The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

56 APRIL 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Nearly 40 years have passed since retired U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment Foreign Service officer Michael D. Benge spent time as a prisoner of war in Viet- nam. On Feb. 13, Benge finally received the Purple Heart in recognition of the wounds he suffered while in captivity. David E. Eckerson, USAID counselor, presented the medal at a ceremony at the National Press Club in Wash- ington, D.C. THE PURPLE HEART The Purple Heart is a military medal given in the name of the president of the United States to every service mem- ber (and some civilians) who is wounded while serving in a war or other specified incursion. AFSA also presented him with new Medals of Heroism and Valor, replacements for the original medals he had received, but which were later stolen from his home. Family, friends and col- leagues joined in celebrating Mr. Benge’s achievements. CAPTURED On Jan. 31, 1968, FSO Michael Benge was captured near Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, when he tried to rescue several people working with International USAID Officer Receives His Purple Heart After 40 Years BY JENNIFER LOWRY, COMMUNICATIONS INTERN Voluntary Services (a private nonprofit organization founded in 1953 that placed American volunteers in development projects in third world countries) during the Tet Offensive. For the next five years, he was held in a Prisoner of War camp. Prisoners were chained together, forced to move from encampment to encampment and, when stationary, were kept in cages with nothing to eat but boiled manioc. NEAR DEATH While in captivity, Benge contracted cerebral malaria and was near death. When speaking of his bout with malaria, Mr. Benge said, “I still had some strength left and I made up my mind that I wouldn’t give them the satis- faction of seeing me die.” He credits his strength to his colleagues and friends who were also taken prisoner with him; the same friends he sadly watched die and was forced to bury. His will to survive continued to keep him alive for more than 27 months in solitary confinement. MEDALS OF HERO I SM AND VALOR After he was released, Benge was awarded the Medal of Heroism and the Medal of Valor for his acts of courage and bravery while in Vietnam. RETURN I NG HOME “It was great to return to America and be back in a country, even with all its social ills, where one can enjoy the freedom of speech, the freedom of thought and the freedom of political choice in the free world. These are things that a are still unknown to those in the lands where I was held as a POW,” reflected Benge. Michael Benge resides in Falls Church, Va., and is a single parent to two daughters. He remains active in Prisoner of War/Missing In Action affairs, and continues to be interested in Southeast Asian political issues. n