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

Just an American POW
In January of 1964, Captain Harlan Chapman reported to Marine Fighter Squadron 212 based at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii. In 1965, his Squadron deployed with Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the USS ORISKANY (CVA 34) for combat operations from the South China Sea. Harlan flew his first combat
