Olof Palme, Sweden, and the Vietnam War by Lubna Z. Qureshi

Author:Lubna Z. Qureshi [Qureshi, Lubna Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2023-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Good News

On March 3, 1970, Nguyen Tho Chan handed a list to Swedish ambassador Gunnar Jarring in Moscow. The North Vietnamese diplomat described it as “proof of how much the Vietnamese people appreciate the warm friendship which has been shown by the Swedish people and government.”55

On March 3, 1970, the Swedish government could now formally confirm that fourteen men were prisoners.56 This intelligence was remarkable enough for Kissinger to include in the President’s Daily Brief.57

In November of 1969, David Dellinger and Rennie Davis of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam had confirmed four of the POWs that later appeared on the first Swedish list.58 Ethel Taylor, Madeline Duckles, and Cora Weiss, who all belonged to the American antinuclear group Women Strike for Peace, had already identified five of them for the first time in December of that year.59 Five of the names on Sweden’s list, however, had never been confirmed by a non-Vietnamese source: Lieutenant Porter Alexander Halyburton USN; Major Irby Terrell Jr. USAF, Captain Robert Bruce Hinckley USAF, Lieutenant Colonel James Lindberg Hughes USAF, and Lieutenant Jerry Allen Singleton USAF.60

Soon afterward, Mrs. Halyburton received a telephone call from her navy contact, who informed her that her husband’s name was on the Swedish list.61 A telegram from Stockholm then arrived on March 6: “I wish to inform you that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam has confirmed that your husband Porter Halyburton is in prison in North Vietnam . . . .Letter follows from Ministry for Foreign Affairs . . . Olof Palme Prime Minister of Sweden.”62

Indeed, a letter to Mrs. Halyburton from the Foreign Ministry did follow.63 As for Mrs. Singleton, her visit to Stockholm had not come in vain, for she also received a telegram from Palme and a letter from the Foreign Ministry.64 Before the media, Mrs. Singleton posed with a photograph of her husband and Palme’s telegram.65

In an interview with Dagens Nyheter, Mrs. Singleton said, “I am deeply thankful to Prime Minister Palme for his efforts.” Referring to her visit with Palme four months before, she continued: “The prime minister expressed his deep and serious sympathy and promised me to see what Sweden could do.”66

Mrs. Singleton said afterward, “I am so happy. I had hoped the whole time, but this is the first time that I have real certainty.”67

At about the same time, Mrs. Terrell received direct confirmation from the Swedish Foreign Ministry that “Irby David Terrell, Jr . . . is at present in a prison in the Democratic Republic of North Vietnam.”68

The women were grateful for the information. “That was a defining moment and so very important, because NVN would now have to account for him,” Mrs. Halyburton remembered. “My first letter from Porter came after Olof Palme’s announcement and I felt Sweden was responsible for that breakthrough and perhaps many others.”69

Through her navy contact, the Swedish government had apprised Mrs. Halyburton that a letter from her husband would arrive shortly, and it did it, on May 10.70

With

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