Vietnam POWs honored at Travis ‘Homecoming’ (Michael O’Connor)

5 P.O.W.’S GREETED BY FAMILIES HERE (Cuis, Coker, Mehl, Budd, McLeary)

Five released prisoners of war landed at Kennedy International Airport last evening for joyous reunions. Two others were greeted by a crowd of 2,000 at Fort Monmouth, N. J. The Kennedy homecoming celebration began shortly before 7 o’clock when an Air Force Nightingale medical‐evacuation plane touched down and taxied to

Colonel Thomas J. Curtis presents “Living History”

A large crowd of past and present service members, students and guests gathered at Grand Avenue Theater to hear Colonel Thomas J. Curtis, retiree from the United States Air Force, speak about his time as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam on Friday. Organized by Master Networks Belton Chapter

The Tiger from the sky (William Austin)

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

‘We made it:’ Local Vietnam veteran shares his POW story (Wayne Smith)

1,882 days; five and a half years. That’s how long Vietnam veteran Wayne Smith was a prisoner of war. “We were in pretty bad shape, we certainly were,” said Smith. He shared his story with us and dozens of people at Punta Gorda’s Military Heritage Museum. The Air Force captain’s

Former POW shares story with NCOA (Melvin Pollack)

“I may be older, but I’m a fighter pilot,” he said, smiling, as he shared his story of perseverance before a crowd of Kisling NCO Academy students, Sept. 12, 2016. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Melvin Pollack, Vietnam War veteran, was flying his 78th mission when he was shot down