Robert R. Garwood

Garwood was assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps base at Da Nang in South Vietnam as a motor pool driver. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance are in dispute. Garwood claims he was ambushed when he got lost when driving alone in a jeep to pick up an officer. He says his jeep was torched and he was stripped naked.[3] Marine Corps records show on 28 September 1965, Garwood was absent at the 2300 bed check. No unauthorized absence (UA) was reported, since he was thought to have had a "late run." He was reported UA when he failed to appear at formation the next morning.[1]

On 29 September, the Division Provost Marshal was notified of Garwood's absence and an all points bulletin was issued for him and his vehicle. This was repeated for three days with no results. Motor pool personnel searched the areas of Da Nang that Garwood was known to frequent, but nothing was found. On 2 October, the division's Provost Marshal notified the Republic of Vietnam's Military Security Services. Their search efforts also produced no information. Garwood's commanding officer reported to the Commandant, USMC, that in view of Garwood's past record of UA, he believed he had gone UA again and had possibly been taken POW. However, he recommended there be no change in Garwood's status and that he remain UA until evidence proved otherwise.

Two separate South Vietnamese agents eventually reported that the Viet Cong claimed a U.S. serviceman and his jeep had been picked up in the Cam Hai region, about 11.5 miles from the Da Nang Marine Corps base, when the serviceman had become lost. The American had been captured and the jeep burned. However, a ground and aerial search for the burned vehicle produced no results, nor did four platoon search operations on 1 October. Two additional infantry platoons swept the area near Marble Mountain the next morning but also found nothing. On 12 October, the 704th ITC Det (CI) authorized a 100,000 VND reward for information leading to the recovery of the missing serviceman and additional 2,500 VND for the recovery of the vehicle.

On 3 December 1965, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines found a document titled Fellow Soldier's Appeal with Garwood's name on it, on a gate near Da Nang. The document recommended that U.S. troops stop fighting in Vietnam and return home. The signature (B. Garwood) may well have been made by a rubber stamp and the English usage suggests it was not written by a native English speaker. A second version of this document was found on 18 July 1966 in the Da Nang area, but it appeared to be on better quality paper and the signature was at a different angle. Based on these, on 17 December 1965 Garwood's status was changed from "missing" to "presumed captured".[1][4]

On 15 July 1968, a Marine Corps reconnaissance team named Dublin City operating in the vicinity of Troui Mountain near Phu Bai engaged a Viet Cong unit. According to contemporaneous debriefing notes, now declassified, four members of Dublin City reported that the one of the VC fighters was a Caucasian, who was shot during the action and yelled to his VC comrades "Help me!!" in English.[5] The "white VC" was described as 20–25 years old, with brown hair, 5' 6" tall, "round eyes", and speaking very distinct English. Because they were outnumbered, Dublin City broke off contact with the enemy but were followed. In a subsequent firefight a few minutes later, PFC C.G. Brown was killed. In September, 2011, 43 years later, President Obama awarded one team-member of Dublin City, James Wilkins, a Silver Star for heroism on that day.[6] Following receipt of the Silver Star, he recalled the white VC incident and stated "Myself and three other Marines looked at about 200 photos of guys who were missing in action. All of us were positive it was Bob Garwood, who apparently had defected and was helping the VC."

Over a period of eleven months, Garwood faced a general court-martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was found not guilty of desertion, solicitation of U.S. troops in the field to refuse to fight and to defect, and of maltreatment. However, he was convicted on February 5, 1981, of communicating with the enemy, and of the assault on a U.S. prisoner of war interned in a POW camp, in violation of Articles 104 and 128, Uniform Code of Military Justice. The court-martial sentenced Garwood to reduction to private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. He was not sentenced to confinement. His conviction was upheld on appeal. United States v. Robert R. Garwood, 16 M.J. 863 (N.C.M.R. 1983), aff'd, 20 M.J. 148 (C.M.A. 1985). Garwood's record of trial covered 16 volumes and 3,833 pages of trial record. As a result, Garwood forfeited all back pay and veterans' benefits.

Garwood says he saw other U.S. prisoners of war after 1973 and says he himself had been held prisoner for 14 years,[2] though there are inconsistencies in his story.[10] Many former POWs claim to have seen Garwood apparently collaborating with the enemy,[9] though some feel he should not have been court-martialed.[11]

In June 1992, a U.S. task force examined the sites where Garwood claimed to have seen live U.S. prisoners. They interviewed nearby residents and met with Vietnamese officials. However, the task force reported that "no evidence could be found to suggest that there are, or ever were, any live U.S. POWs" in those areas.[1]

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) investigated Garwood's claim that he saw live U.S. POWs after 1973 at a "motel-shaped masonry building" in North Vietnam. The DIA reported it could not locate any masonry structures at the indicated location. Senator Bob Smith requested that the DIA search again. After a second search produced no results, Smith initiated a personal search with ABC News, Garwood, and Bill Hendon. The group traveled to Vietnam in 1993. Following Garwood's directions, they reported they had found a building exactly as Garwood had described it. The Vietnamese government and a former head of the DIA POW/MIA office[12] disputed the finding, stating the structure had not existed when Garwood was a POW. Some independent investigators claim that Garwood represented an embarrassment to the U.S. government at the highest level for leaving live POW's behind and therefore did everything possible to discredit him. It was also claimed that he could hardly speak English when he returned and his lack of polish was used against him.[13]