LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — “They went and served and they need to come home,” says Todd Matonich, the president of the non-profit, Rolling Thunder KY5. It’s a reality for many military families, more than 80,000 American soldiers are still missing in action. 1,299 of them are Kentuckians and 14 of them are from the Vietnam War. “He…
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — “They went and served and they need to come home,” says Todd Matonich, the president of the non-profit, Rolling Thunder KY5.
It’s a reality for many military families, more than 80,000 American soldiers are still missing in action.
1,299 of them are Kentuckians and 14 of them are from the Vietnam War.
“He was in Vietnam, he went missing November 30th, 1970,” added Cathy Stringer Robinson, she was just 2 1/2 when her father left to serve his country, a memory that is etched in her mind forever. But the search for Cap. John Stringer II, is still ongoing.
“I’ve been told, he was very generous, very kind. He loved to ride horses, he loves sports and he loved his family,” recalls Stringer Robinson.
She adds that there has been no type of closure, or any indication of where he could be.
“He was swept away in a river… they have to have some reason to go looking, and so, no, we’ve not had any real information,” she also says.
For those who have served and returned, “there’s a, there’s a void when you come back that you’re, that you look for all the time, commitment to, to continue serving and it took me years and years and years and I found Rolling Thunder,” added Matonich.
Also adding that the non-profit helped him heal.
“You think about coming home, you think about family members that have served and they’ve come home and, and all of a sudden you start start thinking about the messiness of the war,” he said.
Stringer Robinson says more needs to be done to help families get answers and closure.
“We need to be contacting our government officials, and pressuring them to continue funding the DPAA and other organizations that are truly boots on the ground looking for these men,” she added.
Matonich says that although it is hard, he tells families not to lose hope.
On Friday, September 20th, there will be a candle light vigil on the steps of the state capitol in Frankfort, in remembrance of those who are still, missing in action, it begins at 7:30.