FINAL POW TO LEAVE NAVY (Joseph Mobley)

Maine Gives P.O.W. Warm Welcome (Mark Gartley)

Walking next to his father near a lake he fished as a boy, Navy Lieut. Markham Gartley looked up at the clear, blue sky and filled his lungs with crisp autumn air. The 28‐year‐old pilot noted the colors of the northern Maine woods—the McIntosh reds of the sugar maples, the

Looking back at Operation Homecoming on POW/MIA Day (James Clements)

In an AAFES parking lot at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, rests a plaque dedicated to former POWs from the Vietnam war, including some from the 388th Fighter Wing. It’s easy to walk past plaques, but this one is worth stopping to consider. For nearly a decade before it moved to Hill

The Volunteer State Goes to War: A Salute to Tennessee Veterans (Robert Peel)

The Vietnam War was, essentially, an internal conflict between communist forces in North Vietnam and the pro-western government in South Vietnam. It had begun as a war between colonial French and nationalist Vietnamese armies, but after France’s devastating defeat in the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ in 1954, the country

8-year POW recalls return home 45 years later (Smitty Harris)

Stepping off the bus, recently freed American prisoners of war formed up from the tallest to shortest, stiff at attention facing Capt. Carlyle “Smitty” Harris and with a salute they defied their Vietnamese captors one final time. Proving their grit and American pride could outlast any amount of torture or

Diploma caps long-fought struggle – Son draws on father’s experiences as Vietnam POW to accomplish goals (John Deering)

Told he would never walk again after a car accident left him a quadriplegic at age 15, earning a college degree was the last thing John Deering ever thought he’d care about. Against all odds, the White House resident graduated from Volunteer State Community College Dec. 12, earning a degree