Charles E. Shelton - Marian Shelton

By AMANDA COVARRUBIAS
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Col. Charles E. Shelton, the last officially designated Vietnam-era prisoner of war, was declared killed in action 29 years after he was shot down over Laos.

His wife, Marian Vollman Shelton, struggled for 25 years to find out what had happened to her husband, and whether he might be alive. She eventually gave up hope. In 1990, she committed suicide.

Her death prompted the couple's five children to ask the Air Force last year to change their father's status to killed in action. The Air Force did that Tuesday. "I personally cannot imagine him being alive still," son John Shelton said Wednesday from his home in Los Angeles. "The family needs some closure on the whole thing. We want to put it behind us."

Shelton was shot down in the mountains of Laos on his 33rd birthday, April 29, 1965. U.S. rescuers contact.htmed him by radio on the ground and he indicated he was in good condition. Villagers and defectors later told authorities he was taken prisoner by communist Laotian forces. During his career, the family moved from Louisville to San Diego, where his five children grew up.

Authorities said his official status as America's only remaining POW in Vietnam was symbolic of U.S. determination to make sure every MIA in Southeast Asia was accounted for. For Mrs. Shelton, the mental torture created by her husband's absence never ended. Although there was no strong evidence indicating Shelton is still alive, every alleged sighting kept her hopes alive.

She traveled from Laotian villages to refugee camps in Afghanistan in her tireless search, taking her story to TV shows and podiums across America. "She basically held on to the belief that he was alive," her son said. "But she had some bad days where she didn't. She thought, 'There's no way he could be alive.' "There were so many things tugging at her," he said. "It just tore her apart."