The morning he flew his 266th mission over Vietnam, Air Force Capt. Tony Marshall only knew the pilot in the seat in front of him, Capt. Steve Cuthbert, by reputation. Tall and thin with a shock of sandy blond hair, Cuthbert never suffered a lack of confidence flying the F-4 Phantom.
“He told me he would never be captured when shot down,” Capt. Ross Detwiler, another pilot, later wrote, recalling a conversation the night before a malfunction sent Cuthbert’s plane to the ground in 1972
In 1971, COL Wells returned to Vietnam for a second deployment. This time, he commanded the 4th MI Battalion, (Provisional), 525th MI Group, US Army Pacific.
August 25, 1972 dawned hot and muggy in Vietnam. Pilots of Fighter Squadron 161, stationed aboard USS Midway (CV 41), readied their aircraft and went over the day’s flight plan. Their mission was an early evening MiG combat air patrol over North Vietnam. Lt. John “Jack” Ensch would serve as
Jack Bomar still has nightmares about the beatings administered by ”Fidel,” a Cuban government agent in North Vietnam who tortured him and 17 other U.S. prisoners of war some three decades ago. ”I wake up at night and I am in a situation back there,” the retired Air Force colonel
It’s a reunion four decades in the making. A group of 125 prisoners of war are in North Texas this week for a special opportunity to reconnect reminisce and celebrate their freedom. Five busloads of American veterans and their families arrived back in Frisco on Thursday afternoon.
After more than five months in which he had no control over his life, Keith Lewis found a world of virtually unlimited possibilities when he emerged from captivity in early 1973. He chose religion. Lewis’ F-4 fighter-bomber had been shot down over Vietnam in October 1972. Saturday will mark the