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Show POW Release Aided by Church Member Continued from page 5 when they were in solitary confinement, and their captors told them that no one knew they were. They maintained their spirits during the ordeal through their real feeling of communication with the Lord. They knew the power of prayer and came out with a real feeling for their Elder relationship with their creator, Shields said. A great many changes had taken place during the many years that POWs had been away from their families. There was good news, bad news, family relationship changes, births and deaths. We had phciographs of families, letters and other background information so when the men got on the telephone they would have a bit of a background. : t j i h We wanted to do all we. could to assure the men and to make them as prepared and presentable as possible when they met their families. We had very extensive medical tests arranged and good procedures in followup. It was all recorded. We had debriefers who were ready to listen to all they had to say. They needed to tell their story to someone who understood and would listen. At the same time we gathered information about casualties A more intensive debriefing was conducted in the United States, but we wanted to get the men home to their families as Elder Shields quickly as possible, explained. Each POW was given an escort to help him through his debriefing and see that he was fitted into his new uniform. The men were provided with information concerning their promotions, back pay and future benefits. Every effort was made to gain information about men missing in action. We still have 1,363 or more men who are unaccounted for. We have many questions about men in Laos and Cambodia, Elder shields said. While at Clark Air Force Base, Elder Shields attended Sunday School and meeting at the Clark Branch. I met Col. George Kiser, who was the branch president. It was interesting and instructive to find out that he was involved in meeting the LDS men, because there was no LDS chaplain to meet them. The branch president at Manila and members of the church at the embassy were also involved. Many members of the branch turned out to welcome the POWs and a packet of Sac-rame- nt - r - an as- signment from the constituted priesthood but good. authority she follows through In 1960, the priesthood got the assignment to get the names from the cemeteries in Amarillo as a genealogy project. Mrs. Chrysler was called to supervise the ' project. The day the project was to start, no one showed up but the wife of one of the men, and she came only once. Mrs. Chrysler went to the public library, only to find there were no records of any kind there. The ones in charge of the Llano Cemetery denied her the right to microfilm their records. The other cemetery told her to go ahead, but vrhen she was only part way through they stopped her project. So she started the tedious task )f writstone ing down the statistics from every in the Llano Cemetery. The burials went back to 1890, and some of the stones were deep in the grass, although the cemetery is well kept. I wore soft shoes so I could feel a stone if it should be hidden. I got over 15,000 names, dates, etc., this way, and got some help typing. When the typing was finished the library made bound copies of the work, which was up to 1966, they kept a copy and gave me one. The typed copies I am giving to the Genealogical Society. I had some help from brother Larry Turpen in doing the cemetery at Borger, Tex. I had some Gospel Brings More Complete Joy to Family Continued from page and clipped all obituaries from 1966 to the present All of these, about 100 pounds worth, have been given to the Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City. tainment." Mrs. Don Chrysler of Amarillo, Tex., sits amid obituary clippings and typed cemetery records she collected as project. real spiritual help doing this work. Several times, I was prompted to retrace my steps to find a stone I had missed earlier, she said. Mrs. Chrysler went to the newspaper in Amarillo i In setting lifes priorities, a person should learn two things, Elder L. Tom Perry, an Assistant to the Twelve, told the Institute of Religion graduating class at Utah State Prison Thursday night. You should learn two things. First, that you are children of God with all the potential, ability and opportunity that all his other children have, and you must find yourselves, and second, find out what type of contribution you can make to your fellowmen. True joy in life comes in helping others, he said. The inmates, from both the medium and minimum security facilities, studied the New Testament this past year, acdicording to Walter Stewart, Institute rector and instructor at the Utah prison. inmate, George Jackson, certificate. He received the only got his on Monday because of his parole release Tuesday morning. Mr. Jackson has attended Institute as the faithfully for five years, as well medium Sunday church programs held at security. three two-yea-r, There were one four-yeacert18 and 12 ificates handed out during the ceremonies, according to Elder Stewart. , Scott Andrus, an inmate at minimum delivsecurity and one of the graduates, ered the valedictory address. We have a fairly good regular attendance at Institute," said Elder Stewart. The men can receive college credit the r, one-yea- r, 7 out of the publics eye, Elder Whitney said he senses the feeling of love and understanding that radiates inside the magic kingdom of family fun and entertainment. Elder Whitney said he feels he can Identify LDS families as they come to visit the park. Theres a certain sparkle within the eyes of the LDS family Ynem-ber- s when they are having a good time together. But I see a lot of good people who are not members of the church. I really enjoy seeing families come together and take advantage of good wholesome enter- Institute Graduates 30 At Prison 1 Nixon. I reported to the President the whole operation of the release. He was very proud of the men. He feels that they are great Americans and was extremely proud. At the same time he was very concerned about the missing, and wanted me to pass on to the families of the missing his personal pledge to press on with the problem of accounting for the missing. I had the privilege of meeting many brave men, Elder Shields said. AMARILLO, TEX. When Mrs. Don Chrysler gets . Elder Shields reported the release of the prisoners directly to President Rich- ard M. Not A Stone Unturned' , ' information was prepared for each LDS POW. It meant a lot to them. "The second release was on Sunday and the branch postponed Sacrament meeting to be there and meet the men. As soon as it was over I went with Col. Kiser to the Sacrament meeting. This experience could not help but increase my faith. When I saw the faith of those men it was certainly something to build my own, he said. Elder Shields has a little feeling about what it is to be away from ones family. ;His wife, Diana Titus, cared for their1 newly born baby, Edward Randus, whilet Elder Shields was away .most of the time.! I regretted that he was growing up! all the time I was gone. I missed a lot, I . but nothing like the POWs missed, same as those who attend institutes adjacent to college campuses." Elder Stewart noted that there are around 40 men attending at the medium security facility, and from 15 to 20 at minimum. We felt that men who had finished six months of study should receive a certificate. This is because some of them house will have gone to cither half-wa- y or into the community before a year was up. We feel that they should be recognized in some way. We also feel good that of the 30 receiving their certificates, 12 of them Elder of the church, are Stewart added. Elder Whitney said his own family of six children is no exception to the love of the fantasy and excitement of Disney World. We do a lot of things together, and coming out here is one of the fun time activities we have together. Basically, the thing we enjoy most is the opportunity of being together. We even enjoy pulling weeds, and mowing lawns or just going to the ice cream store together. And, of course; one of our highlights is having family home evening. I remember when my wife, Vinnle, and I rent to the temple to have our children sealed to us. There is nothing, not even the magic of Disney World, that can match the peacefulness and serenity, we found there. Elder Whitney said he feels that Disney World offers a great opportunity to teach the gospel by example. There is are really nothing that employes required or encouraged to do that would contradict the teachings of the church. CHURCH -- 13 WEEK ENDING MAY 26, 1973 |