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.”
A young Long Island marine who spent 18 months as a prisoner of war was acquitted today of charges that he had run from his unit and, when captured, had made propaganda statements broadcast over the Hanoi radio. The decision freed Sgt. Jon M. Sweeney, 21 years old, of West
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
It took her 44 years, but Morreen O’Reilly-Mersberger finally tracked down the prisoner of war whose name was on a bracelet that she purchased in college and kept to this day. The 62-year-old Plymouth resident bought the item for $2 in the fall of 1970 from a student group on
Captain Lynn Beens was a prisoner for 99 days. He was stationed in Guam where he executed 55 missions dropping bombs.
The six young servicemen, fresh from the prison camps of North Vietnam, stood at attention, saluted and wept as their comrade was lowered into his grave that Monday in a Denver cemetery. Marine Corps Sgt. Abel Larry Kavanaugh, 24, had been like a brother to them and before he had