POW-turned-physician pilots revised course (Thomas McNish)

A physician now working in South Carolina is among those persons who can discuss torture from the personal perspective of having been its victim.

Nearly 20 years ago, on Sept 4, 1966, Thomas M. McNish—then a fighter pilot in the US Air Force and still a professional military officer—was shot down over North Vietnam while approaching a target 12 miles from Hanoi, the capital. He ejected from his F-105 “Thunderchief” jet fighter-bomber at a speed of more than 500 miles per hour. For the next 6 1/2 years, McNish was held captive by the North Vietnamese.

While a prisoner, he was a victim of torture. After his release, he attended medical school and completed a residency in family medicine. Still in the Air Force and now a lieutenant colonel, McNish is commander of the military hospital on the base at Myrtle Beach, SC. He recently talked to MEDICAL NEWS &

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

William Butler, veteran and volunteer, dies

William Butler was an Air Force captain who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam – some of it in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” – before returning home to Calistoga to become a veterinarian who dedicated his life to helping fellow veterans and others in need.

Read More »

The War: Blowing the Whistle (Rumble, Frishman, Heghdhal)

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

Read More »

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

Read More »