Thomas Collins III would like to clarify one point about his bombing missions in Vietnam, and the more than seven years he spent as a prisoner of war:
It was not a mistake, not a waste, not a failure.
“We needed to stop communism,” says Collins, 74, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel. “It was a good mission. We needed to nip that in the bud, and we did. Actually, Vietnam was successful. We stopped communism.”
The U.S. Air Force Starlifter touched down at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines on Feb. 12, 1973. The eyes of the nation looked on as 115 prisoners of war returned to the United States military facility. Near the front of the pack stood Raymond Vohden, a 42-year old
Congressman Sam Johnson, first elected in 1991 to represent the Plano area, spent twenty-nine years in the United States Air Force, where he distinguished himself piloting missions in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars before retiring in 1979 as a colonel. His F-4 Phantom was shot down in 1966 while
Although he graduated ahead of me – he was in the Class of 1959 and I was in the Class of 1967 – Jon Reynolds and I both received Air Force commissions through Trinity’s Air Force ROTC unit. He was shot down over North Vietnam when I was still at
Almost 50 years after escaping his Viet Cong captors, a lifelong Akron resident has passed away. Bruce Graening was born on July 30, 1946, and lived his 67 years in Kenmore. After graduating from Kenmore High School, he was drafted to serve in the United States Army or, as he
Jon A. Reynolds, a retired U.S. air force brigadier-general who spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965, died April 16 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 84. The cause was lung cancer. Reynolds was