Rest in peace, Charlie Dean....

[slinkerwink]

"This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou
lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars"---In memory of Charlie Dean, the brother of Gov. Dean

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. poor guy

I wonder if he really was CIA?

[slinkerwink]

3. who knows?

The mystery is why he was in Laos, and Dean doesn't think Charlie really was CIA, but it is a mystery so far...

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. well

There are a limited number of reasons he could have been there. If he wasn't in the military, which he wasn't at the time, why else would he go to Vietnam?

And if he was CIA, why wouldn't they just tell Dean's family, especially since he's been missing for 20+ years.

So if he wasn't in the military and he wasn't CIA, who WAS this guy?

A humanitarian who wanted to help the Vietnamese?

[hlthe2b]

7. He was in Laos, not Vietnam

Which makes it much more suspicious... Perhaps Howard Dean, as Commander in Chief, can find out if he was CIA...

[mitchum]

28. of course he was

RIP

[Padraig18]

2. The Fourteenth Station

"So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away."

Matthew 27:59-60

May he rest in peace, and may God console the Dean family. :cry:

[slinkerwink]

4. yeah, Dean looked really sad at the press conference today

you could see the pain in his eyes, and his voice sounded a bit tight with emotion. :(

[Padraig18]

6. Aye, that he did.

The poor man was obviously in pain. :(

[slinkerwink]

9. *sigh*

:hug:

It was nice that the Clark supporters came onto the Dean blog to give their condolences.....

[Padraig18]

10. I like the Clark people here.

And I actually like General Clark, too. :)

[slinkerwink]

12. yeah, me too......I just think Dean is the best one for the job....

Dean's worked so hard throughout his entire life to get to where he is today---Charlie's death was the catalyst that caused Dean to give up his job on Wall Street and go into medicine, and then into Vermont politics....

[TexasMexican]

8. sad

Pretty sad, but atleast they know for sure.

What was his story? Honestly I didnt know anything about Dean's family. Anyone have any links that talk about his brother?

[slinkerwink]

11. here's the statement on what happened

Statement on Charlie Dean

MANCHESTER--The following is a transcript of Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean's comments today on behalf of his family regarding recent developments in the 1974 disappearance of his brother, Charles Dean, in Laos:

"Our family has learned from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) that what they believe to be the remains of our brother, Charlie, and his traveling companion, Neil Sharman, have been located in Laos in the area that I visited in 2002. While positive identification will take some time, the personal effects found at the site make us reasonably confident that we have finally located Charlie's remains.

"This has been a long and emotional journey for my mother, Jim, Bill and me. We greet this news with mixed emotions but are gratified that we may now be approaching closure to this painful episode in our lives. We ask that you respect our privacy as we arrange for the transfer, identification and ultimate burial of what we believe are Charlie Dean's remains.

"I want to particularly thank the United States military. The men and women I visited with and stayed with at base camp last year in Laos are extraordinary human beings. This whole operation is an extraordinary credit to the government and the U.S. military. My family and I are deeply appreciative.

"This is an extraordinary thing they've done: I've been on the site of five POW/MIA where they believe people are buried. It's very, very difficult. It's very rare to recover the type of remains that we recovered, which are very significant and are very likely to be positively identified.

"At every turn have been accommodating and respectful of our family's needs, and we're grateful for their service to our family and to every other family who has experienced a similar loss.

"This is painful not just for us, but for the families of every POW/MIA in America. Based on my spending time in Southeast Asia last year I can tell you and all those families that similar efforts are being made for every family and every missing America from these Southeast Asian wars. This is an extraordinary step our government has gone to .

"We will likely travel to Hawaii for a repatriation ceremony on the 26th. When we have more information from the Pentagon, we will share that which is not private or personal."

[sfecap]

17. Gov. Dean's belt...

...was his brothers. He wears it at every event, and has done so for many years.

His brother's political activism is what led him to politics many years ago...

[slinkerwink]

21. yeah...staffers tried to get Dean to change the belt, but he refused

because he just couldn't part with that belt..

[SadEagle]

13. One I found...

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2857625p-2636747c.html

It appears that his death played a big role in turning Gov. Dean to medicine and then public service.

[slinkerwink]

16. that's really sad....

and they were really close brothers.

[SadEagle]

18. another bit..

From http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/21/60II/main579140.shtml:

When he was still in his 20s, there was a family tragedy that changed Howard Dean?s life forever. It?s a tragedy he remembers every day by wearing a ?60s-style leather belt ? a belt that belonged to his younger brother, Charlie.

?I have a brother who was 24 years old. He was traveling in Laos with a friend,? says Dean. ?He was captured by the Pathet Lao, which is the Laotian Communists during the Vietnam War, and held in captivity for three months and then executed.?

When they were growing up, the brothers were close. Charlie was the politician in the family, and no one was surprised when he went to Indochina to see the effects of the Vietnam War.

[Cha]

14. slinkerwink, thanks for bringing that picture

of Charlie Dean on for us. What a sweetie he looks like. How tragic for that to happen to him and his friend.

I heard that maybe his remains had been found. I know this means a lot to Gov Dean and their family and wish them peace.

[Athletic Grrl]

15. At least now....

...the Dean family has closure and can bring Charlie home to rest. Hopefully one day they can find out exactly what happened.

[slinkerwink]

19. the same goes for other people who lost their sons/brothers in vietnam

and laos...

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

26. And Cambodia, and every other shithole on Earth to which

we have sent brave Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen off do our bidding, never to return.

Amen.

[Padraig18]

20. Maybe this should remind us all...

... that our 'champions' are all simply men and women who laugh, love and mourn, just like we all do; neither demi-gods nor demons, they are human, each and every one of them.

[slinkerwink]

22. yeah.....I'm just glad that this brings closure to Dean's family...

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

23. Definately a spook. There were NO visas to Laos at that time.

When we went into Laos later that same year, we were briefed by a guy who was not identified as to agency, telling us that we would not be able to expect extrication should we be separated from our unit.
That our mission was classified, (and probably still is.) and anything we heard or saw there was not to be discussed.

We picked up a diplomat from the US Councilate there, and he said it was a very, very tightly wound society, and Americans were not especially welcome in the Capitol and did not venture out on their own.

[slinkerwink]

24. really?

wow...

[UrbScotty]

25. We salute you, Charlie.

And all who served in Vietnam.

[slinkerwink]

27. thank you....