SPOHN's Story

NETWORK NOTE: The purpose of posting not only the the below email,  but the original stories is EDUCATION.

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        DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

        HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE PERSONNEL CENTER

        RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE TEXAS

        9 NOV 2000

HQ AFPC/MSIMDL

550 C Street West Ste 50

Randolph AFB TX 78150-4752

Ms. Mary Schantag

P.O.W. Network

Box 68

Skidmore MO 64487-0068

Dear Ms. Schantag

        This is an interim response to your Freedom of Information Act

request (FOIA#O 1 -0096) of 3 October 2000 pertaining to James Spohn, 

xxx-xx-xxxx.

        The Air Force Worldwide Locator is unable to establish a positive

identification for James Spohn based upon the information provided.  The

name and social security number provided does not match with the James

Spohn on Air Force file.  Information needed to establish a positive

identification would require you to verify the social security number

for Mr. Spohn, provide his middle initial, date of birth, and a military

unit and date assigned to that unit between 1971 and 1989.  The Locator

does not maintain records and can only establish a positive

identification for locator purpose only.  If no response within 30 days

from the date of this letter this case will be closed.

        Sincerely

        BETT -LEONE C. STEWART

        Management Assistant

==============================================================

Provided same SS# xxx-xx-xxxx

Added DOB of May 12 1946

Added quotes of units from all news articles.

Added E. as "believed to be middle initial."

returned to USAF today.

see articles below email

The story is the same as the  "Air Force News,  Eielson veteran remembers days as POW" article.

 [Air Force News]

 Eielson veteran remembers days as POW

Though Spohn and his squad fought valiantly, they were hopelessly outnumbered, and 10 of the 12 perished in hand-to-hand combat. Bloodied and wounded, Spohn was taken captive with one other soldier. "He died after the first day from his wounds," Spohn said.

The only ally left to Spohn was his savvy, and he began using it right away. "I thought I was going to die, that they were going to try to get whatever they wanted to know from me, and then kill me. There was no way I was going to give them anything, and I wanted to have the last laugh. I grew up knowing how to speak some German. So that's what I spoke from the moment I was captured. That discouraged them. Here was this guy in a U.S. Army uniform who apparently didn't speak a word of English. They had a few who did speak English, and I could tell they didn't know what to do with me."

Spohn's captors took him to a camp where he was imprisoned with other Vietnamese captives, but no Americans. He doesn't like to describe the details of his treatment, except as "inhumane."...

(Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service)

 RELATED SITES

* Eielson Air Force Base
* Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office

For more on this subject, try the Air Force Link Search Engine.

[Air Force News]

State honors POWs, MIAs

 September 16, 2000

 By BETH IPSEN
 Staff Writer

 Veteran and former prisoner of war Jim Spohn doesn't like dwelling on the bad things in life. Growing up on a farm in  Minnesota, he learned from his father to look at the bright side of everything.

 While spending three months as a captive in Vietnam, he realized how lucky Americans are to be living in a free  country.

 "It made me realize how well we have it in America," Spohn said after a Prisoner of War, Missing in Action  Ceremony at Eielson Air Force Base Friday. "We live like kings and queens. ...

 He was also tortured for information.

 After three months at the camp near Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, Spohn made his escape. The ropes that bound his  feet and hands had rotted enough to break. When one of his captors came close enough, he used his middle knuckle  and punched the soldier in the rib cage, a killing blow he was taught in Army boot camp.....