George E. Smith, Vietnam Veteran and Prisoner of War

How Dartmouth’s Fred Purrington went from standout athlete to prisoner of war

“He could play anywhere and do the job well,” Fredette was quoted as saying in a newspaper article highlighting Purrington’s two seasons with the Elks Pony League team. “He was one of those rare players who did everything right.” Purrington also did whatever he was asked to do on whichever

Richard Bates, POW

On this date in 1973, the Viet Cong released First Lieutenant Richard Bates of the U.S. Air Force. While flying a mission nearly 6 months before, he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. Bates was from Plaza, ND, and was 24 when he was captured.

Derby resident Ken Johnson was a POW, decorated Air Force pilot

Not many local residents know the name Kenneth R. Johnson, nor his story, but like millions of his fellow citizens, Johnson served his country as a member of the U.S. armed forces. His service as an Air Force pilot, though, was exemplary, and for it, he received numerous commendations. Among

Vietnam vet shares POW experiences, stories (John Murphy)

John Murphy was about 15,000 feet in the air when his vision came back to him. He was also in free fall and still strapped to the ejector seat of the F4 E Phantom fighter-bomber that moments earlier he had been piloting on a mission over North Vietnam before the

From the Moon to Hanoi (Theodore Stier)

Many people will write tributes today to the Apollo 11 astronauts on the fortieth anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon, including a lot of “where were you?” memoirs (I was thirteen, and glued to our television set, trying to decipher the fuzzy images being transmitted over CBS to