Sean Reyes: “Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to rise in support of this important resolution which honors the U.S. military personnel…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to rise in support of this important resolution which honors the U.S. military personnel who were held as prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. Acknowledging the courage and sacrifice of this Nation's POWs and reinforcing the commitment to continuing to press for a final accounting of those servicemen who remain missing in action is very appropriate, and I am pleased that we are considering this resolution on this 25th anniversary of the release of many of Vietnam's POWs. As a Vietnam veteran myself, I understand the horror of that war and the great sacrifices that were made by my comrades in arms from throughout this Nation, but I, like most in this body and in this country, can never understand the nightmare experienced by our POWs. While we are all subject to terrible living conditions, missing loved ones, fear of losing our lives to the Vietcong hostile fire, we were, however, the fortunate ones. The POWs and the MIAs had so much more to deal with. They were routinely subjected to brutal mistreatment, including beatings, torture, starvation, the denial of medical attention.”