‘Save Me Some Trout,’ Suring POW Writes By gerry Mcdowell Press-Gazette Staff Writer SURING “I hope you save a few of those trout in the pond for me.” This was a message in the Christmas letter from Capt. Gerald Gerndt, whose parents. Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Gerndt of Suring, are
Nearly 25 years ago, when the war was raging in Vietnam, a 20-year-old private from Alabama said a prayer and buried his Marine buddy in a Viet Cong prisoner of war camp where both were held. Thomas Davis survived five years in POW camps and has returned to Vietnam for
Former POW and U.S. Air Force MAJ Richard Eugene Bolstad (Captured 6 Nov 65) at the microphone salutes the people who came to greet his return. GEN Paul Carlton, Commander, Military Airlift Command stands to the left and the Honor Guard to the right. MAJ Bolstad and LCOL Doughty were
My friend Captain Jerry Coffee spent seven years and nine days in Hanoi as a prisoner of war in the Communist prisons of North Vietnam. While flying reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam, piloting his jet fighter, Captain Coffee was shot down by enemy fire. After parachuting to safety, he was captured by
Navy Lt. Brad Smith was on a bombing run to destroy a bridge in North Vietnam when he was shot down in 1966. He didn’t see what ripped into his A-4 Skyhawk, but he saw the ground approaching at 600 mph as his crippled jet nose-dived toward the ground. Smith