Jay Hess was 14 years into his Air Force service.
The fighter pilot, in the cockpit of an F-105 Thunderchief, was dropping 600 pound bombs in the heavily defended area around Hanoi, in north Vietnam. Hess finished the steep dive, released his bombs and began to pull out when his aircraft was hit by enemy fire. With no way out, he pulled the ejection handle.
“On Earth as it is heaven.” It engulfed his mind as he stood there dirty, hungry and in pain. He struggled to hold his hands up against the wall. His knees shook as he spread his feet wide and tried with everything inside of him not to move a muscle,
As U.S. prisoners of war in Iraq await their freedom, Col. Charles Brown, 439th Maintenance Group commander here recalled the end of his own POW experience 30 years earlier. On April 1, 1973, a young, Captain Brown walked off a C-9 Nightingale onto the tarmac here after spending 101 days
A story of survival, endurance, and overcoming obstacles for your Memorial Day. Lt. Col. Paul Kari spent nearly eight years as a POW after being shot down over North Vietnam. What happened afterward also tested his limits. Kari and I walked the land on his pristine spread in West Liberty.
Name: Phillip Dean Prather Rank/Branch: W1/United States Army, pilot Unit: HHC 11th INF BDE Date of Birth: Home City of Record: Armarillo TX Date of Loss: 08 March 1971 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 165720 North 1070300 East Status (in 1973): Returnee Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A Other Personnel
© 2024 Vietnam War POWS. All rights reserved.