Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Former POW ends sortie after 40-year detour (Grab Tissues Now!)
Air Force Links ^ | Sep 23, 2005 | 1st Lt. Gerardo Gonzalez

Posted on 09/23/2005 7:12:43 PM PDT by SandRat

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) -- Retired Maj. Wesley Schierman finally landed his last sortie with the 67th Fighter Squadron here Sept. 19 after a 40-year detour.

Originally, he began his flight as a captain with the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron during the Vietnam War flying an F-105 Thunderchief out of Korat Air Base, Thailand.

But while leading a formation of four aircraft Aug. 25, 1965, on a mission to attack a military barracks near Hanoi, something happened.

His gun jammed.

He bailed out.

He became a prisoner of war.

"I was captured within an hour of ejecting from the aircraft," Major Schierman said. "They started stripping my gear and the first thing they took was my boots. You don't travel around very much in the jungle on bare feet."

He spent the next three nights heavily guarded in a cave, and then three more nights in back of a truck before arriving at Hoa Lo Prison -- the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

"I was interrogated for 10 days and 10 nights," Major Schierman said. "I politely declined to answer their questions."

His lack of cooperation earned him some threats and slapping around by his captors, but it did not faze him -- at first.

"I got it worse from my fourth grade teacher," he said. In fact, when they threatened to lock him down in his tiny cell with leg irons, he was not too concerned. That changed after wearing them for three days.

"I thought this was about the worst thing you could do to someone," he said. "Little did I know (what was to come)."

Rope torture. Beatings. Isolation. Disease. Guilt. Misery. Seven-and-a-half years of it.

He wasn't alone in his suffering. Initially he was the 23rd prisoner, but the number grew to 368, and he knew all their names.

Some prisoners died directly from the torture; others succumbed to illness.

"We had guys live with open wounds for four years," he said.

But many prevailed because of a strong will to live and their creative efforts to communicate with each other through a tap code.

"I am convinced that without the tap code we would have lost a lot more people," Major Schierman said.

He credits fellow prisoner and aviator "Smitty" Harris with teaching POW's the simple, secretive tap code.

"It made a world of difference to be able to pass policy, communicate resistance or just pass the time," he said. "We could tap the code, sweep it, cough it and scratch it."

Major Schierman even used Morse code to communicate with a Navy lieutenant. Back then, Morse code was a requirement for many in the Navy.

"It became my language," Major Schierman said. "It indicates how adaptable humans can be if they have the will."

Through the years, he and the others were relocated to different prison camps. Their captivity nearly ended in November 1970 when U.S. Special Forces raided the Son Tay prison camp.

Unfortunately the Americans were no longer there.

Though the rescue attempt failed, conditions for the prisoners improved greatly afterward.

Then there was the "greatest show on Earth" as Major Schierman describes it. Operation Linebacker II began Dec. 18, 1972. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers pummeled North Vietnam day and night for 11 days, forcing the North Vietnamese back to the negotiation table.

A peace agreement was signed in January, and Feb. 12, 1973, Capt. Wesley Schierman and the men he suffered with for all those years were freed.

The “Freedom Bird” delivered them to a cheering crowd at Clark Air Base in the Philippines.

"I'm just really proud to have served with those guys," he said. "Most of us did a heck of a job under the circumstances. … We served with honor."

From Clark he was flown to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., to the open arms of his wife, Faye, and to the life he had known before Vietnam.

He returned to his prewar job as a commercial airline pilot and retired in 1995 after 22 years with Northwest Airlines.

Major Schierman’s ceremonial flight aboard an F-15 Eagle helped today's pilots of the 67th FS understand the true meaning of mission completion, said Lt. Col. Jeff Gustafson, squadron commander and pilot for Major Schierman's final flight.

It also provided a climactic end to a highly personal 40-year journey of a former Kadena AB pilot.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Japan
KEYWORDS: 40year; after; detour; ends; former; pow; sortie; usaf; vietnam

Former POW ends sortie after 40-year detour KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Retired Maj. Wesley Schierman stands beside an F-15 Eagle after completing his final flight with the 67th Fighter Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Stephanie Sinclair)
1 posted on 09/23/2005 7:12:46 PM PDT by SandRat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2LT Radix jr; 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub; 80 Square Miles; A Ruckus of Dogs; acad1228; AirForceMom; ..
You'll need this for the tears of pride and appreciation
2 posted on 09/23/2005 7:13:32 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

To the Top!


3 posted on 09/23/2005 7:19:15 PM PDT by Decepticon (The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
WEll-DONE there, SIR!

Men like you are a Commie's NIGHTMARE; THanks for being such!

4 posted on 09/23/2005 7:31:35 PM PDT by ExcursionGuy84 ("To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
"He returned to his prewar job as a commercial airline pilot and retired in 1995 after 22 years with Northwest Airlines."

Let us pray that the greedy management of Northwest Airlines does not rob this great Patriot of his pension. Sadly, I fear this is just what they are going to do. If I were king, not one dime would go to management before this hero was paid in full.

5 posted on 09/23/2005 7:35:11 PM PDT by trek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

That is the picture of a MAN. My hat is off to him. Fair winds and following seas to him for the remainder of his life.


6 posted on 09/23/2005 7:43:30 PM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine (An old sailor sends - Bravo Zulu)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

God bless you Sir. Thank you for your service and for what you endured during your time as a POW. While many PUKES in this country didn't like it...they couldn't hold a candle to the man you are.


7 posted on 09/23/2005 7:47:07 PM PDT by cubreporter (I trust Rush. He has done more for our country than anyone will ever know. He's a man of honor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Citizen Tom Paine

Isn't it nice to be hearing stories of REAL MEN lately? We need MORE!!


8 posted on 09/23/2005 7:47:42 PM PDT by cubreporter (I trust Rush. He has done more for our country than anyone will ever know. He's a man of honor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: trek
Let us pray that the greedy management of Northwest Airlines does not rob this great Patriot of his pension.

Let me warn you. People here believe that Northwest is perfect and will slam any slight toward them. Their management is the most unethical corrupt group of people ever to incorporate in America including Enron.

Thye will rob this man and the rest of their employees too.

9 posted on 09/23/2005 7:59:01 PM PDT by Nov3 ("This is the best election night in history." --DNC chair Terry McAuliffe Nov. 2,2004 8p.m.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

Thank you Major Schierman, for my freedom. And you too SandRat, for the post


10 posted on 09/23/2005 8:54:10 PM PDT by Eagles6 (Dig deeper, more ammo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SandRat
(Grab Tissues Now!)

Am I the only one that finds the tissues admonition irksome?

11 posted on 09/23/2005 8:59:18 PM PDT by Plutarch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Plutarch

Nope.


12 posted on 09/24/2005 12:53:03 AM PDT by Dr. Marten ((http://thehorsesmouth.blog-city.com))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Squantos; SandRat

Ping and BTTT

Maybe we should set up a tour of the HH for muddersheehan for a reality check...


13 posted on 09/24/2005 1:07:31 AM PDT by ChefKeith ( If Diplomacy worked, then we would be sitting here talking...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Nov3

What you say may well be true. I expect that Maj. Schierman will be fine with or without the NWA pension, given his military pension and his own savings (you don't survive extreme hardships without learning the values of resourcefulness and thrift).

Fortunately, the one thing NWA can't possibly take away is the man's honor.


14 posted on 09/24/2005 1:21:10 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: SandRat

BTTT


15 posted on 09/24/2005 3:05:08 AM PDT by E.G.C.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ChefKeith; SLB; Jeff Head; Travis McGee

Salute.....


16 posted on 09/24/2005 5:25:27 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ChefKeith

Set it up for every member of AmNasty International and the ACLU. Oh yeah,....and make it an 8 year tour.


17 posted on 09/24/2005 6:38:46 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Nov3
I fear you are right. Even worse, I doubt the insane greed of corporate management is limited to Northwest Airlines. In some sense, the Marxian analysis of corporate capitalism is correct. But what the fools on the left fail to see is that their cure is infinitely worse than the disease. The Communists want to take the power mad and give them a monopoly on the use of force.

I'll take option one, thank you.

18 posted on 09/24/2005 9:03:01 AM PDT by trek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson