A local war hero who spent seven years in a prisoner of war camp with Arizona Senator John McCain has died.
74-year-old retired Air Force Colonel Warren Lilly died over the weekend after a sudden fall.
Lilly was shot down over Cambodia during the Vietnam War and spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war.
For the past few weeks, the Pekin Public Library has displayed a gallery of photographs taken in Japan in 1945 by World War II veteran A. Dean Riedlinger of Pekin, who served in the Occupation Forces in Japan immediately after the war’s end. His photos of Japan will remain on
First Lieutenant Loren Harvey Torkelson was from Crosby and was a month shy of his 26th birthday when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam. He was in his second tour of duty as an Air Force F4 Phantom pilot with the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron when it happened.
It’s been 50 years this month since Robert T. White, the last Vietnam prisoner of war released, came home. Part of his homecoming was a celebration on April 19, 1973, in Williamsburg, where his wife lived. Festivities were held on Market Square Green with a militia muster complete with a
WGAL’s film preservation project with Millersville University rediscovered the footage of that homecoming. While digitizing film that once aired on WGAL, Adam Omar learned the story of Donald Glen Smith. Smith was declared missing in action, then killed in action before he’d finally been found as a prisoner of war.
Ever-vigilant, our archivist pursued the lead and discovered that Everett was a 1965 graduate of St. Albans. Wilkerson found his phone number and gave him a call, and they had a long conversation. Soon Upper School history teachers Ben Labaree and Robert Shurmer were exchanging emails with Everett, leading to
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