Charles Frederic Klusmann was a Naval Aviator born on September 7, 1933, in San Diego, California. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve on February 23, 1952, and began active service on March 18, 1953. Lieutenant Chuck is known for his extraordinary heroism and achievement for his role in the aerial fight during the Vietnam War and his escape from a communist prison camp in Laos. During his service, Chuck was deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin, as President Lyndon B. Johnson had ordered Klusmann and other Kitty Hawk aviators to gather intelligence information against the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops in Laos.
This photo was the start of over 5 years of living hell for POW Pete Schoeffel
You can’t breath because your chest is compressed during the process,” Captain Peter Schoeffel explains. He’s talking about being tortured by the communist North Vietnamese, who were trying to force captured American military personnel to talk. Schoeffel, a retired navy pilot living in Jacksonville, tells about his experience as a
