Keeping the Promise: The Story of MIA Jerry Elliott, a Family Shattered by His Disappearance, and a Sister's 40-Year Search for the Truth

 Author's Summary

On January 21, 1968, the 282nd AHC was on a mission to support U.S. troops under siege in Khe Sanh village when the lead helicopter was shot down by the North Vietnamese. In the midst of the enemy, Jerry Elliott jumped from his gunner's seat to rescue fellow Black Cat soldiers, and simply vanished. The military listed him as Missing In Action...  MIA - a hellish classification that provides neither comfort nor closure to those back home.       

Officially designated as "Case 1000" by the Department of Defense, Jerry's fate is still uncertain, despite a determined quest for the truth by his younger sister, Donna. Frustrated at nearly every turn by the POW/MIA bureaucracy, she stoically continues the search-one that has taken her from Washington, D.C. to Vietnam and back again.

Keeping the Promise is a bittersweet tale of a sister's unending dedication to do just that-keep the promise made to her brother, to the families of the POW/MIAs, and most importantly, to those left behind in Southeast Asia: We won't stop until every last man has the fullest possible accounting.

MWSA Review

MWSA 2011 Gold Medal for Non-Fiction, History

On January 21, 1968, the 282nd AHC was on a mission to support U.S. troops under siege in Khe Sanh village when the lead helicopter was shot down by the North Vietnamese. In the midst of the enemy, Jerry Elliott jumped from his gunner's seat to rescue fellow Black Cat soldiers, and simply vanished. The military listed him as Missing In Action...  MIA - a hellish classification that provides neither comfort nor closure to those back home.       

Officially designated as "Case 1000" by the Department of Defense, Jerry's fate is still uncertain, despite a determined quest for the truth by his younger sister, Donna. Frustrated at nearly every turn by the POW/MIA bureaucracy, she stoically continues the search-one that has taken her from Washington, D.C. to Vietnam and back again.

Keeping the Promise is a bittersweet tale of a sister's unending dedication to do just that-keep the promise made to her brother, to the families of the POW/MIAs, and most importantly, to those left behind in Southeast Asia: We won't stop until every last man has the fullest possible accounting.

Reviewed by: Stephen Phillips (2011)