Strength through endurance: from POW to Ohio farmer (Paul Kari)

A story of survival, endurance, and overcoming obstacles for your Memorial Day.

Lt. Col. Paul Kari spent nearly eight years as a POW after being shot down over North Vietnam. What happened afterward also tested his limits.

Kari and I walked the land on his pristine spread in West Liberty. “I started with nothing and now I have what you see. 907 acres total.” Kari said.

For the old fighter pilot, the journey from freedom, here to West Liberty, was anything but as straight as the plane flies.

When asked to pick one word to describe his life, Kari thought for a moment and answered, “Perseverance” another long pause, “I never give up”.

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

POW leaves his mark (George McSwain)

Debbie Haney first saw George McSwain when she was five. Haney was watching a 1973 newscast of Operation Homecoming when she saw McSwain’s face flash across the television screen. She remembers asking her father why the man looked so angry. He told her that McSwain had been a prisoner of

Read More »

Mad Dog McDow (Rick McDow)

Meet Colonel (Retired) “Mad Dog” Rick McDow, United States Air Force. This southern gentleman and Tuscaloosa grad (ROLL TIDE!) had dreams of becoming a military aviator, having heard stories from his uncle who flew jets during the Korean War.    Amidst the backdrop of Vietnam, Rick joined the Air Force

Read More »

NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY (Kay Russell)

March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Two years ago, we were fortunate to receive a donation from the son of CAPT Kay Russell, a naval aviator who served time in a North Vietnamese POW (prisoner of war) camp. When I first saw the shirt he wore as a

Read More »