Talk:Robert R. Garwood

needs work
What service was Garwood in?

He returned in 1979 and had his status changed in 1998. Other than that, this article does not account for any chronology. I'd sure like to know when all the events described happened.

172.134.5.158 (talk) 23:02, 31 December 2007 (UTC)RKH

Better Sources & adverbs/adjectives needed
This section of the paragraph lends itself to be read as a section of a personal opinion work, and thus presents itself as possibly biased set of statements. Actual citations would improve the credibility, otherwise it appears that it should be left out.

"McKenney was a dedicated career Marine officer with a "the tougher-it-gets, it's-just-right-for-me-and-my guys" attitude who believed in the Corps and the leadership above him.[citation needed] When he heard about this "traitor" Garwood, he took personal responsibility for hunting him down and killing him.[citation needed] Garwood, according to official decree, was an enemy collaborator and had to be eliminated. McKenney never questioned the word from the top, and from day one he went after Garwood with a vengeance, but never could find him.[citation needed]"

Specifically; "...a "the tougher-it-gets, it's-just-right-for-me-and-my guys" attitude who believed in the Corps and the leadership above him."
 * This appears to read as rhetoric and there is no way to prove thus without a specific citation including a quote from McKenney himself,or an official letter of recommendation/citation including this phrase.

"...he took personal responsibility for hunting him down and killing him."
 * This is difficult to prove again without proper citations as noted above. A more unbiased sounding statement may be; "...he accepted the responsibility..."  but this must also be cited for accuracy.

"Garwood, according to official decree, was an enemy collaborator and had to be eliminated."
 * A citation would be needed for the "eliminated" part of this statement, or it must be clarified that this is hearsay without proper evidence.

"McKenney never questioned the word from the top, and from day one he went after Garwood with a vengeance, but never could find him.[citation needed]"
 * The phrases "never questioned", "from day one", and "with a vengeance" read as movie quotes or passages from novels and are typically not present in certified works of accurate research as they tend to show emotionally biased thoughts. If this are found to be quotes from McKenney himself, or superior officers of his, such citations would improve their credibility.


 * I believe (and I could easily be wrong here) that McKenney claimed to actually have met him in a hotel room. Though this would also need to be carefully cited.


 * In the source of the paragraph a website was referenced for editors; "http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/renne/renne1.html". Unfortunately, this is very clearly a biased article and should not be included as accurate referencing because said biased.  I can understand the author wanting to include this type of source, but it only furthers the perception of the reader's that the author may have been misinformed through such sources.  More accurate citation sources would include testimony from McKenney and Garwood themselves, quotes from superior officers, records of trial proceedings or other sources that are not emotionally charged.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Davefrisch (talk • contribs) 04:30, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

This paragraph is incredible. I submit that this information is utterly untrue, a complete fabrication: "Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Tom McKenney has stated he had been ordered to lead an assassination mission with orders to kill Garwood for being a traitor. The mission could not find Garwood. McKenney now believes he had been sent to kill the remaining POWs to hide evidence that the United States government had knowingly abandoned many POWs.[6]" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tonygumbrell (talk • contribs) 04:39, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Run on sentence
"The real Garwood, whose role Macchio portrayed in the production, was a consultant to the film's producers, according to which Garwood had been ordered to survive by one of his superiors, who was also a captive of the North Vietnamese." The above sentence is gibberish. It needs to be split into two or more sentences to clarify the meaning, that is if the meaning can be clarified. The author of the above may not know what he is trying to say here. We certainly can't make sense of it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tonygumbrell (talk • contribs) 04:47, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

The run-on has been edited to

The made-for-TV film The Last P.O.W.? The Bobby Garwood Story, starring Ralph Macchio and Martin Sheen, was released in 1992. Garwood, played by Macchio, was a consultant on the film. The film's producers claimed that Garwood had received orders to survive from another higher ranking POW. However, there is no substantiation for this claim.

[Note: What does "ordered to survive" mean?] BKitteh (talk) 08:56, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

Time chunk missing
According to the text, he was declared missing in 1965, and the next date is the 1981 BBC interview. What happened in between? The lead says he returned to the US in 1979, but how? Why? If anybody has the books, or is familiar with the topic, the article would benefit from having this missing chunk of time filled in. Also, what's doing now? He can't be supporting himself on book and movie deals. - Boneyard90 (talk) 15:38, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Weird wording
I changed "impersonated" to "played". Would we refer to an actor "impersonating" anyone else? Geo Swan (talk) 05:35, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Robert R. Garwood. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20060509174926/http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter/inantonres3998.html to http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter/inantonres3998.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 09:49, 15 January 2016 (UTC)

Pow status end date actually June 4, 1975..
It is quite possible that North Vietnam kept Robert Garwood as captive after the March 1973 release date. His pow status could of been until June 4, 1975 when the last pow prisoners were killed ending the Vietnam war. After that date they had no propaganda reason to keep him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:805:4201:2640:4430:595B:19A4:3E79 (talk) 08:24, 26 August 2018 (UTC)

Categorizing in Category:American prisoners of war
I notice you removed the category and I just reverted that edit. Based on my reading of the article, there doesn't appear to be a dispute on whether Garwood was a POW for a time; he was captured and taken prisoner. The main controversy here is mostly about his time spent in Vietnam after the war ended; Garwood claims he was still held prisoner, but independent investigations have not found evidence to support his claims. eπi ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 14:07, 12 May 2019 (UTC)


 * I was sorting the Category:American prisoners of war into their wars. He should be in the subcategory Category:Vietnam War prisoners of war.  Hawkeye7   (discuss)  19:22, 12 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Ah, I see; I assume you forgot to make the category replacement in the original edit? I've done the replacement. eπi  ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 22:39, 15 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks.  Hawkeye7   (discuss)  23:42, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

Where now?
The article just ends with his court martial. What happened in the next 40 years? Where did he end up? If it isn't known, then it should say that. No death date is listed, so presumably he is stil alive, somewhere. Venqax (talk) 16:07, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Removed unreliable source
The list of works on Garwood included "BOHICA : Operation Grand Eagle-Official USA/ISA POW/MIA Rescue Mission Gone Awry, published 1987 written by Scott T. Barnes, Mission Specialist. Debriefing of Robert Garwood in 1986 with LTG Tighe Jr-DIA." Inadequate publication data to list here. If this is the same as "Bohica: a True Account of One Man's Battle to Expose the Most Heinous Cover-Up of the Vietnam Saga" it is a self-published work that doesn't come close to meeting the reliable source standard. Rgr09 (talk) 03:57, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

1998 status changed to AWOL/Deserter?
The government never showed proof that he refused to return in 1973. The government actually was surprised that he was still alive in 1979 as the claimed for 6 years all servicemen had returned. 184.16.71.20 (talk) 21:06, 9 July 2022 (UTC)


 * The government was going to quietly let him return and pay him back pay. After he stated that North Vietnam had POWs working in a slave labor camp, they did everything they could to make him look like a traitor /liar. They spent millions of dollars to do just that. They probably would have killed him except for the fact he was on security tape entering the embassy.
 * We are not interested in your unsupported conspiracy theories. If you have nothing useful to contribute in accordance with WP rules, WP is not the place for you. Mztourist (talk) 08:01, 29 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Not theory at all . Direct testimony from Gary Garwood to one of his relatives. A conspiracy would be a government spending millions of dollars to make a solider look bad after he said that POWS were alive in 1979. Something the government already knew but did not want to admit. Many POWs were held back in slave labor camps at the end of the war as declared war criminals with life sentences. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.102.147.20 (talk) 04:36, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * "Direct testimony from Gary Garwood to one of his relatives" is not WP:RS, so a conspiracy theory. As I said, if you have nothing useful to contribute in accordance with WP rules, WP is not the place for you. Stop filling up this Talk Page with rubbish. Mztourist (talk) 08:26, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Your POV does not overrule the truth. The truth is American POWs were alive in 1979 weather you like it or not. Obviously, you believe the government tripe all POWs were released in early 1973. 50.102.147.20 (talk) 20:52, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * WP:TRUTH, now go back to your conspiracy blogs. Mztourist (talk) 02:58, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

So it a conspiracy that the U.S> government offered him full back pay and forward promotions in rank to just shut his mouth about living POWs and come home quietly. Once he told the government agents that he would tell all about the abandoned POWs he saw in 1979 they spent millions of dollars and bought witnesses to brand him a traitor to discredit him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.102.147.20 (talk) 12:21, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
 * WP:PROVEIT. Mztourist (talk) 04:31, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Pows alive as of February 10,1979
According to a relative of Gary Garwood. Garwood was at a pow slave labor camp in North Vietnam where at least 50 American POWs were still alive working off life sentences for claimed war crimes. These POWS were either murdered of died sometime after February 10,1979. 50.102.147.20 (talk) 02:34, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
 * These rubbish claims are covered in Post-war POW claim investigation section. Mztourist (talk) 03:05, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

The reason he knew he had to escape back to America was to get the word about these 50+ living POWs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.102.147.20 (talk) 04:39, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * More rubbish claims. Mztourist (talk) 08:25, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

So anything that does not fit the lies of the government are rubbish? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.102.147.20 (talk) 12:23, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
 * You go on believing your conspiracy theories and the claims of a traitor trying to rehabilitate his image. Mztourist (talk) 03:30, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

Rehabilitate his image? He is 76 years old in bad health and wants the truth to be known. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.102.147.20 (talk) 01:26, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * The truth is already known, no US POWS were left alive and Garwood was a traitor. Mztourist (talk) 02:42, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep believing the lies of the US government. THe same government who said Agent Orange was harmless to people. ￼ 50.102.147.20 (talk) 04:20, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
 * You keep believing the lies that the traitor Garwood told. Mztourist (talk) 05:55, 12 October 2022 (UTC)