My Father and His Bracelet

The Bracelet

My father was  complex in many ways.  As I grow older, there are so many things I continue to learn about him beyond knowing him as just my Dad or the Colonel, but as a man.  As a child, if there was one thing that was unfailingly clear about my Dad, it was that he was unabashedly committed to his country.  His devotion to his job in the Air Force and to the others that served beside him, was an instrumental piece in who he was as a person.

My mother and I have often talked about our life in the military, and more specifically how this life has impacted my entire family and who we all are as people.  I take tremendous pride in the man that my father was, in his love for his county, and in his total dedication to serve and support this land that he loved.  I also feel this in all that I do, in my love for military history, and in my absolute desire to support, honor, respect and uplift our men and women willing to make this ultimate sacrifice.

Through the years, one of my greatest fascinations has always been the Vietnam war, and more specifically, the way we treated our soldiers lost, found, and as they arrived home. I feel like one of our greatest historical tragedies is that we sent these men and women to fight, only to turn our backs on them when they went missing or as they were found and returned home.  Instead of a heroes welcome, as a country, we failed... and not only did we fail them, we often failed their families and loved ones as well.  

Recently, reading a blog about my father's friend Lou, I discovered the Missing in Action bracelet. Someone, having found his bracelet in a pawn shop, had inquired about his fate on his MIA page. A small group of college students who were members of VIVA (Voices in Vital America) had set out to find a way to support our soldiers both our POWs and MIAs.  They created the idea of a simple bracelet with the name, rank, and date of each soldier that was lost.  http://thewall-usa.com/bracelet.asp

I told my mother about what I had read and she shared with me that she and my father both wore these bracelets although recalled that my Dad wore his all the time.  

Yesterday, I took these bracelets and began to search.  Somehow, just names, knowing these men were lost, didn't sit right in my heart.  In my search I discovered that the soldier on my mothers bracelet, Lt. Colonel Thomas Sima, came home, after 8 years as a prisoner of war he was released. The soldier on my Dad's bracelet, Captain Delbert (Del) Peterson was never recovered. He went down in battle and although a helicopter appeared, it only rescued three of the men and left him with the two men killed.  Upon return to retrieve Peterson and the two honored soldiers, they were unable to find him so his story ended here.  I thought a lot about him last night, what I had read, what I had learned about him as a soldier and a young man and I felt sadness for his loss. It has been 51 years since he went down, but as a way to honor him, and remember the man my father honored, I wrote this poem.  Let us never forget those who fought and died for this country we are so blessed and honored to call home.  Let us always be diligent and committed to remember and uphold their sacrifice. 

The Bracelet

It's just a simple bracelet

Your rank, name, and a date

The marking of your loss

The turning of your fate

Stainless Steel and worn

The promise to abide

A sign of human hope

Our country tried to hide

The wrist of my father

He wore your name in faith

Praying your return

A sign of human grace

Thousands of soldiers lost

A war of no rhyme or reason

But instead of our support

Our country committed treason

You left an American hero

To fight a senseless war

But our country turned their backs

Leaving a gaping scar

51 years ago

We lost you with the light

A dark battle in Nam

Not knowing your true plight

Three men retrieved

You left on the ground

Honoring those dead

But then you're never found

As the years have hurled forward

And the memories get lost

Please know that you are honored

For you paid the ultimate cost

And though we do not know

The story of your fate

Please know that we'll remember

Your name, rank, and date

And like my father before me

Who wore your name with grace

I’ll honor you the Captain

And take my father’s place

-Kristy Runkle Reuber