Bringing Back Honor

When Ensign Andrew Lee Muns suddenly vanished nearly 34 years ago, the U.S. Navy branded him a deserter and a thief. It was 1968; the U.S. was waging an increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam and sailors went missing all the time. Muns was the new paymaster aboard the USS Cacapon, a refueling ship based at Subic Bay in the Philippines. When he dissapeared, the Navy discovered that $8,600 was missing from the ship's safe; since Muns had access to safe, officials decided that he had taken the money and run. Case closed.

But Muns' sister, Mary Lou Taylor, couldn't accept the official version of her brother's disappearance. She vowed to uncover the truth and restore her family's honor. "It broke my father's heart … He literally had a heart attack three years later," said Taylor." I'm not blaming the Navy for his heart attack, but it was harder than just losing a son."

    当Ensign Andrew Lece Muns在34年前突然失踪时，美国海军谴责他是逃兵和小偷。那还是在1968年，美国正进行一场日渐不得人心的战争，不断有船员失踪。Muns是一位新上任的军需官，正在基地设在菲律宾Subic湾的美国Cacapon号加油舰上服役。当他失踪时，海军发现该船保险柜中的8600美元也不翼而飞了，因为Muns可以打开此柜，所以，军方认定他偷了钱后开溜了。如此就结了案。

    但是，Muns的姐姐Mary Lou Taylor不能接受官方对她弟弟的谴责。她发誓要弄清真相，恢复全家人的荣誉。Taylor说，"这结论伤透了我父亲的心，事实上，三年后，父亲真的因此事而心脏病发作。我并不是指责海军造成我父亲的心脏病，但这结论对他来说，比仅仅失去儿子更难过。"

In the mid-1970s, after years of holding out hope that Muns might return, his family decided to have him declared legally dead. But when they asked the Navy to supply an American flag to present to his family at the memorial service, the Navy refused .

Eventually, Taylor decided to change that. She turned to the Internet, posting a message on a Vietnam veterans' message board looking for sailors who served with her brother on the Cacapon.

In a stroke of luck, a former member of that crew, Tim Rosaire, had just logged on to the bulletin board for the first time.

"I instantly knew what it was," he said. "I wrote her back saying, 'Yes, and I may have been one of the last people to see him." "I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't have stolen the money," said Rosaire, who supplied Taylor with names and some photographs of other crew members.

    在70年代中期，在多年等待Muns回来无望之后，Muns家人决定宣布他法律上的死亡。但是，当他们要求海军提供一面国旗，作为家人纪念Muns的礼物时，竟遭到海军拒绝。