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.
James F. Bell, a Navy officer who spent seven years as a POW in Vietnam
James F. Bell, a Navy captain and pilot who was held prisoner for seven and a half years during the Vietnam War, died Sept. 30 at an Alexandria care facility. He was 83. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, said his wife, Dora G. Bell. Flying a reconnaissance plane
