JJMt said:
Thanks. I always wondered about the rest of the story when I see that picture. From other articles about returning POWs, and also all returning veterans, the transition back to a family again is frequently very difficult.
From the comments below the article:
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. I am Col. Stirm's oldest grandchild (30 years old), and his oldest child Lorrie's oldest son.
To those that had expressed a desire to return a bracelet to Col. Stirm, or for any other information, please feel free to email me: chrisclarkcpt@gmail.com
To those that touched on his first wife's (and my grandmother) "infidelity", I think everyone should know that his children and their mother did not know the status of their father/husband. He was a POW for 6 years, and for 6 long years his 4 children grew up being told by the military that they had no idea where their father was or if he was alive. They were never told that he was being held as a POW, or if he would ever return, or he was even alive or dead. The same went for his wife, who had struggled as a homemaker who had never paid bills or managed family matters until her husband left for Vietnam. After several years of heartache and struggle, life played it's course and a new relationship developed for Loretta. The "Dear John" letter was written so that Loretta could come to terms that her husband was not coming back and that life was moving on, she wrote it expecting him to never see it, as she heartbreakingly believed she would never see him again. Upon his return, she broke off her relationship and attempted to salvage her broken family now that all of the pieces had physically been put back together. Unfortunately, the marriage would not survive, and both remarried (Col. Stirm divorced in the last 10 years, and Loretta passed away from Cancer in 2010, still married to the same man she had met while Col. Stirm was a POW). This is an extremely sensitive family matter, and I beg all who choose to comment publicly, to please refrain from passing judgement on either person with regards to the relationship between Col. Robert Stirm & Loretta. Thank you.