{"id":5438,"date":"2023-03-18T20:05:21","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T01:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=5438"},"modified":"2023-03-18T20:05:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T01:05:22","slug":"operation-homecoming-50th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/operation-homecoming-50th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Homecoming 50th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 50th<\/sup> Anniversary of Operation Homecoming is underway without much fanfare.\u00a0 But for the Prisoners of War (POWs) returning from Vietnam it is an event to be celebrated daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Vietnam War was long and controversial within the United Sates.  It \u201cofficially\u201d began after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 under President Johnson.  However, President John Kennedy had military advisors in Vietnam before that date.  The war temporarily ended in January 1973 with the signing of the Paris Peace Talks Peace Treaty.  The North Communist Vietnamese government simply waited two years and re-invaded the democratic South Vietnam, causing it to fall to communist hands on April 30, 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to popular opinion and press not everyone in the United States opposed the war.\u00a0 Certainly there were highly publicized demonstrations against the war on some streets and many college campuses.\u00a0 However, there were also marches of support, which were not as highly publicized.\u00a0 A number of Americans knew what would happen to the Vietnamese people if the communists took control:\u00a0 There would be a loss of religious liberty, freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This is indeed what happened to Vietnam after the communist took over.\u00a0 Even today there is a limitation on religious and other freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Served and Who was Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According the Jim Webb (former Senator from Virginia) over 70% of the servicemen killed in Vietnam were volunteers.\u00a0 Those who returned from the war were not always welcomed warmly.\u00a0 My cousin, Marine Ron Stith, among them.\u00a0 This is a wrong that we are just beginning to right in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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One exception to the lukewarm welcome was the greeting that our returning POWs received.\u00a0 Nearly 600 Americans were held captive by the North Vietnamese.\u00a0 In previous wars most POWs had been enlisted men.\u00a0 In Vietnam it was the officers who were held.\u00a0 The vast majority were aviators that had been shot down by Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) over North Vietnam and been captured and imprisoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some of the more notable captives included former Senator John McCain.\u00a0 McCain declared that he was a raunchy spoiled brat before he was shot down, but the captivity changed him for the better.\u00a0 Robinson (Robbie) Risner and Admiral James Stockdale were US leaders.\u00a0 These were the two highest ranking captives and two men I was fortunate enough to meet later on.\u00a0 Stockdale was most famous after the war for being Ross Perot\u2019s vice presidential running mate in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

John McCain shakes Richards Nixon’s hand (Left)   James Stockdale receives the Medal of Honor (Right)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah Denton was tortured so badly that he agreed to be interviewed by the North Vietnamese on television \u201cto condemn\u201d Americans.\u00a0 Denton turned the tables on the Vietnamese when he blinked out, \u201cT-O-R-T-U-R-E\u201d in Morse Code during the interview.\u00a0 His blinking helped alert the world to the unbelievable torture these men suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The C-141 Starlifter<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

All that came to an end on February 12, 1973 when a C-141 Starlifter, tail Number 66-0177 landed in Hanoi to begin Operation Homecoming.  The POWs had been allowed to shower and were given new clothes.  They decided not to wear the yellow sweaters given by their captors.  There had been nothing cheery about their captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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The C-141 flew the men from Hanoi to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.  As the door closed and they began to taxi, Robbie Risner reports tears filled his and the other men\u2019s eyes.  The men received medical attention and warm food in Clark.  For some of them it was the first time in seven years they had enjoyed what we take for granted daily.  Operation Homecoming was underway<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on February 14, 1973 the C-141 flew the men to Travis AFB in California.\u00a0 I sat as a young eleven year old boy watching on TV.\u00a0 I was home from school.\u00a0 It was there that I first had the idea that I may want to fly a C-141.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Reflections<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
POWs let out a holler as they takeoff from Hanoi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I watched in amazement as these men were reunited with their families after years of exile.\u00a0 Operation Homecoming: The emotion still gets to me 50 years later.\u00a0 The photos speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Eight years later I was preparing for \u201ccaptivity\u201d myself.\u00a0 I was part of SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape) after my Doolie year at the Air Force Academy.\u00a0 Part of the training was three days in a simulated Prisoner of War camp, complete with isolation, interrogation and deprivation.\u00a0 I was in simulation for three days; some of those men were in for real for over three years. To get ready for \u201cThe Compound\u2019, as it was known, I read Howard Rutledge\u2019s book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies<\/em>.\u00a0 Rutledge endured life as a POW in Vietnam for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of my instructors at the Academy had served in Vietnam.  I had great respect for them.  When, as an upperclassman, I served as an integrator I did a simulated interrogation of a cadet by the name of Day.  His dad, Bud Day, was a POW in Vietnam who earned the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In 1985, as I finished pilot training, I had to put down my choice of aircraft on what was known as a \u201cDream Sheet\u201d.\u00a0 At the top of my list, was the C-141 Starlifter.\u00a0 Perhaps it all went back to February 1973, 50 years ago, when I saw the C-141, Tail #66-0177 carry those POWs home.\u00a0 Operation Homecoming<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For news on what happened to that C-141, Tail 66-0177 see: What Happened<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 50th Anniversary of Operation Homecoming is underway without much fanfare.\u00a0 But for the Prisoners of War (POWs) returning from Vietnam it is an event to be celebrated daily. Vietnam War The Vietnam War was long and controversial within the United Sates.  It \u201cofficially\u201d began after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 under President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":3125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[717,1275,725,715,713,251,722,405],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOperation Homecoming 50th Anniversary - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Operation Homecoming was under way 50 years ago. 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