Richard Bates, POW

On this date in 1973, the Viet Cong released First Lieutenant Richard Bates of the U.S. Air Force. While flying a mission nearly 6 months before, he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. Bates was from Plaza, ND, and was 24 when he was captured.

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

POW Bill Mayall: The Air War in Vietnam

Chase Wakelin interviews Bill Mayall, a veteran who served as a navigator on the B-52 strategic bomber during the later years of the Vietnam War. Bill recounts the missions he flew and his experience as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton.

Kevin McManus, 65; Vietnam War POW

Kevin McManus, 65, an Air Force pilot shot down over North Vietnam who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war and later retired as a lieutenant colonel, died of lung cancer July 31 at his home in Oakton. Two weeks before he was scheduled to leave Vietnam, and

I’ll Always Be There (Dennis Thompson)

It’s been nearly 50 years since Dennis Thompson was captured by North Vietnamese forces as a prisoner of war. But he still sees the black enclosed room with no light where they kept him. For five years — he counted 1,864 days — the Vietnamese imprisoned him, 850 days of

FORMER VIETNAM POW VISITS COLD WAR GALLERY (Ted Triebel)

The U.S. Navy’s Cold War Gallery, located at the Washington Navy Yard, pays tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who served during the five tense decades of the latter half of the 20th century. In June, the Naval Historical Foundation cut the ribbon on a new

‘I shouldn’t be alive’: At reunion of Vietnam POWs, one recounts his capture 47 years ago (Keith Lewis)

More than five months in which he had no control over his life, Keith Lewis found a world of virtually unlimited possibilities when he emerged from captivity in early 1973. Keith Lewis, an Air Force veteran from Jasper, Alabama, is greeted as he arrives Tuesday for a ceremony for Vietnam