Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam

Annotation

The patriotic post-war song "Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam" (Operation Freedom Bird # ARM-8379), performed by Reggie Gates & Tim Nowland, looked at the M.I.A. / P.O.W. issue. Released in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA., which they referenced in the first line of the song. The narrators headed out from Alaska to Washington D.C. to raise awareness of the "unsung heroes left back in Vietnam", the "foxhole buddy in prison". The lyrics quoted the number of missing as "2,600". The song also named three people officially declared M.I.A. Firstly, Thomas R. Okerlund, born in Seattle, 5 August 1948. His plane went missing on 3 January 1971, presumed to have been shot down and its crew killed.1 Secondly, Howard B. Waldron, born in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, 18 May 1926. His C-123 transport, with 47 people on board, was shot down on its way to the Khe Sanh Air Base in Vietnam on 6 March 1968, with all the passengers listed as M.I.A., although presumed dead.23 Thirdly, Alan F. Ashall, born in Billings, Montana, 6 June 1943, flew in an A-6B Intruder on 29 August 1968 an an armed reconnaissance mission in the Vinh Son area of North Vietnam, where he encountered surface-to-air missiles (SAM). He lost radio contact and a large fireball was observed in the vicinity. He was declared M.I.A.4 This is an excellent example of the inflated statistics of those M.I.A. / P.O.W. in the 1970s / 80s period. In all three cases mentioned in the song, the soldiers had been involved in fatal incidents in which their bodies were not recovered. Yet, the military officially declared them as missing, rather then killed in action. The government then combined the M.I.A. statistics with the P.O.W. statistics, creating the impression that these soldiers may still be alive in Vietnam.Sources1Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: THOMAS R OKERLUND↩2Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: HOWARD B WALDRON↩3facesfromthewall.com (archived copy)↩4Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: ALAN F ASHALL↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs

The patriotic post-war song "Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam" (Operation Freedom Bird # ARM-8379), performed by Reggie Gates & Tim Nowland, looked at the M.I.A. / P.O.W. issue. Released in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA., which they referenced in the first line of the song. The narrators headed out from Alaska to Washington D.C. to raise awareness of the "unsung heroes left back in Vietnam", the "foxhole buddy in prison". The lyrics quoted the number of missing as "2,600". The song also named three people officially declared M.I.A. Firstly, Thomas R. Okerlund, born in Seattle, 5 August 1948. His plane went missing on 3 January 1971, presumed to have been shot down and its crew killed.1 Secondly, Howard B. Waldron, born in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, 18 May 1926. His C-123 transport, with 47 people on board, was shot down on its way to the Khe Sanh Air Base in Vietnam on 6 March 1968, with all the passengers listed as M.I.A., although presumed dead.23 Thirdly, Alan F. Ashall, born in Billings, Montana, 6 June 1943, flew in an A-6B Intruder on 29 August 1968 an an armed reconnaissance mission in the Vinh Son area of North Vietnam, where he encountered surface-to-air missiles (SAM). He lost radio contact and a large fireball was observed in the vicinity. He was declared M.I.A.4 This is an excellent example of the inflated statistics of those M.I.A. / P.O.W. in the 1970s / 80s period. In all three cases mentioned in the song, the soldiers had been involved in fatal incidents in which their bodies were not recovered. Yet, the military officially declared them as missing, rather then killed in action. The government then combined the M.I.A. statistics with the P.O.W. statistics, creating the impression that these soldiers may still be alive in Vietnam. Sources1Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: THOMAS R OKERLUND↩2Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: HOWARD B WALDRON↩3facesfromthewall.com (archived copy)↩4Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: ALAN F ASHALL↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: We boarded up our bus in Fairbanks, Alaska, heading out for Washington / A freedom bird honoring our country of the red white and blue / Singing a song about our unsung heroes left back in Vietnam / And the nation did tell of the hell they didn't make it through / Bring 'em on home from 'Nam / They've been a long time gone but still not forgotten / We'll man this watch until they're accounted for / When we pass through Seattle we'll salute Tom Okerlund, missing since '71 / Do you remember Howard Waldron, he died / Was from Coeur D'Alene / Alan Ashall from Billings, Montana, should have come home when the war was done / 2,600 missing memories, 2,600 names / Bring 'em on home from 'Nam, they've been long... / Gone but still not forgotten... / So here's to our foxhole buddy in prison / Here's to his fatherless son / Here's to the freedom he fought for, and the freedom he lost / Here we are in the land of plenty / And we plenty like to say we'd won / But we can't forget our friends are still paying the cost / Bring 'em on home from 'Nam

Notes

Operation Freedom Bird ARM-8379, 45 RPM, ℗ 1983 Operation Freedom Bird, 1919 Lathrop St., Fairbanks, Alaska 99701; Side 1 (ARM-8379A): "Bring 'Em on Home From 'Nam" by Reggie Gates & Tim Nowland, recorded at Dome; Side 2 (ARM-8379B): "Tell All the World" by John Mallerne & Dave Lindstrom, Jim Cava – vocal, recorded in New York. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

M.I.A. · P.O.W. · Patriotic

In collections

P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs