Air Force Capt. Willis E. Forby was forced to eject from his F105D Thunderchief after being hit by anti-aircraft fire on a bombing mission near Ha Tinh, North Vietnam. Forby’s wingman called for help and the 38th Air Rescue Squadron in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand responded. Helicopter pilot Capt. Thomas Curtis, co-pilot Duane Martin, para-rescue man Neil Black, and crew chief Bill Robinson boarded their Kaman HH-43B helicopter to rescue Forby.
Sgt, Richard Perricone’s hometown gave him a rousing welcome today — something they had been waiting to do for more than six years. Uniondale Avenue, the main thoroughfare, was lined with American flags and banners were strung across the street proclaiming “Welcome Home, Richard.” And as the fire chief’s red
“The National Prisoners of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA) Recognition Day Observance Program honors our current MIAs, and past and current POWs around the nation,” said Post 197’s Bryan Richardson. Currently, Pike County has four known MIAs: Seaman 2nd Class David E. Ledford, Staff Sergeant Joel M. Matthews,
A gaunt but cheerful 108 American prisoners of war regained their freedom today, with the senior ranking prisoner in North Vietnam declaring the U.S. POWs “performed magnificently … they were first class soldiers.” “I would like to say I’ve been in better places but I have never been with better
The Vietnam War was, essentially, an internal conflict between communist forces in North Vietnam and the pro-western government in South Vietnam. It had begun as a war between colonial French and nationalist Vietnamese armies, but after France’s devastating defeat in the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ in 1954, the country