I have looked at this before, but it gained more relevance now that I think I was shot down after hitting Osirak on the second day. I assume I was still missing in Iraq on 6/12/1981. Some thoughts suggest I was missing the whole summer. Other thoughts suggest a few days. I expect the details will become clearer over time. I don't sense that I was captive that time in 1981 though, unlike in 1986. I only sense that I was evading capture. But President Reagan might not have known that. He would have known only that I was missing, probably in Iraq. Maybe I transmitted a message that I was going down from anti-aircraft fire near Baghdad, which meant there was probably no way they could get rescue helicopters in to me.
And the June 12th date could be a clue because that was 59 days after April 14th. At that time, the date April 14th was relevant because I returned to Earth on 4/14/1977 from the outer solar system and then the first space shuttle flight returned to Earth on 4/14/1981.
From 4/14/1981 to 6/12/1981 is: 59 days
Jeremiah Denton, the former POW President Reagan refers to, was 33 weeks, 34 years old, when I was born on 3/3/1959.
Remarks on Signing a Resolution and a Proclamation Declaring National P.O.W.-M.I.A. Recognition Day, 1981
June 12th, 1981
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to what I think is a very important and worthwhile little signing ceremony here in the Rose Garden. I am pleased that I'm going to sign a joint resolution and a proclamation designating July 17th, 1981 National P.O.W.-M.I.A. Recognition Day.
The brave men and women who fought for our country should all know that America does remember and is grateful and will always be proud of their courage and honor on the battlefield. And it's fitting that we pay this special tribute to those who so heroically endured the hardships and torture of enemy captivity—unusual in any war in our history, because it was the longest period that American fighting men have ever been held in captivity. Just the thought of the terrible pain that they suffered and endured should be seared in our memories forever. And let us remember, too, that 6 years after American involvement in Vietnam, in the war, we still don't have a full accounting of our missing servicemen from that conflict, an accounting that was guaranteed in the Paris peace accords that brought the fighting there to an end, an agreement which has been violated.
Recently there have been reports that Americans are still being held captive in Indochina. None of these reports, I'm sorry to say, has been verified, but the world should know that this administration continues to attach the highest priority to the problem of those missing in action. We intend to seek the fullest possible account from the governments involved.
I'm grateful that we have with us here today one of America's outstanding heroes from the Vietnam war, one of the former prisoners of war, and now the Senator from Alabama, Jeremiah Denton, accompanied by his lovely wife Jane. July 17th, it is just 16 years—or that will be—to the day that he was shot down over Southeast Asia. Now, lest someone think that there's a little confusion there, he was shot down on July 18th, 1965, but when it was the 18th there, on this side of the dateline it was the 17th. Jeremiah Denton. Who will ever forget on that first night in that first plane that arrived at Clark Field in the Philippines, and he was the first man we saw come down the ramp from the plane, salute our flag, ask God's blessing on America, and then thank us for bringing them home.
They're joined here by leaders of the House and Senate, many of their colleagues, Cap Hollenbeck and Bob Dornan, John LeBoutillier and Bill Hendon and John Paul Hammerschmidt and Tom Lantos from the House, and Senators Dennis DeConcini and Bob Dole, along with Senator Jeremiah Denton.
And now, I'm going to have the happy task of signing the proclamation and the bill.
Note: The President spoke at 3:02 p.m. at the signing ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House.
As enacted, S.J. Res. 50 is Public Law 9713, approved June 12.
Proclamation 4848—National P.O.W.-M.I.A. Recognition Day, 1981
June 12th, 1981
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Throughout American history our prisoners of war have been called upon to make uncommon sacrifices. In fulfilling their duty as citizens of the United States they have defended American ideals while suffering unimaginable indignities under the absolute control of the enemy. They remained steadfast even while their treatment contravened international understandings and violated elementary consideration of compassion and morality.
All Americans ought to recognize the special debt we owe to our fellow citizens who, in the act of serving our Nation, relinquished their freedom that we might enjoy the blessings of peace and liberty. Likewise, we must remember the unresolved casualties of war—our servicemen who are still missing. The pain and bitterness of war endure for their families, relatives and friends—and for all of us. Our Nation will continue to seek answers to the many questions that remain about their fate.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, July 17, 1981, as National P.O.W.-M.I.A. Recognition Day, a day dedicated to all former American prisoners of war, to those still missing, and to their families. I urge all Americans to join in honoring those who made the uncommon sacrifice of being held captive in war, and to honor as well their loved ones who have also suffered valiantly and patiently. I also call on appropriate officials of the Federal, State and local governments, as well as private organizations, to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifth.
RONALD REAGAN
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 5:02 p.m., June 12, 1981]
That corridor I described with the underground pipeline where I got my red Ford stuck in the mud could actually be a river. It works in a notional sense. There was also that "memory" of Rhonda Ramsey's cousin, Pokey, running my blue, 1967 Chevrolet into the river on graduation night. Not sure precisely what that means. I did note in my journal that I got my red Ford stuck in the mud not far from where I shot that 9-point deer earlier. I also noticed my journal reflected that something had happened the night before, reinforcing that I went back to Osirak the next day to hit it again and finish the job.
There was also that newspaper article I noted recently about President Reagan searching for a nurse that was present when he was in the hospital after being shot. The article indicated he was searching for his "Florence Nightingale" and the date on the article was one or two days after the Osirak strike. Why would I have articicial and symbolic memories of when my step-grandfather Ronnie Romine was in the hospital and he was dying from a lung ailment?
I can still "remember" when my sister and I found out Ronnie Romine had died. We were staying with some people Thedia knew and they had a new swimming pool. One of the kids was teaching me how to flip as I jumped off the diving board. He told me to keep my hands in my pockets as I jumped and I would automatically flip over. I "remember" their pool wasn't very pleasant to swim in because it was very murky. It was also cold because they said the guy who constructed it was afraid of installing the heater-lamp because I think someone had been electrocuted when he installed one before. I can still visualize sitting in their house and watching Saturday Night Live.
The Reagan assassination attempt occurred on March 30, 1981, just 70 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr., who had previously stalked President Jimmy Carter and had a history of mental illness.
...
Moments after the shooting began, Reagan was whisked away by the Secret Service agents in the presidential limousine. At first, there was no realization that the President had been wounded; the bullet which hit him entered under his armpit. However, when Secret Service agent Jerry Parr checked him for gunshot wounds, Reagan coughed up bright, frothy blood. From his training, Parr knew that the President was hit in the lung, and ordered the motorcade to divert to nearby George Washington University Hospital, where an emergency surgery was performed. Shortly before surgery to remove the bullet, which barely missed his heart, Reagan remarked to the operating doctor, "I hope you're a Republican." The head surgeon, liberal Democrat Joseph Giordano, replied, "Mr. President, today we are all Republicans."[18] He recovered quickly, despite being 70 years old, and was able to continue his presidential duties.
This is what Ronnie Romine, my step-grandfather, was in the hospital for and I "remember" sleeping on the sofa in his hospital room:
emphysema
A chronic lung disease characterized by progressive, irreversible expansion of the alveoli with eventual destruction of alveolar tissue, causing obstruction to airflow. Patients with emphysema often have labored breathing, wheezing, chronic fatigue, and increased susceptibility to infection, and may require oxygen therapy. Long-term smoking is a common cause of emphysema.
Pink Floyd
Pigs On The Wing (Part One) Lyrics
If you didn't care what happened to me,
And I didn't care for you
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.
