Operation: H.E.A.R.T.

Operation: H.E.A.R.T. Is the acronym for Mission: POW-MIA's newest effort to assist POW-MIA families in achieving case progression and one day...resolution as to the fate of their missing loved one.

The acronym stands for the following:

Honorable Exchange of Artifacts for Resolution in Time...which means returning artifacts between former enemies that may help lead to answers as to the fate of loved ones from all sides of the Vietnam War before time runs out. 

Types of American MIA artifacts that we are seeking from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia include:

• ID cards
• Dog tags
• Blood chits
• Uniform items with identifying information
• Serial numbers from weapons
• Equipment with identifying information
• Helmets with squadron logos or markings
• Oxygen masks

Types of Vietnamese artifacts that we are seeking from former US military personnel, and their families include:

• Uniform items such as helmets, belts, shirts with names or markings
• Personal items such as knives
• Diaries
• Wallets
• Photographs
• Letters
• Battle flags

It's time for these artifacts, captured on the field of battle to return back to their country of origin, so that all sides of past conflicts may receive some measure of connection to their missing loved one. 

Mission: POW-MIA extends a heartfelt THANK YOU to those Vietnam Veterans and family members who are providing us with Vietnamese artifacts. These items could possibly be the key to case resolution and peace of mind for our POW-MIA families. 

In May of 1968, Corporal Johnny Johnson of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division was engaged in Operation Allen Brook. He recovered these items from a fortified PAVN position. Days before the battle, his unit had helped to relocate an orphanage that was near where the battle was going to occur.  During the prolonged battle that would occur south of Da Nang, 138 US Marines were Killed in Action and 686 were Wounded in Action, including Johnny. The PAVN losses were estimated to have exceeded 600. The items turned over to Mission: POW-MIA came from that battle.

In October 2024, Mission: POW-MIA representatives were guest speakers at the Special Operations Association Reunion in Las Vegas. We discussed US MIA artifacts that we had observed in Vietnam and asked those in attendance to send us items that could possibly be exchanged for US MIA artifacts.  Dan Krutina, US Army Special Forces, MAC-V-SOG, Command & Control Central, Recon Team Delaware sent us this handmade knife with what appears to be a buffalo horn handle. He recovered it from an NVA soldier in Laos in July/August of 1970. Dan sent us a photo when he was in Kontum. He is seated, second from left. "Todd, Krutina, Walker, Charlie and Baby Huey". 

A special thank you to the men of MAC-V-SOG!

On March 30, 2025 Mission: POW-MIA received a call from Doug Brooks of Chesapeake, VA. Doug wanted to turn over a flag that his Dad brought back from Vietnam in 1968/69. He did not know where the flag came from and assumed his Dad had traded something for it. In doing some research on EN1 Warren Brooks, we learned he was part of a US Navy LORAC team. LORAC teams deployed to remote locations setting up a system that used radio signals received from three independent but coordinated shore based transmitting stations to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. According to an article we found in a July 1960 edition of All Hands US Navy magazine, the work was "rugged" and performed in the most "inhospitable" places only inhabited by "bugs". According to his Paddy Rat certificate, Warren worked with the 21st Infantry Regiment who operated in South Vietnam to include the U-Minh Forrest. This area was heavily concentrated with Viet Cong. Unfortunately, Warren passed away many years ago so we will never know where he acquired the flag but the circumstantial evidence would lead one to believe that Warren acquired the flag during his time with the 21st INF Regiment.  Photos are of Doug presenting the flag to Mission: POW-MIA, a photo of EN1 Brooks and his "Paddy Rat" certification. 

In May of 2024, a wallet that belonged to a member of the Viet Cong was turned over to Mission: POW-MIA by a former 9th Infantry Division soldier attached to the Mobile Riverine Force. The wallet contained letters from home, a photograph and a receipt for an automatic weapon. It was recovered following an engagement in late April 1969 in the Mekong Delta region. We took this wallet with us to Vietnam and shared it with the Vietnam Family Martyrs Association. Examining the wallet in Vietnam is Lt. General (Ret) Hoang Khanh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Martyr Families Support Association.  Ultimately, we turned the wallet over to the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency Det 2 (Hanoi) Commander LTC Travis Walter. 

We were informed by DPAA that the wallet had been exchanged during the annual US-Vietnam Technical Talks regarding POW-MIAs in September of 2024. In return, the Vietnamese provided a dog tag of an American MIA. 

In June of 2024, Mission: POW-MIA representatives participated in a trip to Vietnam sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace. Part of our trip objectives were to visit Vietnamese Museums looking for artifacts related to US MIAs. In the early 1990s, US Government personnel, including Defense Intelligence Agency Stony Beach, made an effort to document MIA items located in museums. These reports were entered into the Library of Congress records. The effort to retrieve these items, many related to active MIA cases have held little priority. During our visit and using these LOC records we tracked down multiple US MIA items STILL on display. These items included ID cards, dog tags, flight helmets and more. Items discovered also did not appear in LOC records. Several of the museums opened up the displays and allowed us to examine and photograph these items. Being the first Americans to handle some of these items in over 50+ years, since they were last in the hands of an American MIA, was very emotional and sobering. It was at this point Mission: POW-MIA became determined to recover these artifacts and get them back to our families. We have been able to contact several families of US MIAs to advise them of the artifacts we discovered.