It was a long time coming — too late for some of their comrades in arms — but Vietnam War veterans from Northeast Florida were recognized Saturday for their service to the country during the conflict.
Ronald Michael of Jacksonville, a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant who served in Vietnam in 1971 and 1972, was among about 175 veterans honored during the Vietnam War Veterans Commemoration Pinning Ceremony held at Beaches Veterans Memorial Park.
On Oct. 17, 1967, Chico native Tony Andrews was a 27-year-old Air Force pilot, flying F-105 fighter bombers over Vietnam. Before that day was over his life would change forever, and he would attain a status he happily would have turned down.
GSW 2012 POW/MIA Convocation featuring Bill Arcuri, Ret USAF, former POW, Vietnam. September 19, 2012
Only a month earlier, they were prisoners of war. Since their release, Navy Lieut. Robert Frishman and Seaman Douglas Hegdahl have been recuperating at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The third released P.W., Air Force Captain Wesley Rumble, 26, whose fighter-bomber went down over Quang Binh province in
The 15th Wing opened Readiness Day, where senior leaders discussed maintaining optimal mission readiness, Aug. 24 here, at Hollister Auditorium, with a speech on individual readiness and resiliency from a former prisoner of war. Retired Air Force Col. Thomas Norris, then a captain, was shot down Aug. 12, 1967, after dropping bombs
Penny Grossman served 21 years of active duty as an Air Force nurse. In 1973, She was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines during Operation Homecoming, when nearly 600 American Prisoners of War were freed. The first leg of their journey home took them from Hanoi to Clark