Garnett "Bill" Eugene Bell's Obituary
Garnett Eugene Bell (Bill Bell), age 81, passed away Jan. 25, 2025. Bill was born in Greensville, Texas, on April 5, 1943. He grew up and attended elementary and high school in Marshall, Texas. Bill was a graduate of Chaminade University in Honolulu and the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. He was fluent in Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian.
In 1960 at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Army at Shreveport, La. Bill was initially assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and his illustrious military career included four tours in Vietnam, where he started as an infantryman in 1965. He went on to become an Airborne Ranger, certified scuba diver and jumpmaster. In Vietnam he was awarded 20 individual decorations and numerous unit awards. After two years in the Special Forces, Bill became an instructor in exploitation and counterintelligence at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School.
After being evacuated by helicopter from the roof of the American Embassy on the final day of the Republic of Vietnam (30 April 1975), Bill returned to postwar Vietnam as the first official U.S. representative when he was assigned as the chief of the U.S. Office for P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs in Hanoi. He served for more than 12 years on the P.O.W./M.I.A. search and recovery efforts, during which some 359 Americans were recovered, identified and repatriated to their families. Bill eventually became a member of the congressional staff, U.S. House of Representatives, in order to provide televised testimony in front of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./M.I.A. Affairs as the government’s top expert on the topic.
At the time of his retirement Bill was assigned as a special assistant in the American Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. After retiring from the federal government, Bill worked as an investigator in the 12th Judicial District of Arkansas.
Bill was predeceased by a wife, Nova Lynn Bell; two sons, Michael Eugene Bell and Garnett William Bell; his parents, Garnett Welch Bell and Lola Mae Bell McCombs; his sister, Lola Fay Bell Whelan; and his nephew Jerry Boaze. He is survived by his beloved wife, Nam-Xuan Pham Bell of Fayetteville, Ark.; his children, Andrea Bell of Russellville, Ark.; Scott Bell of Monterey, Calif.; Elisabeth Bell of Fayetteville; his grandchildren, Jonathan Nicholaus Bell, Matthew, Hannah, Adam and Jacob Bell of Monterey, Scarlett Ready of Fayetteville, and Belle Adora Jones of Fort Smith, Ark.; and his nephew Shawn Sullivan of Orlando, Fla.
Bill requested a short, simple funeral. Friends are invited to meet with the family on Friday, Jan. 31, at 10:30 A.M. at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville.
Bill requested no flowers ; instead, donations may be given to The National League of P.O.W./M.I.A. Families (pow-miafamilies.org).
More information about Bill's life work can be found at www.nomanbehind.com.
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