Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 4

'4-A PRESS, Binghamton, N.Y. June 8. 1973 There Are Lingering Problems as POWs Sivitch Lifestyles IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIItllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll It has been four months now -since American prisoners of ivar came home. In the first feiv weeks, they were caught up in a whirlwind of excitement. There were parades, speeches, a visit to the White House.

Hut things have died down a bit now and reality is closing in. It is a time of adjustment. There are problems of reunion ivith families. There are decisions about the future. How are they making out? To find out, Kathryn Johnson, an Atlanta staffer conducted a series of interviews ivith men in different parts of the country.

llllllllllMIIMIIMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIinillllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Wilbur said the Vietnam prisoners have experienced "a lot of difficulty jn moving back into their families." He said the returned prisoner often found that his family had been "getting along pretty well without him." In his statement on Friday Wilbur specifically cited the possibility of suicide. On Sunday, Air Force Capt. Edward A. Brudno was found dead in Harrison, N.Y. Police called him a suicide.

Brudno had been among the first group of POWs to return home but never held a press conference. An Air Force officer said at the time of his return Brudno seemed happy to be home and that he was a "quiet man who did not like to discuss personal matters." The majority of men have chosen to remain in the service, at least for the time being. Of 101 POWs interviewed in the last few weeks, for instance, eight said they were leaving the military and four were undecided. About 80 per cent of the men expressed interest in pursuing their Vr tii: 1 jf 3 i A -r A Others are more philosophical. "I was gone a long time.

Things like this happen," said Cmdr. James Hickerson, a native of Lenoir, N.C, who was shot down in December 1967. His wife, Shirley, has filed for divorce. Another officer, Lt. Col.

Quincy Collins of Atlanta, whose wife sent him a letter at the airport saying she did not want to live with him anymore, said: "I go everywhere, see everyone and do everything." One Naval officer said that while imprisoned "the realists became more willing to accept a less than faithful wife." On the other hand, he added, many were surprised to find as many marital problems because the letters they received right up to their release gave no such indication. "Many women had written letters just to keep the men going," he said. Kay Perkins' toughest adjustment when her husband returned after more than six years as a POW was to relinquish control of the family. She had reared four children. "I had to learn to give up the reins," the 35-year-old blonde said.

"And the money," she added with a laugh. Maj. Glendon Perkins of Orlando, said the transition took three days. Both agree the years apart forced maturity and strengthened them and their marriage. Perkins said many returned prisoners were apprehensive about having to rely on their wives for two or three months but he's gotten right back on his feet.

And the bachelors? Navy Lt. j.g. David R. Wheat, 33, returned to his parents home in Duluth, Minn. He said he's had no problems.

"In fact, after 33 years I finally got my own key to the frontdoor." home to find his wife had divorced him in 1971 and remarried. "Of course the divorce was a shock. I guess there were some signs available to me ahead of time but I just couldn't see them. I just didn't believe it could happen." He estimated that about 40 per cent of the returned POWs llllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll An officer, whose wife has refused to live with him since his return, said would say in about a year 70 per cent of the marriages will be on the rocks. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiimil would get divorced or suffer serious marital difficulties.

Another officer, whose wife has refused to live with him since his return, said "I would say in about a year 70 per cent of the marriages will be on the rocks." Assotioted Press WIREPHOTO MAKING ADJUSTMENTS Navy Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III, a POW for five and a half years, stands on crutches in the den of his Orange Park, home. His daughter was four months old when he left for Vietnam.

Now she's six and a half. found by military doctors who examined the POWs in U.S. hospitals showed nearly one-third, mostly pilots, had suffered major fractures. Wilbur also said more than 53 per cent of the prisoners came back with worms that led to malnutrition and anemia. He said the men would be advised and watched for five years to try to avoid a repetition of the high violent death rate experienced by some U.S.

POWs after World War II and Korea. fast. I can remember saying 'let's just take it easy and do one thing at a And he replied, 'don't say that to me, that's what the North Vietnamese said to In general, the men say they are in good health. Some have had corrective surgery because of torture or lack of medical attention in prison. Practically all have undergone dental work.

Dr. Richard S. Wilbur, the Pentagon's health chief, said preliminary figures on various forms of disease and injury a while but I'm getting there," said Rutledge. The wife of another officer says her problem is getting her husband to change clothes. "And he was the kind of man who before he was taken prisoner would change shirts every two hours" she said.

"He takes them off at night and carefully folds them up. He hangs his slacks up ever so neartly. But he doesn't want me to take them away to wash. I have to sneak them to the hamper. "He himself has analyzed this as some sort of psychological reaction, and so is slowly improving" said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous.

A Navy officer said of a POW friend: "When he first visited our home he'd be in the midst of talk and if our dog chanced into the room, he'd stop his conversation and watch it walk all the way across. He'd do the same thing when the clock chimed. "When the baby cried he'd illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll A least four ''POWs learned on return that their wives had died during the years. Others lost father, mother, brother or sister. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniii stop and listen.

He just couldn't crowd his field of events." Most POWs said they'd had some problem with their children. For some it was long hair; for others it was the kids' not meeting expectations. Most said it was simply a question of getting to know young adults who were children when they left. "Of course, there have been problems. My children have lived without me.

They don't know me. It takes a while to get to know people after a separation like that. And they have to get used to seeing me around, to having someone else in the house," said Cmdr. Theodore F. Kopma of Le-moore Naval Air Station in California.

POW friends, the old syndrome many of us were in before 'I simply don't have time to do that sort of thing' that's simply not true. You do have time if you'll just make it." So Boyd, a racing fan for years, is now attending a race driving school and enjoying it immensely. Air Force Maj. Norman Wells resigned his commission to take up dairy farming in Unionville, Va. And after more than six years as a POW without suffering permanent injury, Wells lost the tip of his right llllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll For some', resumption of military duties will not be automatic.

One-third, mostly pilots, had suffered major fractures. Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll! index finger in April while installing a bolt on a plow. "That's his guitar playing hand," said wife Barbara. "He was pretty good." For at least one POW, politics is on the horizon. Lt.

Col. Leo Thorsness, 41, of Sioux Falls, S.D., said that if his health is fully recovered he will run against Sen. George McGovern in 1974. Thorsness, who was captured in 1967, said he thinks McGovern disgraced America by promising, during the 1972 presidential campaign, to beg Fashion bank on 2nd Chance at Living Lies Ahead By KATHRYN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer American prisoners of war are deep into their special period of adjustment these days: from a world filled with loneliness and dreams to one crowded with decisions and problems. The exceitment and whirlwind of events since their homecoming are fading.

In the weeks after release, most of the 566 POWs plunged into speechmaking, answering fan mail, headlining parades, visiting the White House and throwing out baseballs. At the same time, after years of deprivation, they were showered with all sorts of gifts from cars to junkets to wristwatches. It was, as one wife put it, a time for doing everything yesterday. Now reality is closing in. There are the lingering problems of rebuilding lives with wives and children.

There are adjustments to the sometimes drastic changes in American lifestyles. There are decisions about the future. A survey shows most of the former POWs are adapting to the changes. Some even say it has been easy. "It's no worse than coming back from a nine-month curise as far as readjustment," said Navy Cmdr.

Richard A. Strat-ton, 41, of Palo Alto, a prisoner for six years. The father of three sons added "Maybe I'm riding for a fall I don't know. Any problems are just minor. Like I don't like the way one of my sons holds his fork, so we're chang-" ing it.

Petty stuff like that. My biggest adjustment is to California drivers they 'seem as dangerous as the ene-my. Others, such as Lt. Cmdr. Michael Christian and his wife of Virginia Beach, take a different view.

"You can't take a family the father and mother and put them into two different worlds for so many years and not have adjustments," said Mrs. Christian, the mother of three, whose husband was listed as missing for three of the six years he was a POW. "The big adjustment for us was Mike's wanting to go so ut By KATHRYN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer After 5V2 years in a North Vietnamese prison, Navy Lt. Wayne K. Goodermote of Berlin, N.Y., looks to his freedom as a "second chance at living." His fellow POWs agree.

The years of solitude, in which a rat scurrying across a cell floor was a memorable highlight, have made them determined to. implement plans made in captivity. Their long-range goals are multiple and diverse, from joining the diplomtic corps in Asia to teaching to studying medicine or international law to taking up auto racing. "I was in a time machine for some seven years," said one former POW. "For me, the world sort of stopped.

It gave me the opportunity to take a long and detailed look at myself, what had happened in my life so far." Like him, other POWs feel their experience will benefit them in the years ahead. They feel it has tempered them, made them more aware of others, more tolerant, more compassionate. And more patriotic. At the same time, they view changes in the country during their imprisonment as staggerng. Lt.

Cmdr. Porter Halybur-ton, a handsome, green-eyed pilot from Tucker, who was a POW nearly eight years, is determned not to get snagged in what he calls the rut of "the American way of life." "By that I mean working at a humdrum job for the sake of possessions," said the 32-year-old Halyburton. The Navy will send Halyburton back to school where he plans to study international relations. He hopes ultimately to work as a specialist for the Navy or get a State Department post, perhaps in Asia. His prison experience, he said, was a "highly motivating factor" in his choice of study, as is his desire to "do something worthwhile." "I think it's contribution enough just to live a good added Halyburton, who wrote poetry in prison and.

having no pen or paper, stored it in memory. At least for the time being, the majority of the 566 returned POWs intend to remain in the military. Of 101 interviewed in the last few weeks. Lt. Cmdr.

John S. McCaine III of Orange Park, who was a POW 5V2 years, agreed. "My daughter was only 4 months old when I left. Now she's 6'2. During the time I was gone she had lots of pets who have the run of the house and slept where they pleased.

When my wife told her I was coming home she asked where I'd be sleeping. 'With my wife told her. "What do we feed him' asked the child." Perhaps the most publicized problem of the POWs has concerned marriage. Ninety-three of the POWs interveiwed were married when they left for Vietnam. Of these, 14 have been divorced, one is separated and nine said their marriages were in trouble.

The men's views on marriage vary. "We've had no marital problems. We never, did before," said Air Force Maj. Arthur Burer of Rockville, a POW for seven years. "I've come back to a woman's who's much more mature.

I don't think enough praise has been given to what our wives have done. I think if you had a good marriage to start with, a good woman to start with, then she hung on Navy Capt. William P. Lawrence of Nashville, a POW for six years, came Hanoi for the release of American POWs. "I don't feel the president of the United States or any American should ever have to beg people like that for anything," said Thorsness, who is still on active duty and has been asked by Air Force superiors to refrain from partisan politics.

Lt. Col. Quincy Collins, a tall, balding pilot from Atlanta, has often hinted at a political career, since his return, citing the "moral fiber" of the country. As for the years of imprisonment benefiting them in the future. Navy Cmdr.

Richard A. Stratton, of Palo Alto, a prisoner six years, said: "We took a lot of abuse because we were a racial minority over there. We are on the bottom of the pile and they hated Caucasians. Now I can only just sympathize with minority people, 1 can empathize -with them. "I've also learned not to judge other human beings.

The enemy forced me to do things I never thought I'd do," said Stratton, referring to his forced confessions of "war crimes." "It was a humiliating experience to find out that indeed someone can break your will. But they couldn't take away my mind and heart. They broke my will, yes, but they couldn't steal my inner self." Others felt imprisonment improved their personalities by teaching them self-control and making them more At least four POWs learned on return that their wives had died during the years. Some found they had lost a mother, father, brother or sister. For others tragedy awaited.

Lt. Col. Armand J. Myers returned to his wife and 14-year-old son Randy in Dallas, after more than 62 years in a prison camp. Less than two months later, his son was killed in a sand dune cave-in.

At his homecoming, Myers had said of his son, "I left a small boy, he was a very sweet and docile boy. And when I came back I looked up to a 6-foot-2 bright, mature young man and from what I've seen so far I'm real proud." Navy Capt. Howard E. Rut-ledge of San Diego had a tough adjustment to make when he. called his wife from the Philippines and learned his 17-year-old son John had been paralyzed from the neck down for more than four years.

had a swimming accident. He dived in and broke his neck and now he's paralyzed. We're both making.it now. It just took a little time. It knocked me off my pins for The flier, who lives in Orange Park, plans to attend the National War College in Washington in August.

Air Force Capt. Guy D. Gru-ters, a 13-year career pilot and captive five years, has resigned from the military to attend medical school in his home town of Sarasota, Fla. The father of two, a Catholic, said his prison life gave him a stronger faith in God, which indirectly influenced his decision to pursue a medical career. "I started reading the Sermon on the Mount.

After I read that, I couldn't feel comfortable being a fighting man any longer," said the Air Force Academy graduate. Lt. Col Arthur T. Ballard of Lake Lure, N.C. shot down over Hanoi in September 1966, and whose hip was broken during torture, will decide in a year whether to stay in service or study law.

"I became quite interested in law while in prison. Several of my fellow POWs were studied in law and gave us lectures," said Ballard. Michael Benge, a civilian who spent five years as a captive, plans to return to Vietnam and resume work in the Montgnard village in which he was captured during the Tet offensive. But first he will attend school in the Philippines to earn a master's degree in community planning. Maj.

Alex Boyd of Wichita, said his imprisonment made him develop "almost a hypersensitivity to the world around me." "I have found in talking to mi A EINDICOTT you can Palm Beach takes a great double knit fabric and tailors it into a superb business suit and color-coordinated extra slacks. 3-PIECE SUIT and 2 BELTS only 115 KLINE'S CHARGE ACCOUNT EASY WEAVE9' FASHION FIVER' (7 WITH DACRON" BY Jfflffi Sjmffl THE DOUBLE KNIT WARDROBE ON A HANGER CATCHING UP Navy Lt. Cmdr. Porter Halyburton and his wife, Marty, of Tucker, look over mail he's received since returning from a Hanoi POW camp. Hanging from the ceiling is a chain of POW bracelets sent him by well-wishers.

111 tli Associated Press WIREPHOTO When a missile struck his Skvhawk jet 5lz years ago, Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III ejected over downtown Hanoi and landed in a lake. He broke a leg and both arms.

Seveal weeks ago, the leg repaired. He now faces surgery on a shoulder, which was smashed by a guard's rifle butt. "I hope to fly again, but that depends on the doctors," said the 36-year-old pilot, whose father at the time of his capture, was chief of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. "If I have to leave the Navy, I hope to serve the government preferably in foreign service or the State Department." he added.

McCain said he came to the conclusion while in prison that one of the most important things in life was to make a contribution to his country. for instance, eight said they were leaving the service and four were undecided. Eighty per cent of the men interviewed said they planned to continue their education. "I'm a professional military man and asking me if I plan to stay in the service is a bit like asking a doctor if he plans to remain a doctor after he's been in practice for 10 said Air Force Maj. Edward W.

Leonard 34. of Win-lock, a POW for five years. But for some, especially fliers, resumption of military duties may not be so automatic. Last week. Dr.

Richard S. Wilbur, the Pentagon health chief, said the one-third of the POWs mostly pilots, had suffered major fractures. A minority of thse men will not be able to return to active duty, he said. for FATHER'S-1MY We are still at the same location We will not be relocating! VINEYARD SUPPLIES Phone 775-2604 Kirkwood Avenue, Kirkwood, N.Y. 54 WASHINGTON AVE.

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