POW/MIAs Come Home!

SOMEONE OUT THERE KNOWS!

STANDERWICK, ROBERT LAUREN, SR.

Somewhere, Sometime, Someone on this World Wide Web will see this who knows what
has happened to our American Prisoners of War. Computers are everywhere. Just a
few seconds of time to send an email would help so much to ease the pain of not
knowing what happened to Bob Standerwick or any of the other Americans lost to
a war that was over 25 years ago! For over a quarter of a century, we've been
working for the release of these POWs and have had very little satisfaction with
obtaining information on the whereabouts of these people. Come on America......
we can do better than that.

We now have an entire Network of people concerned about this particular matter,
and the whole world is watching to see what happens. This sets a precedence for
the other countries....how far can they go? Will it be ignored in the future if
they want to capture and hold Americans indefinitely with no questions asked....
no reprisals....no accounting for their actions?

You may ask, "What's the big deal? That was so long ago!" I would have to say, it
was just yesterday...it's still happening today...it will happen tomorrow. It's
absolutely necessary to take a stand Right Now! These families have pursued
each case to the best of their ability for so long now and done everything in their
power to fight for their people to bring them home. The government seems to be
ignoring all efforts to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.
Just check out some of the current activities! Tell us what YOU think.
They need our support!
They have mine....what about yours?

Here you will find just one of the hundreds of people whose cases have been researched
only to find that Col. Robert L. Standerwick, Sr. was captured and should have been
returned home in 1973, when the peace treaty was signed. Please read this information
and you will understand why so many people are searching for answers.
Time is of the essence.

Warmest Regards,
Mike and Kathy Wilson

Name: Robert Lauren Standerwick, Sr.

Rank/Branch: O5/USAF
Unit: 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 June 1930
Home City of Record: Mankato, KS (family in NE, MO, CA, CO)
Date of Loss: 03 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171700N 1061030E (XE230120 or XD258926)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Norbert A. Gotner (Released POW)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high. Still
there were nearly 600 lost in Laos who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

During his Air Force career, Col. Robert L. Standerwick, Sr. flew a variety of
aircraft. At Omaha, Nebraska, he was selected to fly SAC's "Looking Glass"
missions.He was among the first of his friends to be selected to fly the
Phantom F4 fighter/bomber. After Thanksgiving 1970, Standerwick left Omaha and
shipped out to Vietnam, to be stationed at Ubon Airfield, Thailand, with the
25th Tactical Fighter Squadron. To his four children, it seemed like just
another long period Dad would be away.

On February 3, 1971, Standerwick was assigned a mission over the Ho Chi Minh
Trail along the eastern border of Laos. Standerwick's backseater was Maj.
Norbert A. Gotner, from Kansas City, Kansas. Their aircraft was the D model F4.

The D model of the Phantom F4 aircraft had arrived at Ubon in 1967. This model
was improved with the installation of a central air data computer for bombing
and navigation. The computer automatically determined the weapon release point
for all bombing modes. This version also launched Walleye television-guided
missiles and laser-guided bombs. Combined with the aircraft's max level speed
of over Mach 2 and its tremendous manuverability, the aircraft was considered
one of the "hottest" high-tech aircraft of the day.

Standerwick and Gotner's mission on February 3 was not a bombing mission,
however, but a "sensor drop" - dropping strategically placed sensors to help
monitor truck and troop movement along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Trail was
heavily defended and heavily trafficked.

During the mission, Standerwick and Gotner's F4 was shot down, and both men
ejected as the aircraft crashed. Radio contact was made with both Col.
Standerwick and Maj. Gotner, who reported that they were alive and uninjured on
the ground. The two were close enough to talk with each other. Rescue could not
be made due to darkness and weather.

A later radio message from Standerwick reported that he was surrounded and had
been hit by gunfire. Some first hand accounts report that Standerwick yelled or
screamed. Soon after, contact with Gotner and Standerwick was lost, and the Air
Force declared both men Missing in Action.

An immediate intelligence report was received by the U.S. describing two
Americans being moved through Mahaxay Village in southern Khammouane Province,
Laos (about 8 miles northeast of the point the F4D was downed). This report,
although not felt to be specific enough to be a definite identification, was
thought to relate to Standerwick and Gotner. No further word was heard of
either man.

Unknown to U.S. intelligence and the Air Force, Maj. Gotner had been captured
by North Vietnamese troops. He was moved immediately to North Vietnam, where he
and a handful of other men captured in Laos were held in the same prisons as
men captured in North and South Vietnam. Gotner and the other few captured in
Laos and moved to Hanoi were held incommunicado from other American POWs for
the next two years.

When peace agreements were signed in Paris in January 1973, the Vietnamese
agreed to release all American Prisoners of War in their hands. The list they
provided the U.S. did not include any of the men lost in Laos. A subsequent
list of eleven individuals was provided at the last minute, and it was known
for the first time that Norbert Gotner was a Prisoner of War and would be
returning home. The eleven had all been held in North Vietnam, apart from other
Americans. Bob Standerwick's name appeared on no list. He was not returned home
with the 591 Americans who were released from North Vietnam.

Families of men lost in Laos were horrified that none of the over 100 men they
knew had been alive were released. The Pathet Lao had repeatedly stated that
they held "tens of tens" of Americans, yet no negotiations had occurred that
would secure their freedom. A series of assurances were made over a period of
years that these men had not been forgotten, and that negotiations would occur
to free them. None of the assurances brought a single man home. These nearly
600 abandoned Americans were seemingly forgotten.

In 1980, the Standerwick family was told by a non-government source that Bob
Standerwick's name had been on a report prepared for Presidential review. The
source described the report as detailing two groups of about 2 dozen Americans
each. On one group, the source stated, there was only sketchy information; on
the second group, there were more details. The source stated the report gave
very current and specific information about Bob Standerwick, listing his
location at that time, identifying the group that held him, and describing the
menial labor job he was being forced to do in northern Laos. The source
identified the author of the report, the number of pages it contained, the
number of copies that had been made and where they were located. The
Standerwick family has never been able to substantiate this report, and U.S.
Government sources deny the existence of the report. All copies of the report,
according to the source, are under U.S. Government control.

When Norbert Gotner was released, he provided little further information about
his pilot. He did state that shortly before his own release he was asked by his
Vietnamese captors, "What do you know about Col. Standerwick?" As Gotner
himself was unknown to other Americans for most of his captivity, this question
takes on greater potential meaning. Many observers feel that only those POWs
held in the "Hanoi" prison system were released in 1973, and that parallel
prison systems existed in which prisoners were held without exposure to those
in other systems. One case which supports the theory that only the "Hanoi"
group, which was known to each other, was released is the case of American
civilian Bobby Keese, whose existence was discovered only days before the
general prisoner release in the spring of 1973. Keese, who had been held in a
separate section of a prison from other Americans, was not scheduled for
release and may yet be imprisoned were it not for a unified effort on the part
of other POWs to see that he was released.

Friends of Bob Standerwick say that there is no chance he would ever give up.
They say that unless he was murdered, there is every chance he could be alive.
Friends of Standerwick's children see the same ingenuity, courage, resolve and
determination in them. They have not stopped seeking information on their
father and the Americans still missing in Southeast Asia since they were old
enough to understand the circumstances of the loss of their father.

An interesting study can be made in the reports surrounding the last radio
messages from Bob Standerwick. Until the time the Air Force administratively
declared Standerwick dead on June 20, 1980, because there was "no evidence that
he was alive", these reports were evidence to support Standerwick's Missing in
Action status - the hope that Standerwick could still be alive. At the time of
his PFOD (Presumptive Finding of Death), these same reports were used in the
case to close the books on Bob Standerwick.

Belying the across-the-board PFOD findings, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today. Few agree on the most appropriate measure needed to bring them
home.

Standerwick's family does not consider him dead until proof has been found that
he is, indeed, dead. His wife has consistently aggravated the Air Force by
refusing to sign any form or document as his "widow". It's a small, but
important matter to her. The Standerwicks hold no "false hopes" that he is
alive; they are psychologically prepared to accept it if they learn that he
died. They want only the truth. They say, "The important point is that either
he was killed (at capture), or he was shot, wounded and taken captive. One way
or another, somebody knows whether he's alive or dead. If he is not, someone's
father, son or brother IS alive, and we owe it to him to do everything we can
to obtain his freedom."

(Robert L. Standerwick, Sr. is a graduate of the University of Kansas.)

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

This POW/MIA Ring site
is owned by Kathy Wilson Site ID#851.

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We Remember!
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Every Day is Memorial Day at the Wall

My thanks to the Homecoming II Project for compiling the information about the
events and circumstances involved in the capture and imprisonment of the POWs
For further reading on what happened to the Homecoming II Project, I have included
a quote from an article concerning the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall below with a
link to the rest of the story. You're not going to believe what's going on there!

~~~If Scruggs Is A True Believer -- His Neck Hair Should Be Standing~~~

If Scruggs truly believes his teachings about the "mystical" powers of the Wall, then the
hair on the back of his neck should be standing straight up.

In trying to justify his case to CBS for the need to raise more money, Scruggs placed his
finger on one of the hairline cracks in the granite Wall. When the camera zoomed in Scruggs'
finger was touching the name Robert Standerwick. Col. Standerwick has been listed missing in
action in Laos since Feb. 3, 1971. The Standerwicks are long time POW/MIA activists. Two of
his three daughters were on the board of directors of Homecoming II Project, which Scruggs
destroyed with his copyright lawsuit.~~~

This is just the tip of the iceberg with this and other stories in the ongoing saga of
the Standerwick's search for their missing Husband and Father. In 1997, there was a
luncheon held in honor of the POW/MIAs which was attended by Mrs. Carolyn Standerwick
and 20 of the POWs who managed to make it home. Just a little bit of research will show
that these Veterans group meetings are happening all over the country. Many of the Ex-POWs
believe that there are still men being held in POW camps. Who among us should know better
than they what happened to their buddies?

Mr. James Martin Davis, Omaha trial lawyer, former Army officer, Vietnam veteran,
and Secret Service Agent, is shown talking with Mrs. Carolyn Standerwick at the
AFSA Chapter 984's third annual POW/MIA Recognition Day Luncheon. Mrs. Standerwick
was recognized at the luncheon as the wife of Colonel Robert Standerwick.
Colonel Standerwick is still Missing in Action from the Vietnam War. His F-4
Phantom II was shot down in 1971 and following his ejection, he established
radio contact from his position on the ground saying he was "alive and unhurt."