Families of MIAs left to wonder
Montee’s father disappeared in 1966 in Vietnam

Aaron Bailey
St. Joseph News Press

It’s a question Susan Montee often thinks about. Is it better to know a loved one has been killed in the enormity of war or be left to wonder if they’re alive, missing and lost?

For the families of two U.S. soldiers captured last week in Iraq, the question has been answered.

The bodies of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were recovered south of Bagdad late Monday night. Preliminary reports indicate the two were tortured and killed by members of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Ms. Montee is left to wonder.

In 1966, a 7-year-old girl learned her father, Galen Humphrey, had disappeared over the jungles of Vietnam. A helicopter carrying the U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant was shot down, beginning decades of questions.

Forty years later, that girl has grown up and currently is vying for the state auditor’s seat.

But Ms. Montee and her family are still in the dark about Mr. Humphrey’s whereabouts.

“We always believed he was coming home,” Ms. Montee said. “It’s different when a family member is missing in action than a (prisoner of war). The problem is you have no closure. You’re constantly wondering if someone’s coming home.”

Frank Knapp’s family also endured years of uncertainty. For three and a half years, Mr. Knapp lived day to day in the hands of enemy forces.

When Japanese soldiers captured the 194th Tank Battalion in the Philippines during World War II, Mr. Knapp was one of 32 members from St. Joseph who endured years of captivity as a POW.

“The conditions were terrible, then the dysentery and malaria set in,” Mr. Knapp recalled. “Americans were dying so fast we couldn’t get them all buried.”

Mr. Knapp was one of thousands of captured American soldiers who were forced to hike 83 miles in hellish conditions without food or water, now referred to as the “Bataan Death March.” He was then forced to work 12-hour shifts seven days a week, first as a metal scrapper, then in a coal mine.

He had little time to think about family when working in the scorching sun or in the depths of a cave, Mr. Knapp said.

“We didn’t have time to think about it — didn’t have time to think about family,” he said. “All we thought about was survival.”

Death for the soldiers also came at the hands of their captors. Likening al-Qaida fighters to his own captors decades ago, the mentality propagated by war tends to lend itself to brutality, Mr. Knapp said.

“They would rotate the guards, and some of the guards would be all right, but some were terrible,” he recalled. “I’ve seen people shot, beheaded ... and for no particular reason.”

Those are some of the outcomes Ms. Montee fears for her father.

But is it worse to know than not? Her family often discusses this question.

“I think it all comes down to your faith,” she said. “It’s a difficult situation. You just have to trust everything works out for the best.”