Six months before American combat troops were committed to Vietnam, Eugene Richardson, a 21-year-ld flight mechanic from Monroe County was killed while flying ammunition to a Special Forces camp on October 24, 1964. Rochester soon became economically involved in the war. General Dynamics, Stromberg-Carlson, Graflex, EastmanKodak, Bausch and Lomb, and several other manufacturers produced
foods, clothing, electronics, optics and missile and aircraft parts to support American soldiers in a war against the spread of Communism.
Defense contracts totaled nearly a quarter of a million dollars in 1966
The P.O.W.’s Show Pride and Gratitude (Shankel, Risner, Brunstrom)
As the first group of returning prisoners arrived on the American mainland here this week, a sketchy picture began to emerge of their years in captivity and their plans. They came home feeling pride, gratitude and a deep need to believe that the years torn out of their lives were
