THE WALL OF FACES

"Jack" and I were shipmates on the Enterprise. Upon leaving port in Norfolk he said he had been named Weapons officer of VA-76 and knew little about it and could I tutor him as I had more than a year in that post and had attended many schools. We studied together every night from Norfolk to Subic Bay. We became quite close friends. Before that hateful day we briefed and manned our A/C for 2 days prior so we were psyched. The night before Jack asked if he could come up and talk. When he came in, he said he came to say " goodbye. I asked what he meant and he said " I won't be coming back tomorrow. " I told him he was crazy and was a good Catholic with a loving family and if anyone came back it would be him
To this day I will never comprehend how he knew. The next day I watched as him A/4 slammed in to a hillside North of the target. He did not reject. I also lost my VA-36 squadron mate Ray Alcorn who spent over 7 years as a POW. " There but for the grace of God go I".
Eapo

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. It remains my fervent hope you will be returned home after the passage of so many years.

Never forget.

Semper Fortis

Dear Lt John Prudhomme, Thank you for your service as a Pilot on the USS ENTERPRISE, and for graduating from Annapolis. You are still MIA. Please come home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Independence Day is soon. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Be at peace.

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in commemoration of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,586 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Director (Maj. Gen, USAFR, ret) Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also recorded a separate video message to Gold Star MIA families. Additionally, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) produced a “virtual” event on 18 Sep. Since the 2019 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 1 Vietnam War MIA. Lieutenant John Douglas Prudhomme, USNA Class of 1961, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 3 graduates from his U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class who is still MIA. The other 2 USNA Class of 1961 MIAs are LT Frank Brown and LTJG Terence Murphy. As of the date of this ceremony, there are 55 USNA graduates still MIA in Southeast Asia (SEA) from the Vietnam War. They account for 32% of the 169 men from Annapolis who made the ultimate sacrifice in SEA during the Vietnam War.

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Pentagon ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766486/defense-officials-recognize-prisoners-war-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Hickam AFB ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766491/admiral-commemorates-prisoners-war-and-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to DPAA Director McKeague’s video statement:
https://vimeo.com/454474340

This is the link to the VVMF virtual remembrance: https://www.vvmf.org/POWMIA-2020/