40 Years of Freedom Former POW Allan Carpenter, a Sanford native, celebrates a ‘rebirthday’ milestone

Allan Carpenter celebrated his 40th rebirthday on Monday, March 4.

His actual birthday is this coming Tuesday. But it’s due to that rebirthday that he’s here this day to celebrate all things in life with family and friends.

On March 4, 1973, Carpenter’s six years as a prisoner of war came to an end and he was released from a Vietnamese prison in Hanoi. A few days later, he touched American soil for the first time since the mid-60s when his plane home landed at Logan Airport in Boston. A few days after that — after he received the proper medical attention — he returned to his hometown of Sanford to be with his family and to start life anew.

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