Observing Veterans Day Nov 11th
Veterans Day this week draws attention to those in the military who help defend our nation. My friend Anne writes about her now retired husband, Air Force Capt. Ken Fraser. He was flying his 90th F-105 mission when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam in February 1972. After receiving a reminder from a stranger about those trying days 48 years ago, she tells her story.
Anne Remembers
One day recently my husband Ken pulled a thin silvery bracelet from a package he had just received in the mail and placed it in my hand. A Prisoner of War bracelet engraved with his name, rank and date of capture.
The enclosed note read, “I wore this bracelet and prayed for you and your family during the Vietnam War. I never knew what happened to you, or even if you survived, until I recently found you on the internet. I hope you are well.”
While he was a prisoner in Hanoi 13 months, I threw myself into working with the National League of Families by selling hundreds of POW bracelets, trying to make people aware of the plight of the men. I wrote scores of letters, made speeches, went to Washington for the League of Families convention, and tried to pray.
A few days after he was captured, I saw Ken on a national television news broadcast, being paraded through the streets of Hanoi surrounded by North Vietnamese soldiers. His shoulder was in a cast, his head was down, and he was supported by two of the men. I was excited just to see him, but my sadness increased because of his obvious pain.
In April a full-page color picture of POW Ken appeared in Life magazine. I framed it and hung it in our kitchen. I cried with joy when his first letter arrived and read it again and again.
Waiting. Time stood still. We wives shared an emotional elevator as peace talks were on one day and off the next. Our worst enemy was the unknown factor of time. How long? Another week? A month, a year? Would they ever be free?
The bracelet sales were booming and keeping me busy delivering them to churches, schools and the military base. We had sales at luncheons, bazaars, the mall and the county fair. I could hardly keep up with the letters from people across the country who wore Ken’s bracelet.
My three children and I trudged on, week after week, until at last the dream became reality. The peace accords were finally signed. After spending 405 days in captivity, Ken was going to be released through Operation Homecoming—though facing surgery. Our life began again yet shadowed by sorrow for those who did not return and for those families who still waited.
I laid this most recent POW bracelet on the table, one that had been sent to him more than four decades after his release. I took Ken’s hand, and prayed, thanking God for this wonderful man I have been married to now for more than 50 years—and for bringing him home to me. I also thanked Him for all the people in our great nation who had prayed for us. I wanted all of them to know the blessings we had received because of their prayers.
I also asked God to make me more sensitive to pray for those He puts on my heart, even if I do not know them.
Scripture: In my distress I called upon the Lord; To my God I cried for help” . Psalm 18:6 (ESV)
Note: Capt. Ken Fraser was an Electronic Warfare Officer/Navigator when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1972.
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