. ADRIAN FISCH

At the entrance to the Minnesota Governor’s office, there is a small shrine dedicated to
the memory of the soldiers who are missing in action in the Vietnam War. It contains a
POW/MIA flag and a small plaque, noting that the shrine was contributed by an
organization called “Red Badge of Courage”. That organization was really one man --
Adrian Fisch, of St James, Minnesota.

Fisch, age 51, died September 13, 1999, by his own hand, after a long and
debilitating brain disease.

Fisch was responsible for the POW/MIA flag that flies over the State Capitol
today. It became state policy after years of effort by Fisch, effort begun long before the
cause became popular.

Family members of the missing men know Fisch well. Even before the Vietnam War
ended, Fisch had begun seeking information about the missing, because a life-long friend
of his -- Stephen Harber -- was among the missing. Fisch had served in Vietnam and
returned home. His concern for his missing friend was real. He dogged
Washington sources for information about Harber. Along the way, he would
uncover bits of information about other missing Minnesota men -- information he would
share with the families. Unlike other POW/MIA activists who would later adopt this cause
for selfish reasons, he did not ask the families for money. He was involved because he
wanted to help.

Fisch’s journey to bring the story of the missing men to light took him throughout the
Country, but especially throughout Minnesota. He spoke at many VFW and American
Legion posts, schools and colleges throughout the State, traveling long distances each
year to make sure that people didn’t forget the men who are still missing in action, and
still unaccounted for. Until it could be shown that the men are dead, Fisch would not stop
trying to determine their fate.

He was 2nd District POW/MIA Chairman for both VFW and American legion. He was a past
POW/MIA Chairman for the 40 & 8 -- a VFW organization. He was the recipient of the
1987 WCCO Radio Good Neighbor Award, and the 1988 KEYC Good People Award for his
work with the POW/MIA issue.

Fisch had often been asked to serve as the State POW/MIA Chairman for the State Veterans of
Foreign Wars and American Legion organizations, but refused to do so, citing a lack of commitment on
their part to the POW/MIA cause, but in 1993, after promises were made to him concerning support
and freedom to operate, Fisch was named POW/MIA chairman of the Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Department of Minnesota. But by doing so he became a target of other activists who
viewed him as a threat to their influence and fundraising.

When Board members of another group approached him as POW/MIA Chairman and asked him to
support a proposal they had drawn up for a State POW/MIA fundraising council, he agreed to help.
The council was designed to protect POW/MIA organizations and activists from the predatory practices of some individuals, and to ensure that money donated to the cause by veterans organizations went to worthwhile efforts. It
would have been composed of representatives appointed by the State VFW and American Legion leaders.

Two individuals -- a VFW Post Commander and a VFW District Commander, contacted Fisch
and said they were investigating an activist who was under attack by his own Board of
Directors -- the same board that had created the proposal for the Fundraising Council. They said
they had heard that the individual had been creating problems for Fisch, and they wanted to meet
with Fisch. Fisch met with them, and at their urging, detailed the problems that he had experienced
with the individual over the years. But the two were not conducting a formal investigation, they
were acting on behalf of the individual whose Directors were trying to remove him. Subsequently,
these two spread rumors that Fisch was spreading defamatory stories about the activist, and was trying
to take over the POW/MIA effort in the State. When the moment came to present the Council proposal
to the State VFW, the same individuals indicated that they intended to turn the proposal presentation
into a debate over whether the activist they supported was dishonest. Fisch was willing to support the
Council proposal on its merits, but he was not about to publicly debate the integrity of another
organization, and so he withdrew the proposal, and it was never considered again.

Fisch continued his personal efforts to promote public awarenes of the POW/MIA issue, but he never
again accepted a position with the veterans organizations. Soon after, he was diagnosed with a debilitating
brain disease. Eventually, it cost him his job as a UPS delivery driver. He continued to work full-time
on the POW/MIA issue, oftern driving to Washington D.C. to scour the national archives and other
sources for information. Sometimes, he traveled with his friend Brian "Bulldog" Burke -- another
veteran who had lost his twin brother in Vietnam. Burke was fully disabled as a result of post traumatic
stress syndrome, a condition agravated by his inability to disregard the POW/MIA cause. In 1998,
Burke took his own life. The following year, increasingly disabled by his own condition, Fisch also took
his own life.

Fisch's funeral was significant not for the people who attended to comfort the family, but by the people
who did not. There were no POW/MIA family members. There were none of the so-called POW/MIA
activists from the Twin Cities. Dennis Adamscheck of American Won't Forget POW/MIA, Inc. traveled
from Cloquet to be with Fisch one last time. A color guard from a veterans group honored Fisch at the burial.

Perhaps the POW/MIA issue would have become a popular cause if Fisch had not worked for so many
years to make it so, but Fisch should be recognized for the persistent dedication he gave the issue. For
more than ten years after the War in Vietnam ended, there was nobody else concerned about this
cause, other than the POW/MIA family members. He helped POW/MIA family members obtain information
about their loved ones that was not being provided through formal channels. He amassed a huge archive of data
through public as well as covert sources. And, he made many people in Southern Minnesota aware that
many men had not come home from the War -- men who needed to be accounted for. For that, many
POW/MIA families are grateful.

. RETURN