Six years, nine months and four days — that’s the length of time 1959 Conroe graduate Col. James E. Ray spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
He was shot down on Mother’s Day 1966 and was released two days before Valentine’s Day 1973. Upon his return home to Conroe, the city hosted a parade around the downtown square and celebration at Tiger Stadium in early March 1973 where the stadium was filled with supporters.
On July 1, retired USAF Col. Ken Cordier recalls his amazing story of patriotism and endurance as a fighter pilot and POW during the Vietnam War. Cordier was forced to eject from his F-4C Phantom jet when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile on Dec. 2,1966. He was immediately
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
Soldiers who fought in World War II, Vietnam and Korea were recognized for service to the country. The local VFW district number 11 puts on this POW, MIA recognition day annually. A table was set up with one red rose in a vase to remember the soldiers who are still
A career Air Force officer who was a North Vietnamese prisoner says the United States butted its “nose into somebody else’s business” and that President Nixon could have settled the war for the same terms four years ago. Maj. Hubert K. Flesher, 40 years old, a fighter pilot who spent
n December 1972—40 years ago this month—the US executed Linebacker II, the largest B-52 bombing campaign of all time. The period from Dec. 18 to Dec. 29 saw the huge USAF bombers mount shattering strikes on North Vietnamese railways, airfields, surface-to-air missile storage sites, petroleum dumps, and other infrastructure targets