Former POW Ralph Galati ’70 Found Purpose in Service

Downed Marine aviator recalls POW ordeal 50 years later: ‘We don’t give up’ (James Walsh)

Fifty years ago, in early March 1973, Capt. James Patrick Walsh Jr. received a hero’s welcome here. Walsh, an aviator with Attack Squadron 211, Marine Air Group 12, logged an entry on Sept. 26, 1972, that stated it was his 100th takeoff for a bombing run over North Vietnam. There

From a POW wristband, a journey surfaces with many twists (Glenn Wilson)

It was an unusual treasure the Stevenson Creek dredging contractor found – a Vietnam-era prisoner of war (POW) wristband. Employees of Gator Dredging of Clearwater, Florida discovered the bracelet when their hydraulic barge’s hose sucked it from the creek during dredging operations. “It traveled through approximately 500 yards of pipe

Randolph County native became Vietnam prisoner of war (Gail Kerns)

It’s been nearly 45 years since Staff Sgt. Gail M. Kerns kissed the ground when he stepped back on United State soil, after surviving 1,439 days as a prisoner of war. Kerns was shot on the left side of his head when he and his fellow American soldiers were ambushed

Fighting for survival behind enemy lines (Frederick Crowson)

“It was survival. We were in survival mode every day.” And Army Command Sgt. Maj. Frederick Crowson remembers every one of those days he was held captive in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Prisoners of war and those missing in action have long told their stories of capture, torture and

Honor Pike and U.S. POWs and MIAs (Lenard E. Daugherty)

“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,