JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT)- In Onslow County the volunteer group, Rolling Thunder, works each day to keep the memory of the missing alive.
"When a service man goes to war and is killed and he's brought home....the family has closure,” says Paul Levesque, President of Rolling Thunder 5. “For many of these families who have loved ones who have not come home....there are questions they need answer to."
And answers are what families could get with new legislation introduced last week by U.S Congressman Walter B. Jones. He introduced a resolution that would de-classify documents and allow families to learn more about the last moments of their loved ones lives.
"If they want to know what happened...or the last information on that loved one..by God they ought to have that opportunity to do it. That's what this resolution does," said Jones.
In 2010 there were 43 missing Vietnam era veterans from North Carolina. This past year two of those men were returned home.
Rolling Thunder volunteers estimate nearly 200 North Carolina based troops are still missing in the Korean War. In more recent years, two soldiers are missing. One from Iraq, the other from Afghanistan.
"If we can't educate the public these people are going to be forgotten....and these two men right here...if no one talks about them...no one will ever know we have POW's in this previous war,” said Robert Meador, Rolling Thunder volunteer.
Congressmen Jones says he’s working with his counterparts in the Senate to adopt a similar bill in the New Year. He says since so many years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, he’s hopeful the Defense Department will reconsider declassifying documents to give families of the unaccounted for piece of mind.
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