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Bobby Garwood's Viet Nam saga began in Indianapolis in 1963, when the shy, slight youth dropped out of high school and, at the age of 17, enlisted in the Marines. Two years later, Garwood went to Viet Nam with the Third Marine Division, which was based in Danang. On Sept. 28, 1965, he disappeared while driving a Jeep. He was not seen by another American soldier until March 1968, when the Viet Cong herded several captured GIs into a Viet Cong prison camp in the mountains near the Laotian border. "He was on the other side, no question...
Harker recalls that one night, half a dozen hungry prisoners angered their guards, including Garwood, by butchering and preparing to cook a cat. They were forced to stand at attention until a prisoner named Russ told the Viet Cong that he had killed the cat. The Vietnamese guards then beat and kicked him. Says Harker: "Bob Garwood came up to us and said we were all going to have to pay for what happened to Russ. Bob blamed us for what had happened. He hit me one time in the ribs, but hurt my feelings more than anything else...
When the Vietnamese released the American P.O.W.s in 1973, Garwood remained in Viet Nam. Two months ago, he passed a note to a businessman from Finland stating that he wanted to come home. The State Department quickly arranged for his release...
Garwood's attorney, Dermot Foley, claims that his client is "desperately" in need of psychiatric care. "His defense is an absolute denial of the charges," says Foley. "There is no evidence against Bobby. He was held in Viet Nam against his will." Foley says that Garwood was shot during his capture and "surrounded by death" during the 14 years he spent in Viet Nam. "One particular P.O.W. death still overwhelms Bobby," says Foley. "He still has trouble talking about it, but when the story comes out it will greatly help explain what he did during those 14 years...
...Viet Nam has a troop buildup, China shows off some...