Robert R. Garwood

Robert Russell Garwood (born 1 April 1946 in Greensburg, Indiana) is a former Vietnam War prisoner of war (POW). Garwood was a United States Marine Corps Private First Class when he was captured on September 28, 1965 at DaNang, in Quang Nam province during the war.

Often cited as the last American POW from the Vietnam War, Garwood was taken to North Vietnam in 1969, and reportedly released in 1973 along with all other American POWs, but did not return to the United States until March 22, 1979. Garwood is listed either as having volunteered or been forced into a work group repairing a generator at Lien Trai I, one of the Yen Bai reeducation camps in Hoang Lien San Province in northern Vietnam. Other reports describe him as working at an unnamed "island fortress" in Thac Ba, North Vietnam, or having been kept behind in mainland labor camps as a driver and vehicle mechanic. Garwood was considered by the Department of Defense (DoD) to have acted as a collaborator with the enemy. In 1998, the DoD changed Garwood's status from RETURNEE to AWOL/Deserter/Collaborator.

Garwood has repeatedly denied the charges of collaboration. Garwood has also accused the DoD of trying to rewrite history to make him seem like a liar to downplay his 1984 claims: Garwood claims he had seen other POWs "left behind" after 1973 and that he had been held prisoner for 14 years, though there are inconsistencies in his story. Many former POWs claim to have witnessed Garwood apparently collaborating with the enemy, though most say he should not have been court-martialed. Nevertheless, the Marine Corps convicted Garwood of collaboration, reduced him in rank to Private, and dishonorably discharged him from the Corps; as a result, he forfeited all back pay.

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

Military service and capture
Garwood was assigned to the Marine base at DaNang in South Vietnam as a motor-pool driver. The circumstances surrounding Garwood's disappearance are in dispute; Garwood himself claims that he was ambushed when he got lost while driving alone in a jeep to pick up an officer, that his jeep was torched and he was stripped naked. What is known is that on 28 September 1965, he was absent at the 2300 bed check. No unauthorized absence (UA) was reported because Garwood was thought to have had a "late run." He was reported UA after he failed to report for muster at 0730 on the 29th.

On 29 September, the Division Provost Marshal was notified of Garwood's absence and an all points bulletin was issued for him and his missing vehicle. This bulletin was repeated for three days with no results. Personnel from the motor pool searched areas of Da Nang that Garwood was known to frequent but no leads were uncovered. On 2 October, the division's provost marshal contacted the Republic of Vietnam's Military Security Services. Their search efforts also produced no information regarding Garwood. As these investigations proceeded, Garwood's commanding officer reported to the Commandant, USMC, that, in view of Garwood's past record of UA, it was his opinion that Garwood was possibly UA and this UA could have resulted in Garwood being taken POW. Because of the lack of any evidence of Garwood's capture, however, the CO recommended that there be no change in Garwood's status and that he remain UA until evidence to the contrary proved otherwise. Two separate Vietnamese agents reported that the Viet Cong (VC) claimed that a U.S. serviceman and his jeep had been picked up in the Cam Hai region, approximately 11.5 miles from the DaNang base, after the serviceman had become lost. The American had been captured and the jeep burned. A ground and aerial search for the burned vehicle produced no results, as did four platoon search operations on 1 October. Two additional platoons swept the area in the vicinity of Marble Mountain the next morning but found nothing. On 12 October, the 704th ITC Det (CI) authorized the offer of a 100,000 $VN reward for information leading to the successful recovery of the missing serviceman and additional 2,500 $VN for the recovery of his vehicle.

On 3 December 1965, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment found a document entitled Fellow Soldier's Appeal with Garwood's name on it, on a gate near DaNang. The document recommended, among other things, 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 in the letter suggests that it was not written entirely by a native English speaker. A second version of this document was found on 18 July 1966 in the DaNang area, but it appeared to be on better quality paper and the signature was at a different angle. In view of this information, Pvt. Garwood's status was changed from "missing" to "presumed captured" on 17 December 1965.

Post-war POW claim investigation
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which called Garwood a "stay-behind," investigated Garwood's claim that he saw live American 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 and the group traveled to Vietnam in 1993. Following Garwood's directions, they reported that they found a building just as Garwood had previously described. The Vietnamese government and a former head of the DIA POW/MIA office angrily disputed the finding, insisting the structure had not existed when Garwood was a POW.

Media
In 1981, Garwood was interviewed by the BBC.

Film
The made-for-TV film ''The Last P.O.W.? The Bobby Garwood Story,'' starring Ralph Macchio and Martin Sheen, was released in 1992. Garwood, whom Macchio played in the production, was a consultant to the film's producers, according to whom Garwood had received orders to survive from one of his superiors, who was also a captive of the North Vietnamese.

Garwood was also interviewed in 2006 for a Yale University senior thesis project by Sean Clifford. The project involved a documentary film component, and Garwood participated in more than eight hours of videotaped interviews. The film also included interviews with Garwood's court-martial attorney, Vaughan Taylor, as well as fellow P.O.W. David Harker. The interviews with Garwood were the first in more than a decade, and they represented the most complete account to date of the events surrounding Garwood's capture and eventual return to the U.S.

Books

 * Conversations With The Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood, published 1983, written by Winston Groom with Duncan Spencer. Groom, a Vietnam veteran, also wrote the novel Forrest Gump.


 * Kiss the Boys Goodbye, published 1990, written by Monika Jensen-Stevenson, a producer for CBS's 60 Minutes in 1985. The book begins with a segment she produced on Garwood.


 * Spite House, published 1997 and likewise written by Monika Jensen-Stevenson, gives a detailed account of one of Lt. Colonel McKenny's commando teams's attempt to kill Garwood in a North Vietnamese jungle camp for collaborating with the enemy, and of McKenney's conversion from a would-be assassin into a believer in Garwood's innocence.


 * Why Didn't You Get Me Out? published 1997, written by Frank Anton with Tommy Denton, gives a detailed account of Frank's five years as a POW. He offers extensive eye-witness accounts of Bobby Garwood and his collaboration with the NVA including actually guarding American POWs with a rifle.