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Peterson testifies for bill to bring every POW/MIA home

NU native missing in Vietnam

NEW ULM — Greg Peterson, the Brown County Veteran’s Service Officer and Minnesota Association of County Veterans Service Officers (MACVSO) President, testified before the Minnesota Veterans & Military Affairs Finance & Policy Committee Feb. 25 at the State Capitol via Zoom.

“As president of the service officers (association), I felt compelled to be the lead testifier, and since we recently attended the Robert Niemann Memorial at Soldier’s Rest (at the New Ulm City Cemetery), I knew how much his daughter Ann Bakkensen has worked for 30 years on the national level with POW/MIA efforts,” Peterson said.

He testified on behalf of Minnesota Senate File 1041, a resolution memorializing the United States government to bring home every American prisoner of war/missing in action veteran (POW/MIA).

“On behalf of the MACVSO, we are the 150 men and women appointed by county commissioners…to aid more than 340,000 Minnesota Veterans, their dependents, and their survivors to receive the benefits earned in service to our nation,” Peterson testified.

“We support the passage of Senate File 1041. Our offices are repositories of historic transcripts, collections of service medals, newspaper clippings, and original telegrams sent by the War Department that brought such awful news of a loved one’s fate.

“In a moment, I will read you portions of a 1945 Telegram and 1949 letter, and I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are the person receiving these messages. I also want you to forget about today’s mass media conveniences that can flash a news bite around the globe in a second; concentrate on a few brief messages years apart.

“You are now Carrie Bianchi, the sole parent of Capt. Willibald Bianchi of New Ulm, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valorous action against the Japanese during the famous battle at West Bataan, Philippines on Feb. 3, 1942.

“Two months later, Capt. Bianchi was taken prisoner of war and endured the infamous 65-mile Bataan Death March. Throughout his entire ordeal, despite disease, malnutrition, over work and poor sanitary conditions, Bianchi maintained his integrity as an officer…It took a man of great character and determination to first see that all men received a fair share (of food) and second, to convince them they were actually being fairly treated. Bianchi was that man.”

Bakkensen, the daughter of Niemann, a Korean War MIA whose fate remains unknown, testified on Zoom.

“My dad was an F-86 pilot on a mission in April 1953 when his plane was shot down deep over North Korea…A year later, he disappeared, automatically declared dead, as was the practice at the time,” Baakensen testified.

Growing up thinking her dad died in a plane crash, Baakensen said a a 1992 newspaper article reported that the Soviet Air Force interrogated downed F-86 pilots for their technical knowledge.

“My dad’s name was on a list of pilots the Russians claimed to have had in custody. A Soviet Colonel testified my dad resisted interrogation,” Bakkensen testified.

The day she read the story, Bakkensen began working on her dad’s case and found a newly-formed Korean/Cold War MIA family group that worked with Vietnam in accounting for missing military members.

“POW/MIA accounting needs full, ongoing commitment of our government to maximize the chance to resolve the fates of every missing service person and bring each one home,” Bakkensen testified. “We cannot turn our backs on those we have asked to serve us. My dad disappeared when I was 11 months old. Because of his loss, I will always carry hope and despair inside me. For every missing service person, there is a similar story wanting to be resolved. On behalf of all families of our POW/MIAs, I hope you will support Senate File 1041.”

The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Gary Dahms, Redwood Falls and Democratic Sen. Nick Frentz of North Mankato. It was passed as amended and re-referred to the Rules and Administration Committee Monday.

According to the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 79,764 Americans remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War, Gulf Wars, and other conflicts our nation has been engaged in around the globe.

Of the service members who remain missing, 75% are in the Indo-Pacific theater and more than 41,000 service members are presumed lost at sea.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).

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