seating arrangement, were found strapped in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man (Bernhardt) was recovered.

No identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made to recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the "kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and
stood every chance of surviving captivity.

There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four were transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general POW release beginning the next month.

Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and after two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for service in Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.

In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters to his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of "Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.

Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He believed the secret missions being flown into Laos were illegal, and had written letters to his congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to locate information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted for. They founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in St.Petersburg, Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.

Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New York and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers were career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven Matejov died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary says, "Joe may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral responsibility to get him home.  The next generation of servicemen should not have to wonder if they will answer the call to defend their country only to be abandoned. We must stop this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."

Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of a crew flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would likely be considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be alive, the survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's time we brought our men home.