Dec. 24, 1963 - American fighting men in South Vietnam today took time out from the war against the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas to celebrate Christmas. But in the tangled jungles and swamps, seven other Americans probably were spending the most desolate Christmas of their lives as prisoners of the Communists. The captives are Capt. Humbert H. Versace, 26, of Baltimore; 1st Lt. James H. Rowe, 25, of McAllen, Tex.; Sgt. 1-C Daniel Pitzer of Spring Lake, N.C.; Sgt. 1-C Isaac Camacho, 26, of El Paso, Tex.; Sgt. Kenneth M. Rorabach, 31, of Fayetteville, N.C.; Sgt. George Smith, 25, of Chester, W. Va.; and Spec. 5 Claude D. McClure, 23, of Chattanooga, Tenn. Versace, Rowe, and Pitzer were captured by guerrillas in an ambush last Oct. 29 in southernmost Camau Peninsula. They last were reported seen by villagers when the same Viet Cong battalion attacked a government outpost in Camau in late November. Camacho, Rorabach, Smith, and McClure were taken prisoner when the Communists overran a special training camp near Saigon on Nov. 24.
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