How a Vietnam POW survived to salute the flag when he returned home (James Cook)

Hey Nashville. I’m Gary Estwick. One of my many hats at The Tennessean is race and culture editor. I want to share a story.

I’ll never forget reporter Danielle Dreilinger’s message when she let us know she made contact with our first Vietnam War veteran. For me, the crowning achievement of our series.

We replied on our internal messaging app with GIFs and celebratory words. For Danielle’s task was about as close to a needle in a haystack as you can find in journalism: Track down three Americans whose actions during the Vietnam War were immortalized through Associated Press photographs. 

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

The Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database

This database is designed to assist researchers in accessing U.S. government documents related to American military personnel who are unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. The formal title of this collection is “Correlated and Uncorrelated Information Relating to Missing Americans in Southeast Asia.” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA; formerly

Read More »

Five Years as a POW in Vietnam (Myron Donald)

Myron Donald grew up on a corner of his grandfather’s farm Moravia in central New York.  His father was a carpenter; his mother a housewife.  He has two brothers and a sister.  In high school, he played football, baseball and basketball and was president of the Student Council.  He graduated

Read More »