1968 Release of 3 US Pilots by N. Vietnam (James Low, Fred Thompson, Joe Carpenter)

3 Pilots Freed by Hanoi Reported Leaving Today
HANOI, North Vietnam,
Aug. 1 (Agence France-Presse) -The three United States pilots freed by North Vietnam July 3 will leave tomorrow for Vientiane, Laos, aboard the regular International Control Commission flight, a reliable source said tonight.
The three – Maj. James F. Low, Maj. Fred N. Thompson and Capt. Joe V. Carpenter- will be escorted by three American pacifists. The pilots were handed over to the pacifists at a ceremony July 18, the source said, and have since been living in the Thong Nhat Hotel in Hanoi. The source said that the pacifists-Stewart Meacham of Philadelphia, Mrs. Anne Scheer of Berkeley, Calif.,. and Vernon Grizzard of Cambridge, Mass.had delayed their departure from Hanoi because the United States au- thorities in Vientiane tried to intervene in their affairs.
They decided to take the Control Commission plane to- morrow after receiving information that the United States Government would not put pressure on the pilots to travel from Laos in a United States military medical plane, but would allow them to go as they choose.

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