THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160537
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY GERMANOTTA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
With American troops once again readying themselves for battle, a former prisoner of war has a message for the nation.
``No matter how you feel about it,'' he said of invading Haiti, ``even if you're dead set against it, it's important to support the folks you're sending to fight.''
Navy Lt. Jeffrey Zaun knows the power of popular support. The former Oceana-based A-6 bombardier-navigator said he fed off it during his seven weeks of captivity in Iraq.
It helped him endure the constant threat of execution and kept him strong so he wouldn't betray secrets he knew about the planned ground war.
Ironically, it was Zaun's battered face, broadcast over Iraqi television and plastered on the covers of newspapers and magazines, that may have solidified that public support. That puffy, bruised visage steeled his fellow servicemen and rallied an already angry America.
``Being a Desert Storm POW, I can reflect on how much the feeling of being supported helps,'' Zaun said.
He hopes to convey that message at the Norfolk Naval Base today when he speaks at a ceremony honoring American prisoners of war and servicemen still missing in action.
The ceremony is open to the public and will begin at noon on the parade grounds.
Zaun, 32, is completing a graduate degree at Georgetown University and awaiting word on whether he will be reassigned to flight duties.
The POW/MIA issue is an important one for Americans, he said, and a tricky thing for an active-duty officer to address just now.
``The situation right now, with the Ike steaming south, does make it a challenge,'' he said. ``I'm going to try to give the audience some appreciation of what it is like to be a POW.''
Zaun said he'll talk about living in such terror that you will mutilate yourself so you can't be shown as a healthy subject in propaganda broadcasts, and of the horrors his parents endured wondering whether he would ever be released.
Zaun said he was ``a little apprehensive for the guys going down'' to Haiti where Americans might be killed, wounded or captured. It's a reality he's prepared to accept if we invade.
``If we've determined that the mission is important enough for us to kill Haitians,'' Zaun explained, ``that means it's important enough for us to take casualties.'' MEMO: To attend the ceremony, enter the base at Gate 2 on Hampton Boulevard
or Gates 3 and 3a off I-564.
ILLUSTRATION: Zaun
by CNB