There are 1,666 Americans listed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. The most recent identifications are a group including Colonel Joseph Christiano, USAF, NY, MIA in Laos on 12/24/1965; Chief Master Sergeant William Kevin Coldwell, USAF, NY, MIA in Laos on 12/24/1965; Colonel Dennis Lee Eilers, USAF, IA, MIA in Laos on 12/…24/1965; Colonel Derrell Blackburn Jeffords, USAF, AZ, MIA in Laos on 12/24/1965; Chief Master Sergeant Larry C. Thornton, USAF, ID, MIA in Laos on 12/24/1965. Their remains were recovered on 2/18/2010 and identified on 3/5/2012.

Also identified is Captain Vergil Kersh MeroneyIII, USAFR, AR, MIA in Laos on 3/1/1969. His remains were recovered on 11/16/2010 and identified on 3/5/2012.

 Bud passed on Wednesday, April 11th at 93 years of age.

He was a B-17 pilot in WWII. After 14 missions, his plane was
shot down and he spent 18 ½ months in Staleg Luft 3 as a
POW.

 “It cost $50,000 and took nine months to train a pilot. They
didn’t train us to bail out of a plane because of the potential
injury that could occur to legs and ankles during training. I’d go
back again.”-Bud Hinkley

Bud always had a smile and a story to tell. He loved his
country and enjoyed working and serving with former veterans
and POW’s that lived in the area. Bud worked tirelessly to help
these great men and women receive benefits similar to and
equal to those in surrounding states. He will be missed by
many.

We have been asked by the family of Bud Henry Hinkley to
provide an Honor Escort for Bud. If you do not have a previous
obligation, it is extremely important and requested that you
attend this service. We ask for as many bikes as we can get,as we will be doing the procession with flags. If you do not ride,
please attend wearing your vest. Also this will be a white shirt
event. Rain or shine.

Services will be Monday, April 16th at 12 noon at the LDS
Church meeting house, 1440 Lakeview Drive, Pocatello. Please
muster at 12:15 so that we don’t interfere with those attending
the service.

To see photos visit our facebook page. @ http://www.facebook.com/powmiarodeo

It is with a heavy heart we bid farewell to one of our own.  Michelle Jackman died Friday, March 16th 2012.    Michelle has for many years been a strong asset to our organization and will be deeply missed.  Michelle has served as the Entertainment Lane 2nd, XO, Finance Team Leader, Pins and Patches 2nd and recently accepted the job as Administration Team Leader.  It was Michelle who started our focus on the need for DNA to help with the identification of remains.  As a Battalion Patch holder she was a strong advocate for the POW/MIA issue and was a patriot thru and thru.  Michelle had a warm smile, a sweet spirit and was always there to lend a helping hand or a listening ear.  Her loss is one that will be felt by many who loved her.  Michelle was married to Casey Jackman and between the 2 of them they had 6 children, 1 granddaughter and another grandchild on the way.  There is so much more to be said about this incredible woman, to much to put here…Michelle was loved by all who met her and touched and inspired many lives.

A celebration of her life was held at Wilks Funeral Home in Chubbuck, Idaho.  You can go to their website to leave a message for the family.  The upcoming days, weeks and months will be difficult for Casey and the kids.  Please remember them in your prayers.

http://www.wilksfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/WilksF1/obit.cgi?user=595244Jackman

There will be a memorial ride for Michelle in the upcoming weeks, more information will be put out as that is planned.

In the arms of an Angel far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

 Rest in peace sweet Michelle, you will be forever loved and missed.

Not only is “Thumper” an awesome monster truck, but the owner of RideAMonster.com donates a significant portion of his proceeds to the POW*MIA Awareness Assoc.! Check out this awesome website and go take a ride for the fun of it, and to support the troops!

Can you feel it? You always wanted to ride a monster truck! Now, you have climbed the ladder into the ride area of “Thumper”, our real monster ride truck. You are high in the air, looking down at the people, the ground, and the obstacles below. You are safely belted into the comfortable wrap-around racing seats. 

Cameras click and movie cameras purr as friends, family, and people you don’t even know take pictures, movies, and wave.

As you look up through the safety roll bar cage surrounding you, you hear the 500 horse power modified Ford engine as it roars to life. You feel the power, hear the thunder, and you know… you are in for a ride!

Excitement builds, as you realize this IS a REAL monster truck!

Check out RideAMonster.com!

Click here to view the original article at the Baltimore Sun.

Pfc. Robert B. Bayne to be buried in family plot
March 23, 2011|By Mary Gail Hare, The Baltimore Sun

Kenneth Bayne received a call from the Army on Wednesday with news he has awaited for nearly 66 years. His elder brother, Pfc. Robert B. Bayne, who was killed in action in 1945, is coming home from World War II.

DNA taken from Kenneth and his twin brother, Calvin Bayne, has helped the Army to positively identify their brother’s remains.

“They just contacted me and said Buddy will be home in a week or two,” said an emotional Kenneth Bayne, 83. “On Monday, it will be 66 years to the day that he went missing.”

Bayne has put a large photograph of the young man he called Buddy in the window of his Dundalk home.
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Click here to view the original article on the Defense.gov website.

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Pfc. Robert B. Bayne, of Dundalk, Md., will be buried on May 7 in his hometown. On March 28, 1945, while patrolling the Rhine River in an inflatable raft, Bayne, a lieutenant and two other enlisted men were attacked near Schwegenheim, Germany. Bayne and the officer were wounded, forcing all four men into the swift waters of the river. The lieutenant was rescued but the enlisted men were not found.

Between 1945 and 1946, Army Graves Registration personnel exhumed remains of three men from two different locations when German citizens reported the graves contained remains of American soldiers recovered from the river in March 1945. Among items found with the remains were military identification tags. Two of the men were identified as enlisted men from the raft — Pvt. Edward Kulback and Pfc. William Gaffney — but due to limited forensic science of the time, the remains of the other individual could not be identified and were interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery in St. Avold, France as “unknown.”
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Here is a video about some like minded people on a journey to the Rolling Thunder last year. This was put together by someone who thinks pretty highly of what we do. So highly he might just send us some to give out at our General Meeting this Friday (May 13th) at the Red Lion in Pocatello! Come check it out!

Click here to visit the official site for “Road to Thunder”.

Click here to visit the Amazon page where you can pre-order the video