Tidings Good and Bad

The anguish of waiting and hoping finally brought a burst of phone calls from the Pentagon last week. For 562 families, the years of uncertainty were over, and in a euphoric flush, they rushed to prepare for the homecoming.

For two families, the return of their men will mean a double celebration. On Jan. 30 in Wayne County, N.C., Sharon Alpers gave birth to a son shortly after learning that her husband, Captain John H. Alpers Jr., missing since Oct. 5, had been listed as a known prisoner. The child was named John III. That same morning, near Goldsboro, N.C., the wife of Air Force Captain Brian M. Ratzlaff, also listed as missing in action until last week, bore a daughter, Christine.

But bad news came too. Some 1,300 families were told that their men's names were not on any of the lists released after the cease-fire was signed. Although there were some bizarre and happy surprises--Ronald Ridgeway, a Marine whose mother had "buried" him in 1968, was found to be alive--the hopes of many families of missing men went unrewarded.

Mrs. Evelyn Grubb, widow of Air Force Colonel Wilmer N. Grubb, sat in a restaurant in Arlington, Va., and said quietly and bitterly: "Now the next phase--The remains have been found and are being shipped home.' " Her husband was one of 55 men Hanoi listed as having died in captivity. In Georgia, the parents of Captain Larron Murphy, missing since 1970, settled down for another siege. "I'm still expecting my son's name to come up," said his mother. "I don't think this is a complete list. I'm not going to give up hope."

Meanwhile, at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, evacuation planes and flight crews are on alert for the first airlift out of Hanoi, expected to come some time this week. A fully staffed hospital, complete with 50 doctors, 800 nurses and turquoise sheets, stands ready to receive as many as 150 men at once. The personal escorts assigned to each prisoner have begun to arrive. According to Major Joel S. Hetland, one of the officers on escort duty, they are being briefed with advice from former prisoners like "Don't ask your man how it was up there in Hanoi." In order to ensure that returnees do not get asked precisely that sort of question by the press, the military announced that the prisoners would not be available for interviews. Undaunted, close to 100 accredited newsmen turned up at the base, threatening still another Asian skirmish. Officials at Clark relented somewhat at the end of the week, hinting that a few token prisoners would be permitted to meet with the press.

For the families waiting across the country, there will be immediate notification by the military and then the first phone call from the men themselves. Myrna Borling has not seen her husband since 1966, and she is concerned that the changes they have both gone through will make the reunion difficult. "I don't remember the same 'old John,' but this is going to work. I haven't sat around this long for nothing. It's got to work."

Martha Kasler, whose husband. Air Force Colonel James Kasler, was one of Viet Nam's hot fighter pilots before being shot down, is more confident about his return. "It's going to be pretty exciting to start all over again," she said. "It's supposed to be even better the second time around."

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