US customs finds missing Vietnam war plaque

US customs officials have retrieved a Vietnam war plaque missing for seven years, after raiding a shipment of military items bound for Thailand, officials said Wednesday.
The memorial plaque, paying tribute to 19 prisoners of war and military personnel missing in action during the conflict, disappeared after being sent for re-polishing by its owners in 2004.
It belonged to Americans Who Care, based in Fayetteville, Carolina, and was seized by customs officers in a shipment leaving the West Coast port of Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, on April 19.
"This discovery attests the attentiveness, vigilance and high degree of expertise of CBP?s outbound enforcement team at LA/Long Beach seaport," said US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Los Angeles head Carlos Martel.
"I commend the CBP officers involved in the recovery of this piece of history that will bring closure to military families in Fayetteville."
Janice Lee Urton of Americans Who Care said: "Its return will bring great relief to many and deep healing that it will be coming home," to be seen again by those who "want to pay tribute to our military men and women."

 

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