Eleanor Ardel Vietti

Eleanor Ardel Vietti (November 5, 1927 – disappeared May 30, 1962) was an American physician and missionary. She worked at the Buôn Ma Thuột leper colony where she was taken as a prisoner of war on May 30, 1962.[1] She is currently the only American woman unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.[2][3]

Eleanor Ardel Vietti
Born(1927-11-05)November 5, 1927
Fort Worth, Texas
DisappearedMay 30, 1962 (aged 34)
Vietnam
StatusMissing for 58 years, 8 months and 7 days
Occupationphysician, missionary
EmployerChristian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA)

Biography

Vietti was born in Fort Worth, Texas and had a twin sister, Teresa J. Vietti and a younger brother, Victor.[1][2][4] Vietti and her sister were both interested in science and medicine early on.[5] The family lived in Bogota, Colombia until she was around fourteen.[6] Vietti then contracted a bad strep infection and had surgery in Houston, Texas.[2] Because of her illness, she became more religious, but also was a year behind her twin sister in school.[7] Vietti attended San Jacinto High School (Houston, Texas).[2] After graduation, Vietti attended Rice University and studied for a summer at Nyack Missionary College.[6] Then she went to medical school at the University of Texas from 1950 to 1954.[6][2] She interned at the South Shore Hospital in Chicago and then did a year's residency at the General Hospital of Wichita Falls, finishing in 1956.[6]

Vietti entered missionary work around 1957 and the next year, went to South Vietnam.[8] She worked in Buôn Ma Thuột at a Christian and Missionary Alliance leper colony.[9] There was a high rate of leprosy among the Montagnard people and Vietti both treated those with leprosy and worked to prevent the disease.[10] She made house calls to people in the villages.[2] In 1961, her sister Teresa visited the leper colony.[11]

Disappearance

In April 1962, Vietti came back to the United States and visited with her family in Houston and St. Louis.[7][2] She also took a course in cleft-palate repair in St. Louis.[7] Her family wanted her to stay in the United States.[2] The Department of State also warned Vietti about returning to the leper colony.[2] However, Vietti chose to return to Vietnam.[2]

On May 30, 1962, Vietti, Archie E. Mitchell and Daniel A. Gerber[12] were kidnapped by 12 Viet Cong guerillas.[1][13] Vietti's ankle was injured, so it was reported that she was not tied up by the soldiers and was limping.[13] Vietti, Mitchell and Gerber were taken to the nurses' house, where the Viet Cong members lectured them, and also promised that Dr. Vietti would not be harmed.[13] The three captives were taken away by car.[13] The other nine Americans in the leper colony were left behind.[8] It was suspected that she was taken in order to work in a Viet Cong hospital.[14] A captured Viet Cong soldier told interrogators later in 1962 that Vietti was treating the Viet Cong wounded.[15]

It was believed that she was being moved from village to village and was still believed alive in 1965.[9][16] A report of a white woman asking for a Bible in a village came through in 1967.[2] In 1968, the Christian and Missionary Alliance announced at their General Council that Vietti and the other 2 missionaries captured were still alive.[17] Reports of seeing Vietti and the other two missionaries among the Montagnard villages continued into the 1970s.[2] However, by 1991, she was listed as "presumed dead" on the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action list.[18]

Legacy

In 1998, Maggie O'Kane reported about Vietti and her capture on a radio special called The Only Woman Left Behind.[19] In the show, she discussed Vietti's capture, aired memories of families and friends and speculated on what had happened to Vietti.[19][20] In 2008, Nyack College honored her and other alumni who were lost in Vietnam, adding their names to a special stone bench on campus.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Bio, Vietti, Eleanor A." POW Network. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  2. Fisher, Binnie (28 October 2001). "The last missing woman from the Vietnam War". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  3. Lloyd, Alice B. (2017-05-29). "Fact Check: Why Are So Few Women's Names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall?". Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  4. "Victor William Vietti". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  5. Miller, Beth (2010-01-26). "Teresa J. Vietti, pediatric oncology pioneer, dies at 82". The Source. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  6. "Dr. Eleanor Ardel Vietti". The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  7. "Dr. Teresa J. Vietti". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 2010. pp. A021. Retrieved 2018-01-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Awaits Word Here of Kidnapped Sister". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1962-06-01. p. 5. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Garvin, Allen (1965-10-10). "What in the World!". Battle Creek Enquirer. p. 68. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Dr. Eleanor Ardel Vietti: Profile". Military.com. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  11. Skroska, Philip (5 October 2016). "Teresa J. Vietti, MD: Pioneer Pediatric Oncologist". Becker Medical Library. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  12. "U.S. Unaccounted-For from the Vietnam War (Sorted by Name) Prisoners of War, Missing in Action and Killed in Action/Body not Recovered" (PDF). Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  13. "Viet Cong Band Pledged Woman Doctor's Safety". Hartford Courant. 1962-06-24. p. 193. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Women Vets May Get a Memorial". The Morning Call. 1987-11-29. p. 130. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Says Reds Use Captive Doctor". Des Moines Tribune. 1962-07-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "18 Americans Prisoners of Communists". Nevada State Journal. 1965-06-27. p. 43. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Rev. Beezer Attends Meet in Carolina". Redlands Daily Facts. 1968-06-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Starr, Jerold M. (1991). The Lessons of the Vietnam War. Pittsburgh, PA: Center for Social Studies Education. pp. 243. ISBN 978-0945919155.
  19. "Radio". The Guardian. 1998-09-24. p. 51. Retrieved 2018-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "The Only Woman Left Behind". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  21. "Clipped From The Journal News". The Journal News. 2008-10-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2018-01-06.

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