United States v. Garwood

MAY, Judge:

This case involves a highly publicized chain of circumstances set in motion by the disappearance of a 19 year old Marine from his unit, then stationed in the Republic of South Vietnam (RVN), on 28 September 1965. Almost 14 years later, following an encounter with a representative of the United Nations in a hotel cocktail lounge in North Vietnam, Private First Class Robert R. Garwood, age 33, was returned to U.S. military control.

The allegations and subsequent charges attendant to his period of absence in Vietnam resulted in a trial involving 92 trial days, litigated over a time…