Family of south Omaha man missing in action in Vietnam War
KETV NewsWatch 7
[{'start': '3.436', 'end': '7.540', 'text': "THE WORLD WATCHED THIS SCENE  UNFOLD NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO.  EXACTLY 50 YEARS AGO.  APRIL 30TH, 1975.  IT WAS THE FALL OF SAIGON.  IT WAS THE END OF VIETNAM FOR  MOST, NOT FOR THE MORE THAN 1500  AMERICANS MISSING IN ACTION FROM  THAT WAR.  AMONG THEM MANUEL PUENTES.  HE'S A 20 YEAR OLD FROM SOUTH  OMAHA.  WELL, THIS SPRING, A LITTLE  BROTHER AND A NEPHEW WENT TO  VIETNAM TO GET SOME ANSWERS.  I REMEMBER HIM BEING A VERY KIND  BROTHER.  IT'S EASY TO SEE THAT JOSE  PUENTES IS DRIVEN TO FIND HIS  BROTHER, MANNY.  MANNY IS MANUEL PUENTES.  HE WAS DRAFTED INTO THE U.S.  ARMY AND SENT TO VIETNAM.  BUT THE 20 YEAR OLD NEVER CAME  HOME.  NOW, KETV HAS THE OFFICIAL  DOCUMENTS OF WHAT HAPPENED.  MARCH 25TH, 1971 MANNY WAS ON A  12 MAN PATROL JUST A FEW MILES  SOUTH OF THE DMZ IN THE QUANG  TRI PROVINCE, WHEN THEY WERE  AMBUSHED.  NINE OF THE 12 SURVIVED, BUT TWO  DIED.  MANNY WAS WOUNDED.  THEY WERE SEPARATED FROM THE  SQUAD AND COULDN'T BE EVACUATED,  BUT SOLDIER DEBRIEFS IMMEDIATELY  AFTERWARDS SAID PUENTES WAS NOT  HIT.  BAD THAT HIS CONDITION WAS FAIR.  HE WAS TRYING TO TAKE COVER  BEHIND ROCKS.  AIR STRIKES WERE CALLED IN TO  PUSH THE ENEMY BACK, AND LATER  SEARCH PATROLS WENT OUT, BUT  MANNY PUENTES WAS NEVER FOUND.  WELL, NOW, 50 YEARS LATER, JOSE,  ACCOMPANIED BY HIS NEPHEW DIEGO,  GOES TO VIETNAM TO LOOK.  IF NOT FOR MANNY, AT LEAST FOR  ANSWERS, DOCUMENTING THEIR TRIP  THROUGH TUNNELS ONCE USED BY THE  VIET CONG TO HIDE FROM U.S.  TROOPS TO MEMORIAL SITES.  SEEING NOT ONLY WHERE THE WAR  WAS FOUGHT, BUT ALSO THE FORMER  WARRIORS NOW MEETING IN PEACE  TIME, THEY SHOOK HANDS.  THEY SALUTED EACH OTHER.  THEY WERE EVEN HUGGING EACH  OTHER.  YEAH, I TALKED WITH THEM WHEN  THEY WERE IN CARSON THE NIGHT  BEFORE.  THEY WERE GOING TO MANNY SITE.  TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, I DON'T  KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT, BUT I HOPE  TO LEARN IS WHAT WHAT WHAT  REALLY HAPPENED TO HIM, YOU  KNOW, AND WHAT WHAT HE WENT  THROUGH.  BECAUSE THE LAST TIME HE WAS  SAYING, HE WENT TO HIDE BEHIND A  ROCK AND THAT'S IT.  THAT'S THAT'S ALL THEY KNOW.  BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE MORE THAN  JUST THAT.  DIEGO ALSO WANTS ANSWERS FOR  HIMSELF AND FOR THE REST OF HIS  LARGE FAMILY.  IN A WAY, I FEEL LIKE I'M HERE  FOR THEM TO KIND OF JUST HELP  PUT EYES AND EXPERIENCE AND.  HOPEFULLY THERE IS SOME, SOME  KIND OF CLOSURE.  THEN FINALLY, THE DAY THEY'D  WAITED YEARS, DECADES FOR.  THEY GET AS CLOSE TO MANNY'S  SITE AS THEY CAN.  YOU SEE THAT BODY OF WATER IN  THE BACKGROUND BLOCKS THEM.  IT USED TO BE A DRY CREEK BED,  AND MANNY WAS LAST SEEN ON THE  OTHER SIDE.  REMEMBER THE GUY MISSING IN  ACTION IN HERE?  THERE'S A BRIEF, INFORMAL  CEREMONY AT A MAKESHIFT  MEMORIAL.  AND THEN JOSE BOWS HIS HEAD AND  TALKS TO HIS BROTHER.  HE PUTS THE BIBLE DE UNA MANERA,  TELLING HIM ABOUT THE FAMILY AND  LIFE, AND THEN GOODBYE.  ADIOS.  THAT'S IT.  THEY SPEND JUST A LITTLE MORE  TIME THERE AND THEN MOVE ON.  OH MAN, IT WAS AMAZING.  IT WAS GREAT.  IT WAS PROBABLY MORE THAN WHAT I  WAS EXPECTING.  I CAUGHT UP WITH JOSE AND DIEGO  AFTER THEY GOT BACK TO THE  STATES AND ASKED THEM ABOUT  BEING SO CLOSE.  I THINK I.  I FELT HIS PRESENCE.  YOU KNOW, AND AND I FELT LIKE I  HAD MY HANDS TIED BEHIND MY  BACK.  AND HE HAD HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND  HIS BACK.  I FELT LIKE HE WAS THERE  LOOKING, LOOKING AT ME.  AND I WAS LOOKING AT HIM, BUT,  YOU KNOW, IT WAS FRUSTRATING  BECAUSE WE CANNOT CONNECT, YOU  KNOW, WE CANNOT COMMUNICATE.  STILL, HE WANTED TO TRY.  THAT'S WHY HE TALKED ABOUT THE  FAMILY.  DO YOU THINK HE HEARD YOU?  AND IT MIGHT SOUND LIKE A  CLICHE, RIGHT?  BUT I THINK SO.  LET ME ASK YOU THIS, THEN.  DO YOU THINK MANNY IS STILL  ALIVE?  YOU KNOW WHAT?  A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T THINK SO.  IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE, I WILL SAY  YES.  YOU KNOW, BECAUSE.  YES, AS LONG AS I DON'T HAVE ANY  EVIDENCE THAT HE'S ALIVE OR NOT  ALIVE, I'M GOING TO SAY YES.  AS FOR DIEGO, HE WANTS TO  BELIEVE HIS UNCLES ALIVE.  BUT AFTER SEEING THEIR SEEING IT  IN PERSON AND SEEING THE BIG  DIVOT HOLES THAT THE BOMBS LEFT,  WHEN YOU READ THE REPORT OF,  THEY SEARCHED AND THEN THEY CAME  IN AND BOMBED IT.  I DON'T KNOW HOW HE COULD BE.  THEY THINK MAYBEBE MANNY IS STIL  HIDING SOMEHOW.  OR MAYBE LIVING A DIFFERENT  LIFE.  WELL, SOME PEOPLE MAY SAY YOU'VE  GONE THERE.  YOU'VE SEEN THE AREA.  YOU KNOW, MAYBE.  MANNY, REST.  WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THEM?  DOES HE WANT TO REST, OR DOES HE  WANT, YOU KNOW, OKAY, THAT'S A  GOOD QUESTION, BECAUSE AT ONE  POINT I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, WHAT  IF THAT WAS ME?  YOU KNOW, WHAT IF THAT WAS ME  OUT THERE IN VIETNAM, IN THE  MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, IN A  DIFFERENT COUNTRY?  AND THEN ME, MYSELF, I WOULD  LIKE SOMEBODY TO LOOK FOR ME.  IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT MY BROTHER.  IT'S ABOUT VETERANS, ALL  VETERANS, YOU KNOW?  SO I WANT TO I WANT TO LET THEM  KNOW THAT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN  APPRECIATED.  YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT BEING  JUST, YOU KNOW, IGNORED OR  FORGOTTEN.  NOW, JOSE AND DIEGO WANT TO  THANK THE RALSTON TIGERS  BASEBALL TEAM.  IT RAISED THE MONEY TO SEND THEM  TO VIETNAM.  AS FOR MANNY'S CASE, IT'S STILL  TECHNICALLY LISTED AS ACTIVE  PURSUIT.  JOSE PLANS TO MEET WITH THE U.S.  GOVERNMENT THIS SUMMER TO SEE"}]