Bobby Garwood Robert Russell Garwood ( born 1 April 1946 in Greensburg , Indiana ) is a former Vietnam War prisoner of war . Garwood was a United States Marine Corps Private First Class when he was captured on September 28 , 1965 at DaNang , in Quang Nam province during the war . Often cited as the last American POW from the Vietnam War , he was taken to North Vietnam in 1969 , and reportedly released in 1973 along with all other American POWs , but did not return to the United States until March 22 , 1979 . He is listed either as having volunteered or been forced into a work group repairing a generator at Lien Trai I , one of the Yen Bai reeducation camps in Hoang Lien San Province in northern Vietnam . Other reports describe him as working at an unnamed " island fortress " in Thac Ba , North Vietnam , or having been kept behind in mainland labour camps as a driver and vehicle mechanic . Garwood was considered by the Department of Defense to have acted as a collaborator with the enemy . In 1998 , the Department of Defense changed his status from RETURNEE to AWOL / Deserter / Collaborator . Garwood denies the charges of collaboration . He accuses the Department of Defense of trying to rewrite history to make him seem like a liar to downplay his 1984 claims that he had seen other POWs " left behind " after 1973 and that he had been held prisoner for 14 years , though there are inconsistencies in his story . Many former POWs claim to have witnessed Garwood apparently collaborating with the enemy , though most say he should not have been court martialed . Nevertheless , the Marine Corps convicted Garwood of collaboration , reduced him in rank to Private and he was dishonorably discharged from the Corps . He forfeited all back pay . In June 1992 , a U . S . task force examined the sites where Garwood claimed to have seen live U . S . prisoners , interviewed nearby residents , and met with Vietnamese officials , but reported " " no " evidence could be found to suggest that there are , or ever were , any live U . S . POWs " there . Military service and capture . Garwood was assigned to the Marine base at DaNang in South Vietnam as a motor - pool driver . The circumstances surrounding Garwood ' s disappearance are in dispute ; Garwood himself claims that he was ambushed when he got lost while driving alone in a jeep to pick up an officer , that his jeep was torched and he was stripped naked . What is known is that on 28 September 1965 , he was found absent at the 2300 bed check . No unauthorized absence ( UA ) was reported because Garwood was thought to have had a " late run . " He was reported UA after he failed to report for muster at 0730 on the 29th . On 29 September , the Division Provost Marshal was notified of Garwood ' s absence and an all points bulletin was issued for him and his missing vehicle . This bulletin was repeated for three days with no results . Personnel from the motor pool searched areas of Da Nang that Garwood was known to frequent but no leads were uncovered . On 2 October , the division ' s provost marshal contacted the Republic of Vietnam ' s Military Security Services . Their search efforts also produced no information regarding Garwood . As these investigations proceeded , Garwood ' s commanding officer reported to the Commandant , USMC , that , in view of Garwood ' s past record of UA , it was his opinion that Garwood was possibly UA and this UA could have resulted in Garwood being taken POW . Because of the lack of any evidence of Garwood ' s capture , however , the CO recommended that there be no change in Garwood ' s status and that he remain UA until evidence to the contrary proved otherwise . Two separate Vietnamese agents reported that the Viet Cong ( VC ) claimed that a U . S . serviceman and his jeep had been picked up in the Cam Hai region , approximately 11 . 5 miles from the DaNang base , after the serviceman had become lost . The American had been captured and the jeep burned . A ground and aerial search for the burned vehicle produced no results , as did four platoon search operations on 1 October . Two additional platoons swept the area in the vicinity of Marble Mountain the next morning but found nothing . On 12 October , the 704th ITC Det ( CI ) authorized the offer of a 100 , 000 $ VN reward for information leading to the successful recovery of the missing serviceman and additional 2 , 500 $ VN for the recovery of his vehicle . On 3 December 1965 , India Company , 3rd Battalion , 3rd Marine Regiment found a document entitled " Fellow Soldier ' s Appeal " with Garwood ' s name on it , on a gate near DaNang . The document recommended , among other things , that U . S . troops stop fighting in Vietnam and return home . The signature ( B . Garwood ) may well have been made by a rubber stamp and the English usage in the letter suggests that it was not written entirely by a native English speaker . A second version of this document was found on 18 July 1966 in the DaNang area , but it appeared to be on better quality paper and the signature was at a different angle . In view of this information , Pvt . Garwood ' s status was changed from " missing " to " presumed captured " on 17 December 1965 . Post - war POW claim investigation . The Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) , which called Garwood a " stay - behind , " investigated Garwood ' s claim that he saw live American POWs after 1973 at a " motel - shaped masonry building " in North Vietnam . The DIA reported it could not locate any masonry structures at the indicated location . Senator Bob Smith requested that the DIA search again . After a second search produced no results , Smith initiated a personal search with ABC News , Garwood , and Bill Hendon and the group traveled to Vietnam in 1993 . Following Garwood ' s directions , they reported that they found a building just as Garwood had previously described . The Vietnamese government and a former head of the DIA POW / MIA office angrily disputed the finding , insisting the structure had not existed when Garwood was a POW . Media . In 1981 Garwood was interviewed by the BBC . Film . The made - for - TV film " The Last P . O . W . ? The Bobby Garwood Story " , starring Ralph Macchio and Martin Sheen , was released in 1992 . Garwood , who was portrayed by Macchio in the production , was a consultant to the film ' s producers , according to whom Garwood had been ordered to survive by one of his superiors , who was also a captive of the North Vietnamese . Garwood was also interviewed in 2006 for a Yale University senior thesis project by Sean Clifford . The project involved a documentary film component , and Garwood participated in more than eight hours of videotaped interviews . The film also includes interviews with Garwood ' s court martial attorney , Vaughan Taylor , as well as fellow P . O . W . David Harker .