15 Iowa POW’s get medals Duane Vavroch

‘Yankee air pirate!’ — Air Force pilot shot down over Vietnam lived to tell the tale (George Rose)

It’s an indelible image of the Vietnam era: George Alan Rose, then 30, stands on a rain-slicked tarmac. The Air Force fighter pilot has just been released from captivity in North Vietnam. His wife, Becky, wraps her arms around him. Their son, Glen, gazes up at his father and reaches for

At Last She Gets It Off Her Hands (Howard J. Hill)

Diane Atkins and Howard J. Hill had never met, but for 17 years they shared a very special bond. Hill was an Air Force first lieutenant on Dec. 16, 1967, when the tail of his Phantom F-4D was blown off over Hanoi by a North Vietnamese MIG-27. He ejected and

50 years after the US exited Vietnam, a new exhibit sheds light on the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ (Tim Sullivan)

50 years ago, direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War officially ended as the last remaining combat troops and prisoners of war returned to American soil. It was a complex moment for the country, as the war was deeply unpopular and ended in defeat. More than 58,000 Americans died in the war,

Freed P.O.W.’s Carry Psychic Scars of War (David Matheny)

When Lieut. David Matheny drove home for lunch the other day, he saw that his wife’s car was gone. He turned around and left without even going in. Lieutenant Matheny was a prisoner of war in North Viet nam for about six months. Most of that time was spent in

Army Says It Will Not Punish P.O.W. Captured While AWOL (Richard Springman)

When Pvt. Ferdinand Rodriguez of Brooklyn arrived at Valley Forge General Hospital on a stretcher 22 days ago after nearly five years as a prisoner of war, his infirmities were listed as malaria, exhaustion and apprehension. The apprehension eased considerably Wednesday when Defense Department aides told him that he would