Rep. Simmons Speaks at National POW/MIA Recognition Day
POWMIA
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
Sept. 15, 2006
Rep. Simmons Speaks at National POW/MIA Recognition Day
WASHINGTON – U.S. Army Captain Arthur Holm’s helicopter was shot down over Vietnam June 11, 1972. After more than 30 years, his crash site has been located.
“It’s just great to have him coming back home,” Holm’s widow, Margarete Holm, said Friday at the 2006 National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Pentagon.
Bringing home prisoners of war and persons missing in action was the focus of the day’s events.
“We will not rest until they have all been accounted for and returned to the nation and the families for whom they sacrificed,” said Rep. Rob Simmons, the guest speaker for the ceremony held on the Mall Entrance Parade Field, adjacent to the Pentagon.
Also speaking were Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“America does not forget her heroes,” England said.
General Pace, who also called the POWs and MIAs heroes, said, “Families of those who are missing are serving the country everyday in a way that we can’t even imagine.”
Simmons, a Vietnam veteran, said he had taken a special interest in the case of Arthur “Arnie” Holm and his family when it came to his attention that Holm’s remains had never been found.
“I am a Vietnam vet,” Simmons said in an interview after the ceremony. “When I learned Holm was lost and the family had not had a funeral or a memorial—it became a cause for me.”
A few weeks back, Simmons said he was informed by Holm’s wife that the crash site they had been searching for had finally been located.
“Although they have been lost for a time, they have not been forgotten and they will never be forgotten,” said Simmons of all MIAs. “We will find them and we will bring them home.”
“Why do we care? We care because it’s about our buddies,” he said. “It’s about their families. It’s about coming to grips with loss, and death, and closure.”
Holm, who was a helicopter pilot, was shot down with crew members Pfc. Wayne Bibbs and Spc.4 Robin Yeakley.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Arnold Holm’s sister, Margaret Brewster, Frank Walker, a helicopter pilot who had flown with Holm, and Pauline Yeakley, Robin Yeakley’s mother.
Simmons and his wife Heidi joined the joint task force that had begun searching for the crash site 13 years ago. They flew to Vietnam in April of 2003 and joined the force in the jungle but the crash site was not found.
Holm, originally from Waterford, Conn., had enlisted in the Army in 1962. It was while in the Army that he met his wife.
Mrs. Holm, 62, of Lebanon, Penn., said she was sad that other people had to go through the same thing she has gone through.
“It’s just really emotional,” she said. “It is a relief that this waiting will be over soon.”
The excavation of the crash site and the identification of remains is the final step before the families will have their closure.
Simmons said he has put in many requests with the Pentagon and the Vietnamese government to go to the next phase of excavating the site.
“We are going to move forward on this,” he said. “I am optimistic.”
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