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.”
On the Fourth of July, the 65-year-old former Navy pilot talked about his blessings while fingering the remnant of a 57-millimeter anti-aircraft shell that downed his plane in the Vietnam War. Osborne managed to eject from his A-4 Skyhawk before it crashed, but it seems the 30-year-old casing has found
I was born in Mound City, Missouri on 22 December 1941. I lived there until 1952, then moved to Trenton, Missouri where I graduated from high school. While there I was active in the high school band (trombone 6 years), glee club, mixed chorus, and sports (football and track). I was also active
This Veterans Day marks a turning point in our nation’s recovery from the trauma of Vietnam. The last official prisoner of war, Col. Charles Shelton, an Air Force pilot, was declared dead this fall after having been kept administratively “alive” by the Pentagon for 30 years. Acknowledging Colonel Shelton’s death…..
Dennis Hammond’s death came with little warning. The Marine staff sergeant laid down on his bamboo mat beside the other American prisoners of war one evening in the spring of 1970. James Pfister, an Evansville native, found him the next morning. Hammond was still. Pfister shook his friend. When he