Lieutenant Colonel Galand Dwight Kramer was born 5 September 1941 in Wichita, Kansas. He grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma, graduating from Tulsa’s Edison High School in 1959. He is a 1964 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Petroleum Land Management degree. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant through Air Force ROTC on 31 July 1964, then trained to fly the F-4C Phantom II jet aircraft.
In July 1966, Kramer deployed to Da Nang AFB, Vietnam, with the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Over the next seven months he flew 114 combat missions, 20 in South Vietnam and 94 over North Vietnam. On his last mission, 19 January 1967, his aircraft was struck by an enemy SAM. He and the co-pilot were forced to eject over North Vietnam.
While a prisoner of war, Kramer was subjected to well-documented cruel and inhumane treatment by the North Vietnamese while captive in squalid living conditions. Kramer consistently resisted the enemy’s attempts to extract information, force him to sign false confessions, and betray his country. A fellow POW noted he showed the inner strength of character to face the inhumane conditions, to keep each day’s events in perspective, and keep a sense of humor.
