Posted on 08/08/2019 12:24:33 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Jackson Proskow
"I’m at the airport in Dallas, waiting for my flight home to DC from El Paso, and something incredible is happening.
Our incoming plane is carrying the remains of an American pilot shot down over Vietnam in 1967. His remains were only recently recovered and identified and brought back to the US.
As we wait at the gate, we’re told that Captain Knight is coming home to Dallas. When he left from this very airport to fight in Vietnam his 5 year old son came to the airfield and waved goodbye. It was the last time he would see his father alive.
Today the pilot of the plane bringing Capt. Knight back to Dallas is his son."
Hard to read this through all the mist.
Welcome home, brother. RIP.
USAF Ping.
I pray they all find peace.
Canteener Ping.
If he had made it home from the war the left would have spit on him. The same hippie left that now pretty much runs the DNC.
Thank you.
Yes, OMG. I couldn’t believe how blurry everything got, all of a sudden.
When he left from this very airport to fight in Vietnam his 5 year old son came to the airfield and waved goodbye. It was the last time he would see his father alive. Today the pilot of the plane bringing Capt. Knight back to Dallas is his son.
I marched in Nixon’s 2nd inaugural parade as a Naval Academy midshipman Plebe in January 1973 (17 years old), and the dirty, filthy, smelly hippies along the route were yelling & cursing at us. They’re still @$$holes 46+ years later...maybe worse.
There will be a Visitation from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on August 9, 2019 at White’s Funeral Home, 130 Houston Ave., Weatherford, TX 76086. Services and full military honors will begin at 10:00 a.m., August 10, 2019 at Holder’s Chapel United Methodist Church, 501 Holders Chapel Road, Cool (Weatherford) TX 76088.
This is the thread of the day.
I doubt any FR thread will come close to this and other than breaking news of Hillary choking on vomit will beat this..
In Memory of Col. Roy Abner Knight, Jr.
*** Colonel Knight was a member of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron, Nakhom Phenom, Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On May 19, 1967, he was the pilot of a Douglas Skyraider Attack Aircraft (A1-E) on a mission over Houa Rhan Province in extreme northern Laos, when his aircraft was shot down by hostile fire. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
***** The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced U.S. Air Force Col. Roy A. Knight, Jr., killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for on June 4, 2019.
ROY ABNER KNIGHT, JR. - Air Force - COL - O6
Age: 36
Race: Caucasian
Burial Location: Honolulu, HI
Place of Birth: Garner, Texas
Home of record: Millsap, Texas
Religion: BAPTIST
Marital Status: Married - Wife, June.
****** Brothers already deceased:
Loyd Winifred Knight (1922 - 1987)*
Herchel Neal Knight (1924 - 2010)*
Robert Clinton “R.C.” Knight (1926 - 1973)*
Curtis Lawrence Knight (1919 - 2013)*
Parents: Father, Roy Abner Knight,Sr. Born Aug. 17, 1895 and Died Jan. 14,1970 Buried in Holders Chapel Cemetery in Cool, Texas. Mother, Martha Cordilla Holder Knight Born Oct. 31, 1897 and Died Jan. 14, 1970 in Mineral Wells,Tx. Daughter of Laney Clinton and Minerva Ester Staggs Holder.
His Casualty was on May 19, 1967
In LZ, LAOS
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Maj. Roy A. Knight, Jr. was a “Spad” pilot assigned to the 602nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Udorn Airbase, Thailand.
On May 19, 1967 Knight was flying a mission over Laos when his plane was shot down in Houa Rhan Province in extreme northern Laos.
Although the U.S. believes the Lao could account for Knight, no information has been received regarding his fate.
Roy A. Knight, Jr. was born in Garner, Texas, the fifth of seven children.
He graduated from high school in Millsap Texas and joined the Air Force in 1948. In 1967, he was sent to Thailand to fly missions in Vietnam from Udorn Air Base.
He was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained Missing in Action.
*********
Air Force Cross, Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross
Awarded posthumously for actions during the Vietnam War
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to Major Roy Abner Knight, Jr. (AFSN: 0-46585), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as Pilot of an A-1E aircraft of the 602d Tactical Fighter Squadron (Commando), Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, in action over Laos on 19 May 1967.
******************************
By: Gene Helton
The First Sergeant suggested that I should meet the Squadron Commander and he introduced me to a young First Lieutenant, from Texas, by the name of Roy Abner Knight, Jr. Like the First Sergeant, Lieutenant Knight put me at ease and made this young Airman feel like I was part of something important. He smiled and was friendly and looked exactly what one might picture as being a young Air Force pilot.
After spending eighteen months at Sewart AFB, Tennessee, I had applied for Air Force recruiting duty and again I was in Texas, this time attending the Recruiter's course at Lackland AFB. It was graduation night in December 1967 and I was in the NCO club for the graduation banquet and the receiving of my diploma and Recruiter's badge. Among those in the club that night was Sergeant Eienfelt, the aforementioned First Sergeant from Headquarters Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing.
As we spoke about our 1956 meeting, the First Sergeant asked, “did you hear about Major Knight?” I had not heard about Major Knight. Sergeant Eienfelt then told me that Major Roy Knight had been lost someplace over South Vietnam, while flying his A-1E.
As far as I know, Roy Abner Knight, Jr is still listed as missing in action.
When the First Sergeant gave me the news of Roy Knight, to the best of my memory, that was the first time that I was ever able to put a name that I knew personally with the many who had fallen in Vietnam.
I value having my little pencil rub to remind me of exactly who Roy A. Knight, Jr was and what he did for me and my country.
*************************************************
By WILLIAM PATRICK | Palestine Herald-Press | Published: June 20, 2019
PALESTINE, Texas (Tribune News Service) — When she was 12, Leslie Floyd bought a 75-cent metal bracelet with the name of a missing-in-action soldier etched on it. Back then, it's what all the cool kids wore, she said.
Nearly half of a century later, the name on her bracelet appeared in the Palestine Herald-Press: The remains of Vietnam veteran U.S. Air Force Col. Roy A. Knight Jr. were found. He's coming home to be laid to rest.
“I saw the name in the paper and couldn't believe it,” Floyd, 59, told the Herald-Press Wednesday. “I ran to my jewelry box and rifled through it. When I read the name on the bracelet again, I started to cry.”
Floyd, who refused to have her photo taken, remains shocked at the events leading to that moment.
A native of Hobbs, New Mexico, she recently moved to Anderson County, after living in San Angelo for several years. Making her discovery more unlikely, the use of the article in Wednesday's Herald-Press, written by CNHI reporter David May, was a last-minute editorial decision to fill a news hole.
The article was the first information Floyd found on Knight. Internet searches over the years yielded nothing.
“I believe God puts people exactly where they're supposed to be,” Floyd said, admiring her still-shining bracelet as she choked back a tear. “I'm going to return this to his family.”
Knight, a major when his plane was shot down over Laos in 1967, was pronounced missing in action until 1974, when the federal government reclassified those missing in action as killed in action.
Floyd bought the bracelet in 1972, after Knight had been promoted to lieutenant colonel in absentia. Years later, he was promoted to colonel.
Excavations of the crash site, which had been heavily scavenged by locals, turned up personal items relating to Knight, but no human remains. In 2018, recovery specialists from a special survey team with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), decided enough evidence was found to merit another visit.
After floods due to a broken dam delayed them, the recovery specialists found Knight's remains June 4.
Floyd contacted Knight's aunt, Patsy Duncan, in hopes of locating his son, Roy Knight. Although she has yet to do so, Floyd hopes he will contact her soon.
The POW/MIA bracelets, the brainchild of the student organization, Voices in Vital America, hit the market on Veteran's Day, 1970, with 1,200 bracelets. Each bracelet has the name and rank of a service member missing in action, along with date the service member went missing.
Eventually, VIVA received 12,000 requests a day for bracelets; nearly five million bracelets have been distributed.
Roy Knight, a recipient of the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Star, will be laid to rest Aug. 10, at Holder's Chapel, named for the family of his mother, Martha Holder Knight, in Cool, Texas.
Floyd plans to attend the services, where she hopes to present Roy Knight with the bracelet bearing his father's name.
“I really want to give him the bracelet,” she said. “My job in keeping his father's memory alive will be done when I do that.”
Knight's military funeral, which will be open to the public, will include a ceremonial color guard and jet flyover.
©2019 the Palestine Herald-Press (Palestine, Texas)
Col Knight's older brother Jack, MOH recipient (psth) WW2:
1LT Jack Llewellyn Knight
BIRTH 29 May 1917
Garner, Parker County, Texas, USA
DEATH 2 Feb 1945 (aged 27)
Shan State, Myanmar
BURIAL
Holders Chapel Cemetery
Cool, Parker County, Texas, USA Show Map
World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He served in the United States Army during World War II as a 1st Lieutenant, 124th Cavalry Regiment, Mars Task Force. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery near LoiKang, Burma, on February 2, 1945.
His citation reads “He led his cavalry troop against heavy concentrations of enemy mortar, artillery, and small arms fire. After taking the troop's objective and while making preparations for a defense, he discovered a nest of Japanese pillboxes and foxholes to the right front. Preceding his men by at least 10 feet, he immediately led an attack Single-handedly he knocked out 2 enemy pillboxes and killed the occupants of several foxholes.
While attempting to knock out a third pillbox, he was struck and blinded by an enemy grenade. Although unable to see, he rallied his platoon and continued forward in the assault on the remaining pillboxes. Before the task was completed he fell mortally wounded. 1st Lt. Knight's gallantry and intrepidity were responsible for the successful elimination of most of the Jap positions and served as an inspiration to officers and men of his troop.” His Medal was posthumously awarded to him on June 6, 1945.
Another older brother Curtis, in the same TXANG unit 12th Cav:
Family graveside services will be held for Curtis L. Knight, 94, on Friday, December 13 in Killeen. He peacefully passed from this life on December 11, 2013 in Harker Heights, Tx.
Mr. Knight was born in Garner, Texas on October 18, 1919. He, along with two brothers, had come into the US Army when the 124th Cavalry Regiment was inducted into federal service in November 1940. Curtis met Joyce May when he was stationed in Rio Grande City, Texas and they married on June 18, 1942.
During World War II his regiment was part of the Mars Task Force in Burma. He was wounded in battle there and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Combat Infantry Badge. After his recovery, he finished his military career at Fort Hood where he retired.
He attained a Civil Service position on Fort Hood in charge of Fish and Wildlife conservation. He also retired from there and stayed in Killeen until his passing.
Two other brothers, Robert and Herschel were also veterans. These men represent what is strongest and best in American men. They represent the type who filled the ranks in the Revolution, War of 1812, War Between the States and the World Wars and Korea and Viet Nam conflicts and the Mexican War as well as it had a large volunteer component. All honor be to them.
I just had chills go through me. My Father was an instructor for egress systems for the T-33/37/38 at Laughlin AFB from 1963 to 1967 before he was sent to Tahkli AFB. I knew some Knights but cannot remember their rank or the family. RIP Col Knight.
Nice the aircraft ground crew is respectfully lining up to meet the plane.
My neighbor’s brother was returned 10 years ago...remains found in France...from WW II.....astonishing.
Huge sigh! Followed by simmering anger!
R.I.P. brother.
Here
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