NEWINGHAM, JAMES ALTON
Name: James Alton Newingham
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 08 February 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104936N 1065628E (YS126965)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto
Other Personnel In Incident: John J. Fritz (released); Tanos E. Kalil (captured)
REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY PRG
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK.
SYNOPSIS: Tanos E. Kalil, John J. Fritz and James A. Newingham were three U.S.
civilians captured by Viet Cong forces on February 8, 1969 in Bien Hoa
Province, South Vietnam. The three were held together as captives.
In 1973 Operation Homecoming occurred and 591 Americans were released by the
Vietnamese. Two of those lucky Americans were John Fritz and James Newingham.
John Fritz told of having been tortured and repeatedly thrown in a pit with
snakes and scorpions. Being held in South Vietnam and Cambodia had its own
horrors. Fritz and Newingham were lucky to be alive.
The two also told of Tanos Kalil's fate. In April 1969, they reported, Kalil
fell ill with kidney problems. Because of poor medical attention and even
poorer diet, the illness grew more serious and he ultimately died in June 1969
and was buried near camp.
The Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) listed Tanos Kalil as a prisoner
who had died while in captivity. They did not return his remains to U.S.
control. For over 20 years, the U.S. has been unable to bargain for even those
Americans known to have been held captive and now are deceased. Many consider
this an outrage.
Even more outrageous, certainly, is the mounting evidence that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. While Vietnam and the U.S. hold
talks which focus on the only remaining barrier to normalized relations being
Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, families of the nearly 2500 missing men
stand by in helpless horror.
If you know of the where-a-bouts of this former Prisoner of War, please
contact the P.O.W. NETWORK at 660-928-3304 or email pownet@asde.com
Use your Browser's BACK function to return to the PREVIOUS page