Wells speaks about time spent as POW (Kenneth Wells)

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 about his experiences during the Vietnam War, including ejecting from his F-4 fighter and being captured by enemy soldiers a day later.

“I had a good foundation in my faith in God but that made it much stronger,” Wells said of his experiences. “I think it affects me even today and how I look at life and appreciate life and my family.”

Harry Ogletree, director of spiritual enrichment at OVU, said Wells spoke to the college’s students and staff Friday morning during the daily chapel program – along with Friday evening’s public program – to celebrate Veterans Day, which falls on Monday.

Wells spoke in the Roberts Chapel in the Stotts Administration Building on OVU’s Main Campus, sharing his experiences as a prisoner of war between December 1971 and March 1973 in Vietnam.

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

The Tiger from the sky (William Austin)

U.S. Air Force Capt. William R. Austin II and his aircraft commander, Maj. Ivan D. Appleby, had out-maneuvered certain death hundreds of times before they got hit. A fighter pilot with the storied “Triple Nickle” 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Austin had flown 80 combat missions over North Vietnam in the

Read More »

P.O.W.S: At Last the Story Can Be Told (Rodney Knutson)

For weeks the returned P.O.W.s had been stepping from “freedom birds” onto the television screens—most of them saluting crisply, walking smartly, looking physically fit and acting mentally alert. As the nation’s early apprehensions faded, a new idea set in: perhaps the P.O.W.s had been humanely treated after all. That illusion

Read More »

Kevin McManus, 65; Vietnam War POW

Kevin McManus, 65, an Air Force pilot shot down over North Vietnam who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war and later retired as a lieutenant colonel, died of lung cancer July 31 at his home in Oakton. Two weeks before he was scheduled to leave Vietnam, and

Read More »

Colonel Thomas J. Curtis presents “Living History”

A large crowd of past and present service members, students and guests gathered at Grand Avenue Theater to hear Colonel Thomas J. Curtis, retiree from the United States Air Force, speak about his time as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam on Friday. Organized by Master Networks Belton Chapter

Read More »