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
Wilkes native Denver Key was POW with Senator McCain
Wilkes County native Wilson Denver “Denny” Key was a prisoner of war in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” in North Vietnam during essentially the same 5½-year period Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday, was held there. McCain, being remembered this week for his bravery and resolve as a POW, was captured