Posted on 07/17/2005 6:32:37 AM PDT by radar101
A hero's farewell
Vietnam POW icon Stockdale honored at memorial service
A fighter-bomber bearing his name stood vigil as eight Medal of Honor recipients escorted the flag-draped coffin of retired Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale yesterday on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan at North Island Naval Air Station.
Stockdale was remembered as a leader, a teacher, a father and a hero at the memorial service, attended by hundreds."There is a time to live and a time to die," Navy Secretary Gordon England told the audience. "And there is also a time to honor heroes."
Stockdale, who also was presidential candidate Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, died July 5 at his Coronado home with his wife and four sons at his side. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease five years ago. He was 81.
He was one of the most decorated officers in U.S. naval history, having received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Purple Hearts and four Silver Stars among his 26 combat decorations. He also was the only three-star admiral to wear both aviator's wings and the Medal of Honor.
Stockdale was awarded the nation's highest combat honor in 1976 for his actions as a prisoner-of-war leader after being shot down Sept. 9, 1965.
By convincing his captors at Hoa Lo Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton," that he would rather die than capitulate, Stockdale became a symbol and leader of the U.S. resistance against North Vietnamese attempts to use prisoners for propaganda. Stockdale once smashed his face with a stool to keep from being used in a propaganda film.
Stockdale, the highest-ranking Navy officer captured during the war, was forced to wear leg irons for two years and spent four years in solitary confinement. He and other POWs were released in early 1973.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
Once a hero, always a hero.
No doubt a brave man. This life was not kind to him. Hopefully, he'll fare better in the next.
A brave man. Too bad he was used as a stooge by the people who invented Ross Perot's presidential candidacy.
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