Former POW Ralph Galati ’70 Found Purpose in Service

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

Escaped Vietnam POW, lifelong Akron resident Bruce Graening dies at 67

Almost 50 years after escaping his Viet Cong captors, a lifelong Akron resident has passed away. Bruce Graening was born on July 30, 1946, and lived his 67 years in Kenmore. After graduating from Kenmore High School, he was drafted to serve in the United States Army or, as he

Where is the most austere or arduous place you spent the holidays while deployed? (Hughes, Alcorn)

On 22 December 1965, on a combat mission over North Vietnam, I was shot down and captured. I spent Christmas on a concrete floor in a North Vietnamese prison, arms tightly bound behind my back. For eight holiday seasons I enjoyed “the humane and lenient treatment of the North Vietnamese people,”

Former POW who spent years in captivity offers valuable lessons on overcoming isolation (Joe Crecca)

There is no doubt, being told to stay home for months has many of us feeling stressed, anxious, and incredibly isolated. While mental health experts have offered up advice, we thought it may help to hear from a local man, who likely knows more about social isolation than any of

Phoenix Veterans Day Parade grand marshal Col. Gobel James: Grace under fire

Several decades before he was chosen as one of seven grand marshals in this year’s Veterans Day Parade, Col. Gobel James spent 32 years in the military, most of it as a U.S. Air Force pilot. “The Korean War was on when I joined the Air Force in 1952 and