Free POWs! After flying over 500 combat hours, the best reward that I could have received came true, seeing my brothers in arms on an aircraft flying out of Hanoi! What a glorious sight . . .
1966 – Naha, Okinawa. Just weeks before going to combat with my Triple Nickel unit during the air war over North Viet Nam, the U.S. lost several dozen aircrews as “Prisoners of War” or either “Missing In Action”. I flew the F-4 Phantom II and destroyed one MIG-17 in April of that year.
Six years later, I would return, better equipped with laser-guided bombs to help release the POWs. Training and technology were the key items that secured their release in 1973.
Between 1966 and 1972, I completed a Master’s degree authoring a thesis on Laser Technology, followed by a four-year testing career at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. Afterwards, I was tasked with my second combat tour to Viet Nam in a 1972 Linebacker I.
With improved technology and as a Strike Force Lead, the U.S. military struck bridges, airfields, power plants and storage facilities with precision weapons, aka “smart bombs”.
December of ’72, the introduction of B-52 bombers completed the destruction and led to the Paris Peace talks. This resulted in the POW release in January 1973.
Today, training and technology are vital to our national security. Our military depends on leaders . . . As a Congressman, I will be the strongest voice for the many advantages of technology and like the Space Program apply that to the betterment of all people. Training simply adds to the benefits of technology by being more effective and efficient.