Fred Flom, a Menasha native who spent more than six years as a POW in Vietnam, dies at 80

Fred Flom, a Menasha native and a pilot who spent more than six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has died.

Flom died June 23, according to his obituary. He was 80 years old.

Flom grew up in Menasha as the youngest of four children. His family lived on Park Street, across from Smith Park. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be a pilot.

“I always wanted to fly,” Flom told The Post-Crescent in an interview in 2018.

Flom attended Lawrence University — known as Lawrence College at the time — and graduated in 1963. He was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force and became a fighter pilot.

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