USAF Lt. Col.(Ret.) Tim Ayres was born in 1945 in Los Angeles, California. He received his commission through the U.S. Air Force Academy on Jun 5, 1968, and completed pilot training in June 1969. Lt Ayres was then trained as an O-2A Milirole Forward Air Controller and was assigned to Quang Ngai, South Vietnam the same year. After a one-year tour as a Forward Air Controller, he trained in the F-4 Phantom II and was
Robert Harper Shumaker is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who went on to serve as rear admiral and naval aviator in the U.S. Navy. Shumaker is best known for his resilience as a prisoner during the Vietnam War, and for coining the phrase ‘Hanoi Hilton,’ in reference to the notorious North Vietnamese prison. During his captivity, Shumaker was instrumental in the implementation of the ‘tap code’ that the prisoners used to communicate
This extraordinary film about American POWs is one of a series of “Air Force Now” magazine type movies made for the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s and 1980s. This particular episode focuses on the return of Prisoners of War (POWs) from Vietnam after the war. It was apparently made in either late 1973 or early 1974, after Operation Homecoming took place. Operation Homecoming took place from February 14, 1973 to April of that year,
Dave Carey talks about his experience as a POW for 5 1/2 years during the Vietnam war.
The Nixon Library will host three former Vietnam War POWs for a panel discussion celebrating the 50th anniversary of their emotional return home to the United States. These decorated veterans will reflect on their harrowing experiences of survival while imprisoned in North Vietnam and share their perspectives on the past fifty years of freedom. The panelists, all of whom were imprisoned in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison camp, will discuss the challenges they faced during
