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

Vietnam vet shares POW experiences, stories (John Murphy)

John Murphy was about 15,000 feet in the air when his vision came back to him. He was also in free fall and still strapped to the ejector seat of the F4 E Phantom fighter-bomber that moments earlier he had been piloting on a mission over North Vietnam before the

Vietnam POW from Brunswick was a hero to his family (Ed Flora)

During five years in prison camps, Sgt. Ed Flora survived a disabling gunshot wound and kept to himself all the information that North Vietnamese interrogators beat him regularly to get, said his daughter, Teresa Flora LaFratte. After her father’s death Sept. 15 in Arizona, LaFratte shared some details of his

Quiet Vietnam POW ‘not a hero’ (Michael Lenker)

After an almost imperceptible hesitation, Mike Lenker stood. About 500 people politely applauded when Lenker, 60, was introduced as a prisoner of the Vietnam War. It was a fleeting formality between the Harlem High School Choraleers’ “Song for the Unsung Hero” and the keynote speech, part of the hourlong Tribute

How a Vietnam POW survived to salute the flag when he returned home (James Cook)

Hey Nashville. I’m Gary Estwick. One of my many hats at The Tennessean is race and culture editor. I want to share a story. I’ll never forget reporter Danielle Dreilinger’s message when she let us know she made contact with our first Vietnam War veteran. For me, the crowning achievement of our

This Day in History: Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence

On this day in 2005, retired Navy Vice Admiral William “Bill” Lawrence passes away. Decades earlier, Lawrence had been a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton. He was one of the highest-ranking members of our military to be held in that infamous prison. Trouble began in June 1967. Lawrence