
The White House Salutes Our Prisoners of War – May 24, 1973
President Richard M. Nixon hosted 1,300 guests on The White House South Lawn for a celebratory dinner on May 24, 1973.

President Richard M. Nixon hosted 1,300 guests on The White House South Lawn for a celebratory dinner on May 24, 1973.

Shot card: ROLL: R36F-439 -HANOI -FIRST FLIGHT-14 MARCH 1973 Reel 8 1) CUs of Vietnamese people watching release ceremony. 2) Sequence showing returnees debarking bus, lining up, and stepping forward as their names are called: Lt Col H. C. Copeland, USAF; Lt Charles Zuhoski, USN; Capt Wallace Newcomb, USAF; Capt Carl Chambers, USAF; Maj Glenn Wilson, USAF; Capt Lauren Lengyel, USAF; Maj Glenn Myers, USAF; Maj Thomas Norris, USAF; Maj Thomas Parrott, USAF; Comdr Leo

Ronald J. Webb was commissioned a 2d Lt in the U.S. Air Force on January 22, 1960, through the Air Force ROTC program while he attended Indiana University. He would serve five years in the Air Force as a navigator, before an opportunity allowed him to earn his pilot wings in June 1966. Webb served as an F-4 pilot with the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron at DaNang AB, South Vietnam beginning in March 1967. On

Lt. Col Barry Bridger presents his incredible story of how he and other Prisoners of War were treated and how they survived. Barry spent 6 years at the Hanoi Hilton. This presentation was made possible by Trust Vets, First Command Financial Services and hosted at Rasmussen College, Blaine MN.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords, which officially ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. One local man spent six and a half years in captivity, as a prisoner of war. Naval aviator George Coker returned to America as part of “Operation Homecoming” a half-century ago. He spoke about it today with Mike Gooding.