Retired Navy Capt. John H. “Jack” Fellowes, a pilot from Virginia Beach who was held at the “Hanoi Hilton” as a prisoner of war during Vietnam, has died from congestive heart failure, his family said.
On Aug. 27, 1966, Lt. Cmdr. Fellowes and his bombardier-navigator, Lt. j.g. George Coker, also of Virginia Beach, took off from the deck of the carrier Constellation. It was their 55th mission together, and the target was a pontoon bridge near the town of Vinh, North Vietnam.
As the plane approached the target, Fellowes said, anti-aircraft fire tore off its right wing. Fellowes and Coker ejected, and both fractured bones in their backs. They were captured about a mile apart.
