William Martin Hendon (November 9, 1944 – June 20, 2018) was an American author, POW/MIA activist, and two-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

11th District 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

Political career

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, Hendon ousted two-term incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

V. Lamar Gudger to become the first Republican to represent what is now the 11th since 1929. For the rest of the decade, Hendon's rivalry with Democrat Jamie Clarke gained national attention. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, Clarke defeated Hendon's bid for re-election by less than 1,500 votes. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Hendon gained revenge by defeating Clarke's bid for re-election by just two percentage points—likely helped by

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's landslide victory. In their third consecutive meeting in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Hendon lost to Clarke by one percentage point. Despite being encouraged to run against Clarke for a fourth time in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, Hendon declined.

Post-political career

His 2007

New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

,''An Enormous Crime''
co-written with attorney Elizabeth Stewart, argues that

American soldiers ''American Soldiers'' is a 2005 war film directed by Sidney J. Furie. Premise Iraq, 2004: during a routine sortie a US patrol is ambushed and the young soldiers are forced to put their training and skills into action fast. A determined foe with su ...

were abandoned in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

following the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In its review, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' stated, "controversial former North Carolina congressman Hendon and attorney Stewart make the case that the U.S. knowingly left hundreds of POWs in Vietnam and Laos in 1973, and that every presidential administration since then has covered it up." ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called it "a sprawling indictment of eight U.S. Administrations.… A convincing, urgent argument." One day prior to the release of ''An Enormous Crime'', ''

The Raleigh News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

'' ran a story about a passage in

Douglas Brinkley Douglas Brinkley (born December 14, 1960) is an American author, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities, and professor of history at Rice University. Brinkley is the history commentator for CNN, Presidential Historian for the New York Histori ...

's ''The Reagan Diaries,'' wherein President

, following a briefing by then-Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

, wrote that Hendon was "off his rocker" with allegations about Americans held in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Bush's feelings aside, after Hendon was narrowly defeated (50.7% to 49.3%) in the 1986 mid-term elections, Reagan appointed him to the board of directors of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

. Hendon withdrew his name from consideration for the post in the face of stiff Senate Democratic opposition to his environmental record, and instead accepted a position with the pro-defense American Defense Institute. He would remain an active voice on the POW/MIA issue until his death in 2018. Hendon died on June 20, 2018, under hospice care in

Forest City, North Carolina Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney," is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,377 as of the 2020 census, making it the largest municipality in Rutherford County. History The Alexander Manufa ...

after long illness at the age of 73.

Tenure in the United States Congress

97th United States Congress The 97th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1981 ...

(1981–1983) *

99th United States Congress The 99th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

(1985–1987)

References

External links

Biography
The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

The National Archives, compiled 1996 * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060507022814/http://www.usvetdsp.com/story19.htm Hanoi and Washington Officials Reneging on Promises of Joint POW/MIA Cooperation ''U.S. Veteran Dispatch'', February/March 1995
M.I.A. Hunter in Hanoi Chains Himself to Gate
''The New York Times'', June 5, 1995

''The New York Times'', June 9, 1995 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendon, Bill 1944 births 2018 deaths American political writers American male non-fiction writers Politicians from Asheville, North Carolina University of Tennessee alumni University of Tennessee faculty Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Activists from North Carolina Writers from Asheville, North Carolina Vietnam War POW/MIA activists