Date of Loss: 02 March 1971

Today, what I would like you to do is read the Scripture first and then afterwards I have something for you, who are Vietnam era vets to think about.

1 After these things Jesus shewed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise (in this manner) shewed He Himself.

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee (John and James), and two other of His disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, "I go a fishing". They say unto him, "We also go with thee." They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But, when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, "No." 6 And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved (John) saith unto Peter, "It is the Lord."

Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,(300 feet)) dragging the net with fishes.

9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask Him, "Who art Thou?" knowing that it was the Lord.

13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed Himself to His disciples, after that He was risen from the dead.

15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?

He saith unto Him, "Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?

He saith unto Him, "Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee." He saith unto him, Feed My sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?

Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep.

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest:

and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake He, signifying by what death he (Peter) should glorify God.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple (John) whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, "Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee?" (See John 13:23-25) 21 Peter seeing him (John) saith to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do?"

22 Jesus saith unto him (Peter), If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me.

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple (John) should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

24 This is that disciple (John) which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we (the Apostles and followers of Jesus) know that His (Jesus') testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I (John) suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Note: *stretch forth thy hands Peter was crucified, in telling Peter how he would die, the Lord did it by describing Peters death. At his death, Peter said he was unworthy to be crucified as the Lord had been, with his face up, so he demanded and was granted the right to be crucified up side down, with his head towards the ground. (John Chapter Twenty-one ACP/KJV)

Back about 40 years ago, we in these United States were tossed into a war in Indo China, it later became known as the Viet Nam conflict. This little conflict ran for about 12 years. While we had men there in 1958, it really didn't start getting heavy till 1962, by 1965 the government needed to make it public, cause they were getting to many body bags back. By 1966, the communist in the press and in our own government realized that the only way to keep us from winning was to use propaganda in the press making us look like evil little child murderers and within our own government, making rules of engagement that made it absolutely impossible for us to win. Even though, as we lost about 60,000 men and killed 2,500,000 of theirs, the left communist in the press and in our government have convinced some of us that we lost.

Now, you are probably wandering why I'm bringing that up at this time. Do you see where Jesus gave Peter three chances to undo the wrong he had done in denying the Lord three times? When He ask Peter three times, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?" Remember how back in John 13:39 while talking to Peter, Jesus said: Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice.

Do you remember back when Jesus said: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Between the years of 1962 and 1974 about 25 million men and women served in the US Military, of those about 6 million actually went to Nam or close to it in Cambodia, Laos, and heaven only knows where else. To those 25 million men and women you could add another 40 million parents, husbands, wives, kids, brothers, sisters, etc. Making it a voting block of about 65 million.

And still around 700 of those who served in Nam are still considered POW's or MIA's. In 1974, a Republican president sent his henchman, Kissinger to Paris to sell these 700 out. In 1998, a Democrat president, Clinton, sold them out by normalizing trade with those who still hold our brothers captive. In this year, 2002, we have a Viet Nam era vet serving as President of these United States and still not a word about our men still captive in Nam, Laos and Cambodia is being heard. Could it be that they are all dead? I don't think so, for you see, I'm not dead, I'm fifty eight, the same age the oldest being held would be.

Think about it for a moment, there is a guy being held today in Nam that was captured when he was twenty, he just turned fifty eight last week. 38 years, 9 presidents later, and he is still there.

How come, how can it be that none of those nine presidents or thirty eight years has brought him home? Could it be because, we the voting block of 65 million are more interested in being democrats or republicans than we are in being Christians and patriots?

Jesus so loved His brothers that He willingly went through unbearable torture for them, through the cruelest of all deaths, crucifixion for them, and yet He still came back for them. He still came back and made them lunch back in versetwelve. Yet, we call each other brother, we refer to those women who served during that time as our sisters, we look on the wall with 59,000 names or so and cry as we lament the lose of our brothers, yet we go to the polls as stupid little slime balls and dutifully cast our votes, not for men who will get those seven hundred back, but for ones who are of the same party as us. Ones who will give us food stamps, security, welfare, social security and others things earned with someone else's blood and sweat.

Isn't it time to use your vote to do what is right for Christ, for the nation, and for our children, rather than to line our own pockets? Isn't it time we used our collective votes to get our missing brothers home, before they are to old to make the trip? Isn't it time to put what is right ahead of what is politically expedient?

Lord, we are a huge voting block, use us to do Thy will, use us to get those we cowardly left behind home. Use us to rescue them and us from the communist in Nam and in our government.

Name: Deland Dwight Zubke
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: B Battery, 7th Battalion, 15th Artillery, 52nd Artillery Group
Date of Birth: 28 October 1951 (Dickinson ND)
Home City of Record: Grassy Butte ND
Date of Loss: 02 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143300N 1073640E (YB805097)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1713

Source: Compiled 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 in 1998.

SYNOPSIS: SP5 Deland W. Zubke was serving as a radio operator for a U.S. Artillery forward observer attached to an ARVN unit in South Vietnam. On February 28, 1971, at about 1700 hours, his unit came under enemy attack, and was forced to occupy defensive positions.

At 1410 hours on March 1, the ARVN unit's perimeter was breached and the unit began to break up, with the survivors attempting to evade capture. The three other Americans serving with this group evaded capture. Survivors report last seeing SP5 Zubke inside the defensive perimeter. While the surviving escaped, they called an air strike on their former position. Zubke was not seen again.

Zubke was presumed to have been killed in the air strike called in to protect the surviving members of the team. A cold reality of war is that the few may sometimes suffer for the greater good of many. The Army believes this is the case with Zubke, but because, in the confusion there is the chance that Zubke left the bunker, the Army did not declare him killed, but listed him Missing in Action. Clearly, the Army accepted the possibility that Zubke had been captured.

Although Zubke was not among the prisoners returned a the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received indicating that many Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, held against their will. One of them could be SP5 Deland W. Zubke. If so, what must he be thinking of his country?

Notice how the prisoners given to the Russians by the North Koreans are no longer mentioned by the media or government? No mention of the Americans taken by the Russians in WWII either. Soon the ones from Vietnam will also fall by the wayside. What of the pilot that is reported to be alive inside of Iraq? Our government must be held responsible. Keep the flame burning for these men and their families.

The only way our government will be held accounatable is if we, the sixty million voters referred to in the ariticle above, put those who were left behind, ahead of our welfare checks, food stamps, and the rest of the socialist garbage they, the politicians distract us with.

We call them brothers and we leave them to rot.

We could start by emailing the president and reminding him that he is a Viet Nam era vet Republican, not a left wing commie democrat kennedy lover.

Even though, as we lost about 60,000 men and killed 2,500,000 of theirs, the left communist in the press and in our government have convinced some of us that we lost.

Where did this guy come up with that number? He must have been one of those guys that gave body count numbers to the press each week and we know how inflated they were. A more accurate count of North Vietnamese regular troops and Viet Cong killed during the war is about 600,000.

LBJ did a lot more lying to us then the press ever did during the war.

Your figure is woefully outdated. Since 1998 once secret documents from Vietnam have been released. It reveals that the U.S. DoD grossly underestimated the effect of air power in the war. It is correct that about 2.5 million enemy were killed in that conflict. It's not a mistake and is publicly available information. The 600'000 you quote was from Vietnam era estimates which we now know were wrong.

Vietnam was before my time but I've read up quite a bit on the MIA issue. It is one of the strangest stories I've ever heard. There is incontrovertible evidence that indeed some 600-700 living POWs were not repatriated at Operation Homecoming (a number of at least 367 is irrefutable). It is amazing, and strange, that the general public seems to know little if anything about this evidence. After mulling over it for years, and reading and researching it for just as long, I've concluded that the U.S. government indeed sold them out for "national security" reasons. The evidence for that is also VERY strong.

The U.S. politicos were afraid that if ANY credence were given to non-repatriated living POWs the families of these POWs, and lobbyist groups for them, would have undue influence on U.S. foreign policy and that this was unacceptable. This basic tenet, I now know for a fact, was held to as late as the Clinton Administration. POWs from the Korean conflict and WWII (in staggering numbers) were also not repatriated as Communist nations claimed.

Failure to repatriate a soldier after a conflict is one of the most inhumane and insidious crimes a government can commit. It is unbelievable, but that is Communist thinking for you. Genuine spies are another story, but N. Vietnam tried to claim that the U.S. servicemembers were spies (especially if captured outside of S. Vietnam) or "petty criminals", which was ludicrous. I'm just wondering if we'll ever get a Pres with the 'you know what' to step up to the plate, forget about 'economic trade' and "normalization of relations", and get these guys accounted for.

Thanks for the work you're doing on this. I did some research also and came up with what seems to make quite a bit of sense at this site:

Casualties - US vs NVA/VC

These are updated numbers. I'll go with 1.1 million NVA and VC KIA's, and that's a far cry from the 2.5 million posted in this article. But then, numbers aren't really that important all these years later. The families of MIA's still have no idea what really happened and that is the damn shame.

Well, I've got lots of FOIA docs and letters from Congress, et al on my desk but I was hoping to find an internet source. The 1.1 million figure is NVA only. By simple extrapolation, and knowing the nature of that war, the Viet Cong dead was at least as high. That makes 2.2 million, at least. But you're right, in the end, numbers don't matter, especially for the enemy who I could still not give a d*&m about.

As for the MIA families, that is a travesty this country won't soon be able to live down. The recent revelation about Speicher from Desert Storm seemed only to be a continuation of this pathetic U.S. policy of classifying servicemember losses on the basis of political considerations rather than fact. Only now, when foreign policy towards Iraq is becoming irrlelvant, do we see any interest in finding out what happened to the guy. U.S. behavior on MIAs is so predictable. I do not agree with the reasoning that foreign policy is vulnerable to the MIA issue for one simple reason; if Vietnam did hold any POWs after Operation Homecoming, that by itself is an act of war and we should annihlate the sh&*thole. In other words, it seems to me that foreign policy should be affected by the MIA issue. There is a lot more I could say on that but that is another thread :-)

One way or the other, even if I'm ninety years old, I'm gonna find out what really happened.

I read the source. Good site. The press release it refers to is the information I was talking about. Vietnam also released even more in the months and years that followed that 1995 release. Notice in the press release that the Vietnamese Communists refer to "soldiers killed" or something to that effect. They were talking about NVA, not Viet Cong, I believe. A lot of people have read this and assumed they were talking about all Communist 'combatants'.

The Vietnamese 'government' has also inadvertently released information that shows their hand with respect to their lies about MIAs. Documents were mistakenly released that showed their complicity in the affair. It would be humorous if it weren't so serious.

They were talking about NVA, not Viet Cong, I believe

According to the chart on that site, the 1.1 million includes VC and NVA. Your link you posted is from the same site and I agree, it is a very informative site.

Keep up the good work. It's noble, albeit lonely, work you are doing.

I think the key to cracking this 'case' is to get foreign governments, specifically, Vietnam, Russia and China, to have more 'accidents' and to obtain documents from them that were never intended for general consumption. This has already happened more than once and it has provided a lot of the evidence for live POWs. Apparently, the files were mis-classified and foreigners got their hands on them. But I, for one, have no desire to step foot in these countries, so I'll have to get others to do the legwork. I'm working on something now but I don't want to say too much yet. Congressman Bob Smith has also been very helpful (and has tipped the hand of U.S. policy on this matter). But there's only so much you'll get out of Washington.

Thanks for the encouragement and, if you are one of the vets, thank you for your service and sacrifice to the Republic.

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...Bring of the fish which ye have now caught