Navy Pilot Chronicles his POW Experiences (Jack Ensch)

August 25, 1972 dawned hot and muggy in Vietnam. Pilots of Fighter Squadron 161, stationed aboard USS Midway (CV 41), readied their aircraft and went over the day’s flight plan. Their mission was an early evening MiG combat air patrol over North Vietnam. Lt. John “Jack” Ensch would serve as a radar intercept officer in an F-4B Phantom.

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

POWs and Politics: How Much does Hanoi Really Know A Paper Presented on 19 April 1996 at the Center for the Study of the Vietnam Conflict Symposium “After the Cold War: Reassessing Vietnam,” at Texas Tech University

The recent diplomatic recognition of Vietnam, along with the lifting of the economic embargo, offers an opportunity to re-examine one of the most pernicious legacies of the Vietnam War, the POW/MIA dilemma. Two decades after the war ended, the POW/MIA issue continues to divide Americans in a manner reminiscent of

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A heroic connection (Charlie James)

It took her 44 years, but Morreen O’Reilly-Mersberger finally tracked down the prisoner of war whose name was on a bracelet that she purchased in college and kept to this day. The 62-year-old Plymouth resident bought the item for $2 in the fall of 1970 from a student group on

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Faith, Re-birth ofFreedom, and Pride (Ralph Browning)

I was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines in February 1973. I was fortunate to be able towitness the return of the POW’s as they were brought to Clark Air Base from Hanoi after release fromvarious camps across the country.There were seven dates in February and March 1973

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Behind Barbed Wire: A POW’s Story (Edward Leonard)

I arrived at Udorn RTAFB in early May, 1967, to fly A-1E and A1-H Skyraider with the 602nd Fighter Squadron (Commando). I was to fly 247 combat missions during three consecutive tours and participated in the rescue of 18 aircrew members. On May 31, 1968, going for number 19, I

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