50 years ago, direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War officially ended as the last remaining combat troops and prisoners of war returned to American soil. It was a complex moment for the country, as the war was deeply unpopular and ended in defeat. More than 58,000 Americans died in the war,
U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war ROCHESTER — Those who know Lance Cpl. Fred Elbert describe him as quiet and sincere, but the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war began his speech at the Vietnam Veterans of America meeting Wednesday with a proud, strong
Fifty-six years after being designated a naval aviator, a former prisoner of war once again landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier — at one of Naval Air Station Lemoore’s F/A-18 Super Hornet flight simulators. “I got it, I got it,” exclaimed Capt. (Ret.) Theodore Kopfman as he sat
On July 1, retired USAF Col. Ken Cordier recalls his amazing story of patriotism and endurance as a fighter pilot and POW during the Vietnam War. Cordier was forced to eject from his F-4C Phantom jet when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile on Dec. 2,1966. He was immediately
Ray Alcorn grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He served 30 years in the U.S. Navy including seven years as a prisoner of war. His last assignment before retirement as a Captain was as Dean of Students at the Naval War College. Alcorn and his wife, Karen, moved to