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Mark Stephensen
Episode 2488 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the Idaho man who has became very active with the P.O.W./M.I.A. effort decades after losing his father in the Vietnam War. The featured story comes from Idaho 6 News WIVI-TV of Boise. It is titled, Never Forget those left behind enemy lines and was submitted by Don Nelson, KIVI Boise Idaho News 6 anchor.
Col.Mark L. Stephensen
The American Vietnam War left us with numerous long lasting hangovers. One of the most challenging was the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicides utilized by the U.S. in the war. Millions have been had lives changed by this headache.
Another never ending Vietnam War aggravation is the issue of POWs and MIAs. Hundreds of missing Vietnam Veterans remain unaccounted for to this day.
Mark Stephensen lost his father to the war as a young boy. In 1967, Mark’s father COL Mark L. Stephensen was on a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam when he and his aviator were shot down over enemy territory.
Col. Stephensen wasn’t found. His navigator, Gary Seigler, was captured and taken to Hanoi. Mark shared his story with hundreds of local veterans at the Warhawk Air Museum at their monthly Kilroy Coffee Klatch.
Mark became very active with the POW/MIA effort and he actually helped organize and plan trips to Vietnam to excavation sites where the search continues for other missing Americans. He hopes to return.
“Mark said this about his POW/MIA crusade, “I feel ashamed sometimes, I take for granted the freedoms we have. Even doing this at a tremendous cost, and we’re going to be asked to do it again, and I hope that the men and women who see this, who’ve had to step up and do that, will know that there were those of us who weren’t going to let them be forgotten.”
Listen to episode 2488 and discover more about the Idaho man who has became very active with the P.O.W./M.I.A. effort decades after losing his father in the Vietnam War.
