Monument resident, a former Vietnam POW speaks at 50th anniversary of Operation Homecoming (Mike McGrath)

Union Bridge POW Being Freed Friday

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Drabic of Union Bridge received more good news Tuesday. Their son, Eddie, will be released from the Viet Cong and flown out of Hanoi Friday. Sgt. Eddie Drabic was listed as “missing in action” since 1968, being captured only four days after he arrived in Vietnam.

Former POW honored for Vietnam War service (William Byrns)

It was late in the day, William Byrns sat in an old bomb crater, covered in leaves and mud from the surrounding Vietnamese jungle. Byrns clutched his radio tightly, waiting for a response. When the response finally came, it was not what he wanted to hear, “We can’t get you

‘You feel a camaraderie’: Vietnam vets reconnect (William Talley)

William “Bill” Talley was eating lunch in the cafeteria at his senior living center one day in June when a man walked up to him. This was the man’s greeting: “Hey, I’m Jim Null. I remember when you got shot down.” U.S. Air Force pilots Talley, 88, and Null, 77, were

Highest Award Congress Can Bestow Going to Revered Vietnam POW Everett Alvarez

A Vietnam prisoner of war who spent years in captivity in the prison camp they dubbed the Hanoi Hilton and whose story was closely followed by the American public is set to be honored by Congress. For his grit under interrogation, and for his unbending commitment to survive the prison

Loren Torkelson, POW

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.