Mary Jo Walicki © Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sylvester and Jane Sijan attended the unveiling of a memorial to their son, Capt. Lance Sijan, in 2003 in Milwaukee. Sijan's plane crashed in Laos in 1967, but he ejected and eluded capture for six weeks. The injured Sijan was tortured, escaped, then was captured again. He died while in captivity and was the first Air Force Academy graduate to earn the Medal of Honor.
Ahmad Terry © News
Lance Sijan's prisoner-of-war bracelet is on display at Vandenberg Hall at the Air Force Academy. The date on it marks when his plane burst into flames while flying over Laos.
Valor beyond words
Lance Sijan endured unfathomable grief in Vietnam. He paid with his life, and by doing so inspired legions at the Air Force Academy
By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News
November 6, 2004
MILWAUKEE - For Capt. Lance Sijan, it began like any other night in Danang, South Vietnam, in the fall of 1967.
The classic fighter pilot - big, rugged, handsome, a former football player at the Air Force Academy - eased into the back seat of an F-4 Phantom about 8 p.m.
Ten minutes later, Sijan and fellow pilot Army Lt. Col. John Armstrong were streaking over North Vietnam, looking down at bursts of artillery fire and glowing firefights.
Thirty minutes into the mission, they were flying at 19,500 feet above the dark Ho Chi Minh Trail, six miles into Laos, ready to roll into their bombing run before returning home. But they never made it.
Seconds after releasing six bombs, the Phantom exploded into flames and plunged into the mountainous jungle below, killing Armstrong.
In the fiery chaos before the crash, Sijan instinctively reached for his ejection handle, saving himself from immediate death.
But his ordeal was only beginning.
Despite crippling injuries and meager supplies, the 25-year-old captain evaded capture for six weeks in extremely treacherous terrain.
Eventually captured and moved to a holding camp, Sijan knocked out a guard and crawled back into the jungle, only to be recaptured hours later.