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Great tribute to "The Hanoi Taxi" which took our POWs home in 1973.

/9/2006 - DAYTON, Ohio (AFPN) -- The first aircraft to return Vietnam prisoners of war to the United States arrived at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at 9:30 a.m. May 6. The C-141 "Hanoi Taxi" was the first aircraft to arrive in Hanoi in February 1973 to pick up POWs returning to the United States. The "Hanoi Taxi" was one of several aircraft involved in repatriating more than 500 American POWs held by the North Vietnamese. The Hanoi Taxi -- the last C-141 Starlifter still serving in the Air Force -- made two of its final...

/4/2006 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- More than 120 former prisoners from the Vietnam War and their families will help the Air Force Reserve Command's 445th Airlift Wing retire the Air Force's last C-141 Starlifter, the "Hanoi Taxi," during festivities May 5 to 6. The aircraft was the first one to arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 1973 to pick up POWs returning to the United States. The "Hanoi Taxi" was one of several aircraft involved in repatriating more than 500 American POWs held by the North Vietnamese. POWs will participate on two flights at 10 a.m....

/5/2006 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- More than 120 former prisoners of war continued a 33-year layover of freedom by reliving the flights that carried them home from North Vietnam. The Hanoi Taxi -- the last C-141 Starlifter still serving in the Air Force -- made two of its final three flights May 5. Former POWs gathered in Fairborn, Ohio, for a reunion and to take part in a weekend of activities created by the Air Force Reserve’s 445th Airlift Wing here that includes the retirement of the famed aircraft. The Hanoi Taxi was the first of...

My 2 boys and I went to an airshow today in Cincinnati and the Lockheed C-141C Starlifter "Hanoi Taxi" was there. This was Starlifter number 66-0177, the first to carry American POWs from Hanoi to freedom in 1973. While walking through it you see the equipment box that the POW's signed as they flew back home: In the corner I happened to notice the signature of Col. George "Bud" Day - Medal of Honor winner and outspoken critic of John Kerry - so I couldn't resist getting a picture: For more about Col. Day: Maximum Resistance

Oshkosh - Among the many planes attracting crowds at EAA AirVenture this weekend is an Air Force Lockheed C-141C that has seen its share of sorrow and heartache. On Feb. 12, 1973, the military transport airlifted the first American prisoners of war from Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi and took them home to their families. It was nicknamed the "Hanoi Taxi" by the just freed prisoners who signed their names on a bulkhead inside the plane during the flight home. Painted in the original colors and markings used in 1973, it's still being used but now in a war far...