50 years later, Operation Homecoming a ‘symbol of the last warriors’ returning from Vietnam (Guarino, McNish)

Operation Homecoming, which freed now-retired Col. Tom McNish and more than 600 prisoners of war from Vietnam 50 years ago this spring, was the best military operation of McNish’s 34-year career.

“Due to Operation Homecoming and the totally nourishing environment that it put us in immediately after getting out of that situation, we had a hardly noticeable incidence of PTSD,” the 81-year-old said. “All of us, with very rare exceptions, we have had exceptionally successful and good lives since we got home.”

The North Vietnamese shot down McNish’s F-105D Thunderchief on Sept. 4, 1966. Then, they imprisoned him for six-and-a-half years inside the Hanoi Hilton and other POW sites. That’s how he met four National Guardsmen — Col. Bud Day; Maj. Wes Schierman; Brig. Gen. James Robinson “Robbie” Risner; and Col. Larry Guarino.

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Colonel Thomas J. Curtis presents “Living History”

A large crowd of past and present service members, students and guests gathered at Grand Avenue Theater to hear Colonel Thomas J. Curtis, retiree from the United States Air Force, speak about his time as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam on Friday. Organized by Master Networks Belton Chapter

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Bliss On Life For former POW Ronald Bliss, every moment matters

For lawyers accustomed to billing their time by the quarter-hour, 2,374 around-the-clock days would seem like a fair amount of time. But for Houston attorney Ronald G. Bliss, 60, a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski’s Intellectual Property & Technology department, the time he spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, from September 4, 1966,

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