For nearly a year, Kailua resident Emilia Thomas never knew that her husband, a Marine Corps aviation observer, was alive after being shot down in Vietnam and being held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi.
“That’s the only thing that still bothers me,” said retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer William Thomas, who was captured on May 19, 1972, a few miles from Quang Tri city. “They never told my family they had me. I was always listed as missing in action.”
To his children, Thomas Van Putten talked little about his service in the Vietnam War and his 13 months as a prisoner. But they knew he was a hero. “We all knew it was a big deal,” said Linda Milley, his daughter. Mr. Van Putten, whose escape from a Viet
Two men with local connections will be among the next inductees at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust’s Joseph A. Dugan Hall of Valor induction ceremony Sunday. U.S. Air Force Col. Robert R. Sawhill of Carnegie and U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Angelo Speggen of Masontown will be
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Paul Montague enlisted in 1952. Sixteen years later, on March 28, 1968, he was captured by the Vietnamese armed forces, the Viet Cong. The helicopter pilot was flying his CH-46 Sea Knight when he was shot down trying to pick up a recovery team that
General Led POWs During Vietnam War Bv Pai’I. Logan Journal Staff Writer Gen. John P. Flynn played an unsung leadership role for U.S. prisoners of war in Hanoi, Vietnam. Flynn, who had many Air Force friends in New Mexico, died Wednesday in San Antonio, Texas. The retired lieutenant general was
Charles G. Boyd, who died on Wednesday at eighty-three years old, was a true American hero and patriot. Chuck, as he liked to be called, was the sole prisoner of war (POW) from Vietnam, where he was held captive for almost seven years, to attain the rank of four-star general. Throughout his