When 2nd Lt. John “Spike” Nasmyth climbed into his F-4 Phantom II on Sept. 4, 1966, to fly a combat mission over Vietnam, he never foresaw that he’d be blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile. The last words he heard before his jet was transformed into a
Sgt, Richard Perricone’s hometown gave him a rousing welcome today — something they had been waiting to do for more than six years. Uniondale Avenue, the main thoroughfare, was lined with American flags and banners were strung across the street proclaiming “Welcome Home, Richard.” And as the fire chief’s red
John McCain, the Arizona Senator who died on Saturday, lived much of his life in the public political eye — but Americans started to learn about his famous courage at a time he was notably absent. The saga began 51 years ago. As TIME reported in 1967, North Vietnamese planes had, for the first
Isolated, they tapped on walls to communicate with each other in the beginning. Later, with a little more freedom granted, they played bridge together, shared some of the rotating Sunday chaplain duties and encouraged each other with the recitations from movies, books and poetry. The memories, now half a century
Operation Homecoming, which freed now-retired Col. Tom McNish and more than 600 prisoners of war from Vietnam 50 years ago this spring, was the best military operation of McNish’s 34-year career. “Due to Operation Homecoming and the totally nourishing environment that it put us in immediately after getting out of