U.S. Air Force Capt. William R. Austin II and his aircraft commander, Maj. Ivan D. Appleby, had out-maneuvered certain death hundreds of times before they got hit. A fighter pilot with the storied “Triple Nickle” 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Austin had flown 80 combat missions over North Vietnam in the powerful F-4 Phantom II, despite the enemy’s relentless attempts to make each a one-way trip. By the time he landed his 80th mission in the fall of 1967, he’d earned a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 10 Air Medals.
‘Hanoi Hilton’ survivor Murphy Neal Jones; endured 6.5 years as prisoner of war
Murphy Neal Jones Sr., a Baton Rouge native who endured more than 6½ years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam’s infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” died Thursday in Delaware. He was 81. A football star at Baton Rouge High School who went on to play at Tulane University, Jones was a
