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.”
When his country called, John Blanks answered. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, one of the most unpopular wars in U.S. history and the subject of a 10-episode series on PBS by filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. A lot of his buddies went, too. Some came back
Navy pilot Byron Fuller spent almost six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, where his battered body was tortured and starved, where he endured more than two years in solitary confinement in a 4-by-7-foot cell. Upon his release in 1973 from Hoa Lo, a prison camp known
Col. Ted W. Guy, 4-18-29 to 4-23-99SRO at the Plantation was Air Force Lt. Col. Ted Guy. The combative Guy had been downed in Laos on March 22, 1968. He was captured after shooting it out with some North Vietnamese soldiers, killing at least two of them. After capture he
Name: Phillip Dean Prather Rank/Branch: W1/United States Army, pilot Unit: HHC 11th INF BDE Date of Birth: Home City of Record: Armarillo TX Date of Loss: 08 March 1971 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 165720 North 1070300 East Status (in 1973): Returnee Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A Other Personnel
Meet Colonel (Retired) “Mad Dog” Rick McDow, United States Air Force. This southern gentleman and Tuscaloosa grad (ROLL TIDE!) had dreams of becoming a military aviator, having heard stories from his uncle who flew jets during the Korean War. Amidst the backdrop of Vietnam, Rick joined the Air Force