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Miss. Survivor Of Vietnam's Hanoi Hilton Dies At 82 Pitchford Survived 7 Years In Prison Camp UPDATED: 3:48 pm CST December 3, 2009 JACKSON, Miss. -- Retired Air Force Col. Jack Pitchford, a fighter pilot from Mississippi who survived seven years in the Vietnamese prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton, has died. He was 82. The Natchez, Miss., native was shot down in 1965 and taken to the Hoa Lo prison, a hellish place where Americans, including famous veterans like U.S. Sen. John McCain, were tortured. Pitchford was released in 1973. His brother said Pitchford died Wednesday after battling...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2009 – Generations of American servicemembers braved and survived the din, destruction and uncertainty of war to return home to enjoy the freedoms they helped to preserve for their fellow citizens. Retired Navy Rear Adm. Robert H. Shumaker is a famous U.S. military veteran who coined the term “Hanoi Hilton” when he was a prisoner of war from 1965 to 1973 in North Vietnam. Any person –- civilian or military –- who thinks they may have emotional problems should seek professional help, he said. DoD photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Yet,...

VAIL — A Vail man faces first-degree murder charges after he allegedly shot and killed a man outside a Vail bar over the weekend, Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said today in a court hearing. Richard "Rossi" Moreau, 63, is being held without bond in the Eagle County Jail. He is expected to be formally charged in a Dec. 1 hearing, Hurlbert said. His attorney, Reed Owens, said Moreau has met with jail doctors. Owens said he wants to make sure Moreau can get the medication he takes for post-traumatic stress disorder while he is jailed. "We may have...

VALLEY FALLS -- The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning. It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man...

To Set The Record Straight, first pubished in 2008, is much more than a history of the 2004 presidential race, and the effects the Swiftboat veterans had on that campaign. TSTRS uses the Swiftboat veterans' story to focus upon the role the mainstream media has played in shaping American public opinion over the past forty years, from the Vietnam War until the recent past. When Senator Kerry decided to make his military record a central part of his campaign, the Swiftboat veterans who knew him the best were angered and sickened. They had had enough, and they decided literally “to...

COLUMBUS, Ga. - Speaking in a soft, sometimes labored voice, the only U.S. Army officer convicted in the 1968 slayings of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai made an extraordinary public apology while speaking to a small group near the military base where he was court-martialed

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2009 – Retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey -- a Vietnam veteran, film actor and TV host -- shared observations about modern military technology and his visits with American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable today. “They’re just as ready to eat their own guts out today as they ever were back in my time,” he said. “The only difference is we’ve got better equipment, better gear, better toys, and I spend as much time as I can with them.” Ermey said he’s surprised by the enduring popularity of his 1987...

Tears filled the eyes of some Vietnam veterans who were warmly greeted with cheers from their family and friends Sunday in an re-enactment of their original return from the war, when they were often met with angry demonstrators and harsh headlines. The ceremony was a first for the 101st Airborne Division and the Army, said Maj. Patrick Seiber, an Army spokesman based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. "Our hope is that other units and other posts will follow our lead in having this type of ceremony," he said...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ EAST, Iraq, July 23, 2009 – Army Sgt. 1st Class Hershel L. Mayfield is a Vietnam veteran with 39 years of service. But when he re-enlisted here earlier this month, his mind was on the future and the young people he serves with. Army Sgt. 1st Class Hershel Mayfield, right, receives his re-enlistment certificate from Army Capt. Irvin Morris at Contingency Operating Site Marez East, Iraq, July 7, 2009. Mayfield has served 39 years in the Army, including 37 with the 158th Maintenance Company of the Alabama Army National Guard. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt....

HOUSTON — Charles Bass had told the story about how he survived a deadly snakebite in Vietnam so many times it seemed natural to tell it again, this time in front of a TV camera on the Fourth of July. He pointed at scars on his hand and the crook of his elbow, explaining how he'd stuck a hollow bamboo in the vein to stop the venom from reaching his heart. The camera panned a display case full of his medals at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum on Southmore Boulevard. A placard explained that Sgt. Major Bass had earned the...

Few Americans have heard of Bien Hoa, but the Vietnam War started there 50 years ago today.

Prominent Vietnam veterans and their families are appalled by an advertisement for a major local mall that shows a woman in front of a wall that strongly resembles the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with the names of the center’s stores appearing instead of the names of the war dead. Tysons Corner Center reacted quickly to condemnation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and ordered the immediate removal of 440 of the ads from the Metrorail cars where they have been posted, mall spokeswoman Allison Fischer said Tuesday afternoon. The Tysons ad features a black granite wall engraved with a list of...

VIRGINIA BEACH A few years ago at a reunion for Navy sailors and airmen, Clarence Cooper met two men he'd seen just once - Sept. 14, 1968. It was a hot and humid afternoon when North Vietnamese troops ambushed Cooper's supply ship on the river outside Vinh Long. Rockets streamed from the bank, blasted through bulkheads and drove shrapnel into the small crew. The sailors unloaded on the entrenched enemy lines. The deck was covered with smoke and fire and cartridge cases and two rocket-propelled grenades that somehow didn't explode. The fight culminated with a helicopter rescue of a gravely...

DALLAS - Frank Larison is a disabled veteran with more than 14 years of service, including more than a year of combat duty in Vietnam. The 58-year-old former Marine now finds himself under attack by his Dallas homeowners association for displaying seven decals on his vehicle supporting the Marine Corps. "To me, it's being patriotic, and it shows that I served," the veteran told FOX 4. The board says the decals are advertisements that violate HOA rules, and must be covered or removed. Otherwise, the homeowners association for The Woodlands II on The Creek --- where Larimore has lived for...

Five years ago, a group of Vietnam veterans came forward at the National Press Club in Washington to dispute the "war hero" stories that formed the basis of candidate John Kerry's presidential campaign, and to challenge the claims of rampant US war crimes Kerry had used to launch his political career 33 years earlier -- false accusations, they said, that helped to poison the reputations of a generation of American troops. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth included Kerry's entire former chain of command from Vietnam and dozens of eyewitnesses to his actions there. Kerry, the veterans said, was not...

Five years ago, a group of Vietnam veterans came forward at the National Press Club in Washington to dispute the "war hero" stories that formed the basis of candidate John Kerry's presidential campaign, and to challenge the claims of rampant US war crimes Kerry had used to launch his political career 33 years earlier -- false accusations, they said, that helped to poison the reputations of a generation of American troops. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth included Kerry's entire former chain of command from Vietnam and dozens of eyewitnesses to his actions there. Kerry, the veterans said, was not...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2009 – Pam Crane sat peacefully in a patch of freshly mowed grass along Highway 27 here in the nation’s capital, remembering her husband, his patriotism and his cause. Bikers from all across the country pull into the Pentagon's north parking lot May 24, 2009, to participate in the 22nd Annual Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C., to remind the nation that many American servicemembers who were prisoners of war or missing in action are still unaccounted for. DoD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. She...

The Washington Times has partnered with the Internet company Footnote.com on a new project that transforms Washington's Vietnam war memorial wall into an interactive, personal journey on the Web. The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial allows you to search the names on the wall and to drill down into the government's official war records to learn details about each of the 58,000-plus heroes enshrined on the wall. You can also add your own personal stories, remembrances and photographs. (edit) Start by clicking on the "Search the Wall" box, where you can select "Search" or "View." Once you find the name...

The last time Rolling Thunder roared into Washington, the president welcomed the riders in the White House driveway with a smile on his face and heartfelt personal greeting. This year, maybe not. "We initially got a call this year saying the president wasn't going to greet us," said Artie Muller, founder of the group.

Rolling Thunder not expecting Obama greeting By Jennifer Harper Friday, May 22, 2009 The last time Rolling Thunder roared into Washington, the president welcomed the riders in the White House driveway with a smile on his face and heartfelt personal greeting. This year, maybe not. "We initially got a call this year saying the president wasn't going to greet us," said Artie Muller, founder of the group that is marking its 22nd annual patriotic motorcycle ride through Washington to draw attention to policy issues influencing veterans, active-duty military, prisoners of war and those still missing in action. But a second...

National and local political activist, decorated veteran, POW advocate, businessman and master potter Ted Sampley passed away Tuesday. He was 62. Sampley, who was recovering from heart surgery a week earlier, was experiencing difficulties from the surgery at the Veteran's Hospital in Durham on Tuesday. He died while being rushed to surgery. His sudden passing surprised many in Kinston. "This is a shock to me," said master shipbuilder Alton Stapleford, the architect of the CSS Neuse II, which Sampley helped bring to fruition. "It's really hard to comprehend right now." Sampley served several tours of duty in Vietnam in the...

On March 25, 1969, the Marines of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, moved through a thick jungle in enemy territory less than a klick from the Laotian border. Their mission was to locate, engage and destroy any enemy position near the company's area of operation. But not long into the patrol, the Leathernecks were soon pinned down by intense enemy fire from a North Vietnamese army position. At the direction of the company commander, the artillery officer called in air support and soon Marine jets dropped napalm and high explosives on the enemy. "We could feel the heat from...

FEDERAL COURT — War hero, activist, former high-ranking Pentagon official – Wade Sanders has led a life full of peril and achievement, of great highs and deep lows. Just a few years ago, Sanders stood onstage at the Democratic National Convention as his fellow veteran, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., accepted his party's presidential nomination. That was a high point. Tomorrow afternoon in federal court in San Diego likely will be a low point for him. Sanders, 69, is scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty in December to possession of child pornography. He could face as much as 10 years...

In 1971, the U.S. Air Force offered a checkout in the McDonnell F-4 to Republic F-105 drivers who had completed a 100-mission combat tour and were willing to volunteer for a second tour. I dearly loved the Thud, but with its numbers dwindling due to combat losses, its future was bleak.I checked out in the F-4 at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida and in June arrived at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. The usual mission of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron was two-ship bombing flights under forward air control in Laos and an occasional reconnaissance escort...

Kerry draws on '71 Vietnam testimony in asking current vets to speak @ 11:43 am by Michael O'Brien Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) is drawing on his own background as a Vietnam War protester in inviting veterans of the war in Afghanistan to testify in front of the committee this week. "One of the lessons that I learned a long time ago and lived out here was that it's important to listen to the troops, it's important to listen to the folks who are implementing these policies and putting their lives at risk," Kerry told National Public...

WASHINGTON (AFRNS) -- One-hundred twenty-three American heroes from the Vietnam War era will be honored posthumously this month during the annual In Memory Day ceremony, according to Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. In Memory Day was created to pay tribute to those who died prematurely from noncombat injuries and emotional suffering caused directly by the Vietnam War, but who are not eligible to have their names inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A list of the honorees and their hometowns is available at www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=774. The 11th annual In Memory Day ceremony begins at...

HANOI (AFP) — US Senator John McCain leaned over a miniature mock-up on of the Vietnamese prison where he was held for years as a wartime prisoner. "I'm trying to figure it out," he said, studying the scale model on a return visit to the prison site that is now a museum.

HANOI, Vietnam -- Sen. John McCain paid a quiet visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where he was held for more than five years during the Vietnam War on Wednesday, making a few deadpan remarks as he made his way through dark corridors and past musty cells. McCain allowed reporters to follow him while he escorted Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina through the prison. -snip-

US Senator John McCain will stop over in Hanoion April 6 during his week-long Asian tour. He is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Institute for International Relations and host a press briefing. He will also visit Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) Prison where he was imprisoned during the Vietnam War.

To all us Vietnam Vets we all new the frustration of a different time and place.

SOMEBODY at the Sundance Channel must have something against Jane Fonda. Before Saturday's preview of "33 Variations," her first Broadway performance in 46 years, Vietnam War vets picketed the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, still riled up about her 1972 visit to North Vietnam, where she straddled an anti-aircraft gun and gave her support to the enemy. *snip* "FTA" stands for "[Bleep] the Army."

The following is an after action reprt of the righteous freeping of Communist Traitor (rhymeswithHillary) JANE FONDA. Kudos to Gathering OF Eagles New York and VVA for participating, and also the various Freepers in attendance.

NEW YORK — It's been decades, but Jane Fonda still can't shake her "Hanoi Jane" image from the Vietnam War. About a dozen Vietnam veterans and other protesters on Saturday picketed the theater where the 71-year-old actress is starring in the Broadway play "33 Variations," telling passers-by that she had once visited their communist enemy in Hanoi.

BISMARCK, N.D., Jan. 28, 2009 – A Vietnam War veteran who overcame great odds to become a successful National Football League player shared his message of strength, attitude and optimism during the North Dakota National Guard's 2009 Safety Conference here Jan. 24. Vietnam veteran and former Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier gives Army Capt. Doug Larsen an opportunity to try on Bleier's four Super Bowl rings at the North Dakota National Guard's 2009 Safety Conference in Bismarck, N.D., Jan. 24, 2009. Bleier was the keynote speaker for the conference. U.S. Army photo by Bill Prokopyk  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WALKERSVILLE -- At about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 5, as the results of the presidential election became fairly definitive, Roger Robinette decided to express symbolically how discouraged he was. Robinette, a Walkersville resident and disabled Vietnam veteran, hoisted the American flag and a black prisoner of war flag in his front yard upside down -- a signal of distress. He said he was discouraged that President-elect Barack Obama refused to release a copy of his official birth certificate, and that he had never served in the military. (Persistent rumors that he isn't an American citizen have dogged Obama, who posted his...

WASHINGTON — A Democratic official says retired Marine Gen. James Jones is President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be national security adviser. Obama plans to name his foreign policy team after the Thanksgiving holiday.

They have hailed as a hero Yury Trushyochkin, 70, a former Soviet officer who claimed last week to have fired the missile which brought down Mr McCain's plane as it flew over a bridge near Hanoi in 1967. Mr Trushyochkin served in a mixed Soviet-North Vietnamese missile unit during the Vietnam war, which was guarding the bridge near a power plant under attack from a 20-strong strike force whose pilots included Mr McCain. The Soviet-made missile blew off a part of one wing of Mr McCain's plane and he ejected upside down moments before it crashed - suffering injuries which...

"We were preparing to leave when the sirens sounded again," he said. "Two American F-4 Phantoms flew in. We had two missiles out of six left. The Vietnamese fired first. Their rocket missed, it fell into the jungle. One plane went round the hill, the other came over the bridge. We fired at this one."

I shot down McCain A retired Red Army Lieutenant who fought in Vietnam has confessed to shooting down the plane of defeated presidential candidate, John McCain. Colonel Yuriy Trushechkin told Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets he had no regrets about downing the future Senator’s aircraft back in 1967. Journalists from Russia’s most popular tabloid paper found the veteran in a St Petersburg hospital. Trushechkin said he still hated John McCain and wasn’t at all sorry for what he had done all those years ago. He added he was very happy that McCain didn’t make to the White House. ”He always hated the...

William Doyle, a tough-talking Vietnam War veteran who helped lead a decorated platoon that killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in a case concealed by the Pentagon for decades, died Thursday in Springfield, Mo. He was 75. Mr. Doyle was a team leader on the Army's famous Tiger Force in 1967 when some members began executing women and children in a bloody rampage that lasted seven months. Mr. Doyle bragged that he shot so many civilians that he lost count. "We killed anything that moved," he told The Toledo Blade for a 2004 series. "My only regret is that I didn't...

A while back, France release a small snip of a video of John McCain taken while he was a POW. Now they've released the entire video. It's pretty long (and fascinating) but the McCain part starts a little over half way through.

Delafield, WI - Jeanette Dow and John Phillip Kronschnabel Jr. peer at a black wall containing name after name of fallen soldiers, their index fingers sliding over them in search of two men from Black River Falls who died in the Vietnam War. Dow, of Sullivan, knew the men and their parents. When she heard that the Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was coming to Delafield, she and her grandson, Kronschnabel, decided to visit it Thursday to pay tribute to the two soldiers and honor the other men and women who made...

Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator By Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers October 6, 2008 The 23-year-old junior lieutenant wasn't paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn," investigators concluded. As a presidential candidate, McCain has cited his military service -- particularly his 5 1/2 years as a POW. But he has been less forthcoming about his mistakes in the cockpit. The Times interviewed men who served with McCain and located once-confidential 1960s-era accident reports and formerly classified evaluations of his squadrons...

HANOI - The lake into which John McCain parachuted after his Navy plane was shot down is now surrounded by chic restaurants, cellphone stores and motorcycle dealerships. The prison camp where he confessed to being a "black criminal" has been turned into a multiplex cinema showing garish American movies. A five-star hotel occupies the site of the "Hanoi Hilton" jail, where he spent more than three years. The surface-to-air missile sites that once circled Hanoi have been replaced by sprawling industrial parks churning out sneakers and television sets for the U.S. market. Hanoi and Vietnam have changed dramatically since the...

More than 38 years after being recommended for a Bronze Star, a Texas man has received the medal for helping avert a Viet Cong attack in South Vietnam. Jim Greenwalt of Rockwall, Texas, a former U.S. Army sergeant, helped to prevent a surprise attack by Viet Cong, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday."I fired at muzzle flashes, sounds, any movement," Greenwalt said, recalling the violence that repelled a Viet Cong attack.Greenwalt's bravery on Jan. 30, 1970, was remembered at a ceremony at Fort Hood, in central Texas, after a paperwork snafu delayed the honor.The U.S. Army has awarded more than...

MCCAIN: Jim, when I came home from prison, I saw our veterans being very badly treated, and it made me sad. And I embarked on an effort to resolve the POW-MIA issue, which we did in a bipartisan fashion, and then I worked on normalization of relations between our two countries so that our veterans could come all the way home. I guarantee you, as president of the United States, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with our adversaries, and I know how to deal with our friends.

Sunday, September 14, 2008 DFA's shameless ad Have you seen this Democracy for America ad yet?  Can you imagine. . . betrayed by a fellow POW.  Shameless.   McCain: Unfit to Lead

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Swedish broadcaster SVT on Thursday released a previously unseen film clip purportedly showing the release of presidential candidate John McCain to the U.S. military in Hanoi in 1973. A former SVT reporter, Erik Eriksson, said he found the video in the network's archives when he was looking for footage for a book he was writing about his experiences as a war correspondent in Vietnam.

What is it to be an American? The John McCain I met tonight was incredibly Reaganesque as he reminded us that American pride comes from winning the fight - not from whining for handouts as victims. McCain, through his own riveting personal story of transformation from self centered cocky fly boy to dedicated man of his country. McCain reintroduced himself to America, and reintroduced us to ourselves. The speech was a huge hit. And the comparisons to Obama were striking.

John McCain's Imprisonment in Vietnam: A True Tale of Heroism James Ray Have you ever heard the whole account of John McCain's imprisonment during the Vietnam War? Until recently, I was only aware of the general story; I didn't know the details. But I recently read a couple of pieces on McCain's capture, imprisonment and torture by the North Vietnamese, and it blew me away. Not since Ernest Shackleton's cursed journey to the South Pole have I heard a tale of such courage, mental toughness and physical endurance. The Young John McCain The Crash and Capture In October of 1967,...