agreed
I lived and worked in Hanoi for eight years, which is partly how i got interested in the fate of the POWs. Got to know many NVA, both former grunts and some officers… a few of them claimed to know things about the POWs or to have met them, and their input played a big part in convincing me that some were left behind alive.
From time to time the Marines and Soldiers of the Joint Task Force on POW/MIA Accounting would pop into Hanoi from whatever field missions they were on. They also told a lot of stories that suggested some were left behind alive. One Marine, I fear, lost his life due to a story he wasn't supposed to tell.
And then there was the whole chopper full of fine men we lost from the Joint Task Force in April of 2001, along with their Vietnamese counterparts… such a sad sequel to the POW story, because it showed that even twenty six years after the war ended, men were still dying over the POW -MIA issue.
If I do a little research I can probably guess your Dad's name. That will be my research project for tomorrow.