Sen. Jack Reed took issue with my column Wednesday in which two men deeply involved in the search for prisoners of war from the Korean War said they didn’t think Reed had done much for the cause.

For Vincent Russo and Bob Dumas, both Korean War veterans, it might be impossible to do enough — short of sending massive search teams into very old war zones.

Dumas has been searching for his brother, Roger, a Korean War POW, for 50 years. Russo joined him 23 years ago. After years of getting their hopes up and then brought down, they don’t have a lot of patience.

But Reed did try to help. He met with the two men eight months ago at his Cranston office. I sat in on the meeting. Reed said he would look into their claims. He did.

“Senator Reed went above and beyond to help Mr. Dumas and Mr. Russo,” said Chip Unruh, Reed’s press secretary. “He took up this matter when others wouldn’t and has a strong record of helping veterans and the POW/MIA cause.

“Our office has been in constant contact with Mr. Dumas, Mr. Russo and the Department of Defense on this issue.”

As part of the response to the column, Unruh provided a copy of a letter sent to Reed by Charles Ray, deputy secretary of defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs, in which Ray pointed out that no evidence has been found that Roger Dumas, Bob Dumas’ brother, was ever captured and held prisoner by the enemy during the Korean War. But Ray said that Dumas’ status as a POW was acknowledged up to the time when he was declared dead by the Army in 1954.

“Despite our efforts, we have uncovered no credible evidence that Americans are in captivity as POWs anywhere in the world from any past conflict,” Ray told Reed in the letter. Reed sent the letter to Dumas.

Dumas said Wednesday he did receive a copy of Ray’s letter from Reed’s office, although Dumas disputes the findings about his brother. He said that there was little other contact from the senator’s office.

Russo said Wednesday that he has received nothing from Reed’s office, but that Dumas gave him a copy of Ray’s letter. He said he went back to the Cranston office in May to drop off some information but did not meet with the senator’s staff.

Unruh said the senator’s staff reports at least 25 contacts with Russo or Dumas since the March meeting.

“The senator helped get Mr. Dumas answers from the Pentagon and has had a dialogue with top DOD officials to see if anything further can be done,” said Unruh.

This might be a sad case in which two deeply committed men are seeking answers that simply cannot be found.

bkerr@projo.com