“The Cookie Caper” In Honor of Col Robert B. “Percy” Purcell, Prisoner
of War: North Vietnam (July 1965 – February 1973)
In 1973, hundreds of American Prisoners of War being held captive in Vietnam finally gained their freedom, boarding planes en route to the United States by way of Travis Air Force Base. On Friday, those veterans were honored for their service and sacrifice during the second and final day of
Mishawaka native Richard “Dog” Brenneman jokes about the deprived quarters where he spent 1,953 days as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “You had a bucket to go potty, and if you were lucky, you had a lid,” recalls the 75-year-old retired Air Force officer, chuckling. “You usually had a
Lawmakers are pushing for swift passage of legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal — the nation’s highest civilian honor — to a Navy veteran who was the first aviator shot down in the Vietnam War and the second-longest held prisoner of war in U.S. history. Retired Cmdr. Everett Alvarez
Here’s how Nevada Republican delegate Bill Elander describes becoming a prisoner of war: a bad day. “After 50 or 60 missions, I had a bad day,” the Sparks resident and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel said in an interview at the national GOP convention. “I was shot down in 1972
During five years in prison camps, Sgt. Ed Flora survived a disabling gunshot wound and kept to himself all the information that North Vietnamese interrogators beat him regularly to get, said his daughter, Teresa Flora LaFratte. After her father’s death Sept. 15 in Arizona, LaFratte shared some details of his