Five released prisoners of war landed at Kennedy International Airport last evening for joyous reunions. Two others were greeted by a crowd of 2,000 at Fort Monmouth, N. J.
The Kennedy homecoming celebration began shortly before 7 o’clock when an Air Force Nightingale medical‐evacuation plane touched down and taxied to the North Terminal, at the edge of the airport, where the families were waiting.
The plane carried the former prisoners—three Navy fliers, a marine helicopter gunner and a ground‐based marine sergeant—on, the final leg of a journey that began at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines and included stops in Hawaii and at two Air Force bases on the mainland.
282 Still Imprisoned
The freed prisoners were among the 136 Americans released Sunday and Monday by the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong. Their arrival leaves 282 Americans acknowledged as being in enemy prison camps. All are to be freed by the end of this month under terms of the cease‐fire agreement.
