2nd Lt. Stephen Leopold was Vietnam MIA for almost 5 years before his release

Larry Spencer, POW Veteran

Summer may be gone for a while, but the glorious, crisp mid-autumn weather that we so often experience in Iowa was in full bloom as we met at the Wakonda Club at noon for our weekly meeting. President Don Flannery welcomed us and called on Rob Hedgepeth for words of

Avenue Of Heroes Banner Recipient … Captain Render Crayton, USN

In early 1966, while flying a combat mission over North Vietnam, Captain Render Crayton’s A4E Skyhawk was struck by anti-aircraft fire. The plane suffered crippling damage, with a resulting fire and explosion. Unable to maintain flight, Captain Crayton ejected over enemy territory. What happened next, though, demonstrates his character and

Former commander, prisoner of war tells reservists how will power can be stronger than firepower (James Seehorn)

Only in America can a former convict become a brigadier general. Former resident of the prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton, then Capt. James Sehorn never imagined a lifelong relationship with the United States Air Force or rising to the rank of brigadier general. Now retired and living a

Texas veteran shot down in Vietnam on 7 years as POW at ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison camp: ‘You keep faith’ (James Lamar)

Five decades ago, Col. James Lamar was playing poker against fellow prisoners of war with cards made of toilet paper and chips made of matchsticks at the “Hanoi Hilton” in North Vietnam on the tail end of his nearly 7-year stint at the notorious prison camp. Today, 94-year-old Lamar enjoys playing Texas

Where is the most austere or arduous place you spent the holidays while deployed? (Hughes, Alcorn)

On 22 December 1965, on a combat mission over North Vietnam, I was shot down and captured. I spent Christmas on a concrete floor in a North Vietnamese prison, arms tightly bound behind my back. For eight holiday seasons I enjoyed “the humane and lenient treatment of the North Vietnamese people,”