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Soldier Presumed Dead Says He’s Sorry for Disappearing

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From Reuters

An elderly Vietnam veteran believed dead until he applied for Social Security assistance in Georgia last month apologized Friday for disappearing in 1970 and said he hoped to be reunited with his family soon.

“I disappeared, I guess. I’m sorry I did, about that war and about my situation. It wasn’t nice to do and I hope it will be all right again,” said 73-year-old Mateo Sabog, who is undergoing medical examination at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Ft. Gordon, Ga.

Public affairs officers at the military base near Augusta, Ga., released a transcript of an interview they conducted Friday with Sabog and three brothers who traveled from Hawaii to see him.

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Sabog said it was good to be reunited with his siblings after 26 years. “I was happy and they seemed happy,” he said. He added that he hopes to be able to return to Hawaii to see other family members.

“I would like to go home and see all of my friends and the rest of my family, if I can. I hope it will be soon,” Sabog said.

Sabog, using the name Bobby Fernandez, had been living in Rossville, in rural northwest Georgia, where for more than a decade he lived with and took care of an elderly Native American woman.

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When the woman was placed in a nursing home last month, Sabog gave his real name as he sought assistance from the Social Security Administration.

Military officials have disclosed no information about Sabog’s medical condition. “Actually, he looks better than his pictures,” said his brother, Kenneth Sabog.

Henry Sabog said it will be “a slow reentry into normal life” for his brother, who had 24 years of military service and was a master sergeant when he disappeared in 1970 en route to Ft. Bragg, N.C.

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“We are asking his friends, as well as his neighbors and the public, to allow us this time of healing, reconnecting and re-bonding to assure him that his family is waiting and welcoming him home with open arms,” Henry Sabog said.

Sabog has been placed on active duty while Army officials consider his case. When asked how it felt to be the oldest soldier in the Army, Sabog answered: “I can’t imagine how it feels, because I’ve never heard of a 73-year-old soldier.”

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