The Vietnam War "Ghost Squadron"

Today, the East Granby Town Hall meeting room was the location for the video taping of the stories of three area veterans, Bob Havens, Sar Phouthasack and Bob Butler. Martin Madert from the Witness to War Foundation taped the veterans for broadcast on the www.witnesstowar.org website. The Foundation is dedicated to telling the stories of the brave individuals who fought and served for our country and stood "watch on the wall" for the safety of its citizens.

Bob Havens was part of a highly classified group of soldiers who operated behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War. Their actions were so classified that they were unable to discuss their stories until thirty years after the war ended. Today Bob said that he was "afforded the opportunity to tell my story of VO-67, The Ghost Squadron, and honor the twenty friends I left behind".

Bob Butler also told his story of being a "Cold War" soldier. He served in the Army on the DMZ between Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Sar Phouthasack commanded our allies, the Lao/Hmong Special Guerrilla Units (SGU) in the Secret War in Laos. Sar's friend Kimme was a POW in Laos for almost ten-years until her escape at 1:00 am carrying her infant child in her arms, while being seven-months pregnant. The Veterans Affairs Department still does not recognize Sar and his people and refuses to give them even basic medical benefits. They were just given, after many years of fighting with the government, the right to bury their veterans in Federal Cemeteries with military honors. Unfortunately, the State of Connecticut still has not approved this for State Cemeteries.

It was an honor for the town to host today's taping. Witness to War has over 6100 videos on its website that tell the stories, in the words of the veterans, of the sacrifices that have been made by members of our Armed Forces in defense of our country. The mission of the Witness to War Foundation: Preserve. Honor. Educate.