Suit for POW Return Has Merit, Judge Says

A lawsuit charging that the United States has failed to do everything possible to return U.S. prisoners of war from Southeast Asia has merit, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Terrance W. Boyle also said in his ruling Tuesday that U.S. courts have the authority to decide the lawsuit, which two former Special Forces soldiers in Fayetteville brought against the government in September, 1985.

Former Rep. Bill Hendon of North Carolina, who worked as an advocate for POWs while he was in Congress, said Boyle’s ruling was “bound to be of enormous help to those of us who have pushed for so long to get these facts before the American people.”

“I think it is a very positive development for our POWs,” Hendon said.