1965 MIA
Major John R. Schumann was an advisor from Headquarters, MACV, and his job was assisting a village chief in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam. On June 16, 1965, he was in an automobile with the village chief while the unit they were overseeing was operating about 5 miles northeast of the city
of Vinh Long along the border of Dinh Tuong and Vinh Long Provinces.
The unit was ambushed and Schumann and others were captured. The village chief escaped capture. Schumann was held with several Americans during the period he was a prisoner of war, and all who were subsequently released report that he died in captivity.
In 1973, Henry Kissinger gave the Vietnamese a list of “discrepancy cases” on whom the Vietnamese should have information. John R. Schumann’s name did not appear on that list.
Since the war ended, the Vietnamese have made no effort to return the body of Robert Schumann, even though it should be readily available to them. Although dead, Schumann remains a prisoner of war.
Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.
(Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK with numerous “clip and paste” notes on John Robert from numerous sources. )
