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Staff reporter
After 40 years, it still isn't easy for Deanna Klenda to talk about her brother.
Maj. Dean A. Klenda went to war and never came home. He has been missing since Sept. 17, 1965, when his fighter jet was shot down in North Vietnam.
Efforts have been made to recover his remains through numerous excavations and Deanna said more plans are in the works.
Saturday is National POW/MIA Recognition Day to remember those prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam war.
Dean, Deanna, and their late parents Albert and Pauline Klenda lived on a farm near Marion.
Dean attended two years at Marion High School and then transferred and graduated in 1958 from Kapaun High School, Wichita.
He graduated from Kansas State University before entering flight school.
The National League of Families of POWs/MIAs organized the national day of recognition. They also have been instrumental in excavations to recover remains.
"I agree with the military motto to 'leave no man behind'," said Deanna. "It's incredible that there's an ongoing effort to find all of our missing family members — whether alive or assumed dead."
She can assure anyone who is in the military that "our government will look for them."
Time has not healed all wounds from missing a loved one, especially not knowing for sure if he's dead or alive. Deanna finds it difficult to talk about him and the day he went missing.
"After all this time, I still miss him," Deanna said.
Even though his body has not been found, a monument has been erected at Pilsen Cemetery. She will go there Saturday and place flowers at the stone.
Deanna feels the most connected with Dean at the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., which she travels to every year.
"I take a bouquet of wheat and place it at the wall by his name," she said.
