50 Years Ago
■Mrs. Mary Cutter, 211 Elm St., grandmother of Capt. James Cutter, prisoner of war in North Vietnam, reported this morning that she has learned her grandson will be among the last prisoners to be returned to the U.S. “He hasn’t been there (as a POW) as long as some,” Mrs. Cutter conceded. “He’s only been there about a year.”
Capt. Leo Hyatt, USN (Ret.), held as a Vietnam prisoner of war for more than five-and-a-half years, was the keynote speaker at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay POW/MIA commemoration, held at the Subase Chapel. It was on Aug. 13, 1967, during a high-speed photo reconnaissance operation over a railroad
Lt. Col. Arthur “Ted” Ballard was an experienced Air Force aviator who flew dozens of combat missions in his F-105 jet. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross before being shot down during a bombing run over North Vietnam in September 1966. He survived 2,351 days and seven Christmas holidays in captivity at various prisoner-of-war
Former Vietnam War POW and retired Navy Capt. John Michael “Mike” McGrath visits with cadets Monday while signing George Hayward’s book “The Party Dolls” about the attempted escape of two POWs in 1969. McGrath and Hayward visited the U.S. Air Force Academy to share McGrath’s experiences as a POW and
For nearly a year, Kailua resident Emilia Thomas never knew that her husband, a Marine Corps aviation observer, was alive after being shot down in Vietnam and being held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. “That’s the only thing that still bothers me,” said retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer