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.”
Somehow, five years and three months of captivity that included starvation and torture in North Vietnam did not change Ken Fleenor. He was the same man his wife, Anne, met long before, when she was a high school senior and he was a junior majoring in biology and agriculture at
On this date in 1973, the Viet Cong released First Lieutenant Richard Bates of the U.S. Air Force. While flying a mission nearly 6 months before, he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. Bates was from Plaza, ND, and was 24 when he was captured.
During 16 months spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, former U.S. Air Force pilot Ken Wells said the thing that sustained him most was his faith and acceptance of God. On Friday evening, Wells spoke at Ohio Valley University before a group of students and visiting veterans
Five released prisoners of war landed at Kennedy International Airport last evening for joyous reunions. Two others were greeted by a crowd of 2,000 at Fort Monmouth, N. J. The Kennedy homecoming celebration began shortly before 7 o’clock when an Air Force Nightingale medical‐evacuation plane touched down and taxied to
Retired Lt. Col. Frederick McMurray lands at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph after his ceremonial “fini” flight, piloted by Maj. Ryan “Popeye” Parrish.JESSICA PHELPS/San Antonio Express-News Retired Maj. Theodore “Ted” Sienicki, who was shot down over North Vietnam and was a prisoner of war, climbs out of a T-38C after his