrate the patrol, the men were to be picked up by McGuire extraction rigs. These devices were dropped through the trees near the ground, where the men situated themselves on them, were pulled up through the trees, and carried in suspension until they could safely be brought aboard the helicopter or placed on ground.
After 4 members of the patrol were sucessfully extracted in the first helicopter, the second aircraft hovered to pick up the other four men, with only 3 rigs. Lt. Birchim ensured that the other 3 men were situated and then hung on the back of one of his men. Their rig was dragged through the trees, nearly dislodging them, but Birchim hung on for what was estimated to be about 30-45 minutes before falling from a height of about 2500 feet. The exact location can only be approximated by time from the known pickup point.
All elements of 5th Special Forces Group in the area were notified, but Birchim's body was never found. It is estimated that Birchim's last location was in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, about half-way between the towns of Dak Sut and Dak To.
Barbara Birchim was 21 when she was notified of the loss of her husband. He had been declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. When she received documents related to the loss, however, doubts remained. There just was not enough solid information for her to let go of the hope that somehow he survived.
In 1988, Mrs. Birchim traveled to Vietnam hoping to find some clue to the fate of her husband or others who remained prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. She has devoted half her life to resolving the mystery of the loss of these men.
Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.
Whether James Birchim survived the the fall from the McGuire rig to be captured is certainly not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.
James Douglas Birchim was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.
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Wife of Vietnam MIA tells of search for truth Tale opens readers' eyes to frustrations, agonies endured by grieving families
By: Alison Morgan, Special to The News Messenger Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:26 AM PDT
It is a story often told: a soldier disappearing in Vietnam and leaving behind a grieving family.
However Barbara Birchim's book (written with Lincoln resident Sue Clark), "Is Anybody Listening?," is a rarity in that it opens reader's eyes to the true frustrations and agonies endured by the families of men declared "Missing in Action" during the Vietnam War.
"When one American is not worth the effort to be found, we as Americans have lost." This quote (Page 54) explains the motivation behind Birchim's 35-year quest to discover as much information as possible concerning her husband's disappearance.
Birchim's husband, Jim, a Green Beret, was declared MIA in 1968 on a tour of duty in Vietnam. He left Birchim with two children and a firm resolve to investigate all of the circumstances of his disappearance for herself. The book details her arduous search for any possible information.
The inability or the unwillingness of the federal government to provide her with answers only steeled her determination to leave no stone unturned. An unshakeable feeling that her husband needed her help and that the government was deliberately withholding information made her unwilling to accept the "presumed dead" title assigned to her husband with nothing (no additional information or remains) save the passage of time to confirm it.
Birchim shows her readers the vast difference the word "presumed" makes to families who are never able to close the book on their loved one and are always left wondering if there is some crucial bit of evidence they don't know. One of the examples which I found particularly interesting was the issue of live-sightings and dog-tag sightings: any new pieces of information regarding a particular soldier's case. While these sightings may have inspired the hopes of many, they also have crushed hopes as the majority of them, when investigated, turn out to be false leads.
While some might find "Is Anybody Listening?" to occasionally border on conspiracy theory, Birchim does present some legitimate points and disturbing evidence.
For instance, stories of the struggles of prisoners of war and their returns to America after the cessation of hostilities are particularly disconcerting.
The book shares the varying accounts of Jim Birchim's fall from a helicopter, all of which are different.
She includes accounts by both the man who apparently saw Jim fall and the pilot of the helicopter lifting him out of hostile territory. She further remarks upon the impossibility of some of the statements made to her by those in authority.
The book is made even more powerful by the fact that it does not focus solely on one woman's struggle. This book is a thorough investigation of the war and its repercussions both in the states and in Vietnam.
It includes the stories of other grieving families, recollections of battles by servicemen, and even the terror tactics used on POWs and common people in Vietnam.
Birchim's book is a worthwhile read that will touch the average reader in addition to the reader who has experienced personal losses in times of military conflict.
"While I am sure Mrs. Birchim does not realize it, she exemplifies many of the qualities that made Capt. Jim Birchim a Special Forces soldier: ability to work in a hostile territory, honesty, candor, willingness to face her greatest fears, and most important a 'no quit attitude,'" Jerry Estense, Former Captain US Army Special Forces, is quoted as saying.
Alison Morgan has lived in Lincoln all of her life where she has been an active participant in the operation of her mother's horse ranch, Mt. Pleasant Stallion Station. She currently is a junior at Rice University in Texas where she is double majoring in history and anthropology. During her summers she enjoys helping out on the ranch in her spare time.
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Ms. Barbara Birchim: Barbara is the wife of Capt. James D. Birchim, USA who was lost on November 15, 1968. Then 1st Lt. Birchim was patrol leader of a LRRP mission of the 5th Special Forces in Laos. His patrol was ambushed and during the extraction Lt. Birchim fell from the rig and was lost. It is not certain that he survived and was not among the returning POWs during Operation Homecoming in 1973. Barbara has devoted her life to finding the answer to Jim's case, even traveling to Vietman for more information. Her work about her husband's case and others missing in Vietnam led her to write "Is Anybody Listening? A True Story About The POW/MIAs In The Vietnam War". Her book, co-written with Sue Clark, is not only a story of a soldiers wife, it is the experience and battles of a soldier herself, fighting for the truth amid all the trials and possibilities of Jim's survival. Her book is a valuable addition to the libraries of activists and civilians alike.
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MWSA Book Review
Is Anybody Listening?
Authors: Barbara Birchim with Sue Clark
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Reviewer: Bill McDonald - President of the MWSA
Powerful Indictment of our Government and Our History of The Vietnam War
There is just no way you can come away from reading author Barbara Birchim's book "Is Anybody Listening? A True Story About The POW/MIA In The Vietnam War" and not have an opinion about her, the war, the CIA, and our own government. Her accounting of her life and the facts around her husband Jim's disappearance in Vietnam leave you wondering what truth is and what paranoia is. If you choose to accept what she is saying it will shake the fundamental foundations of your belief in our government. This book is one of the most powerful personal statements from a wife of a MIA from the Vietnam War. It breaks new ground and points fingers but more importantly it begs to know the truth of what really happened to all our MIAs/POWs.
I was visibly shaken by reading her story and all the side information she includes from others that I personally know like Frank Anton (Author and Ex-POW) and David Morehouse (Author of book "Psychic Warrior" and former member of the Army's Stargate Program). Her book is so well documented that she leaves the reader little choice but to believe that something much more sinister may be at hand in what happened to all our MIA not only from Vietnam but also from WWII and Korea. This book comes off as an indictment of a morally corrupted political system that is willing to leave behind thousands of men who have bravely served their countries.
What Barbara had to endure and go through all these years with her search and the harassment from her own government is sickening to believe. Again, the reader will have to weigh carefully what the author is relating against a lifetime of government information (or misinformation) and decide if what she is saying is even possible. It makes you uncomfortable to accept that our own government could be so cold and calculating with its citizens. Her story reads like a nightmare novel set in some make believe country. God help us if even half of what she is saying is remotely true.
I find that there are many questions she has raised that need to be answered by those in charge at some level. If nothing else, our leaders have played misinformation games with the public and are hiding many of the facts surrounding live POW and MIA sightings over the years. Her book is compelling enough to call into question almost everything that was ever said about the MIA /POW issues. I find myself wanting to not believe her story but I am unable to disassociate the facts and the questions she skillfully provides in her book. This is not going to be an easy story to accept but one that you cannot ignore. There is a part of me that keeps saying what if she is totally right about all that she is sharing - my God can we as a nation handle that possibility?
I found myself totally absorbed in this book. I was horrified, perplexed, dumfounded, angry, inspired, mournful, and bewildered. This book touched all my emotions both mentally and spiritually. Out of all the books I have read and reviewed the past year this book created the greatest movement within me. I am left to ponder and wonder and question this whole issue. Birchim comes across with so much creditability and force of energy that it is hard to turn a blind eye to what she is saying - that her MIA husband Jim, might have survived and had been alive for years after he was declared dead; or that he may in fact, be alive even now. She wonders cries and hurts for the truth that seems to be denied to her and to all of us.
The MWSA gives this book its highest rating of FIVE STARS!
This will be the most powerful and impacting book you will ever read on the MIA/POW issue. I fully endorse and recommend this book for all serious patriots or just the curious - it is a spell binding memoir. That is why I have given this book The 2006 President's Award!