Laughlin plays host to POW, several Vietnam vets

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Blake Mize
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Laughlin hosted one former POW and three other men who were shot down in action. The Vietnam veterans' visit included a luncheon at Club XL, a roundtable panel at Anderson Hall and a special retreat ceremony in Heritage Park.

The third Friday of each Sept. is National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Day.
Airman also continuously guarded a POW/MIA remembrance wreath from 7:45 a.m. Sept. 17 until the start of the retreat ceremony at approximately 3:45 p.m. that day.
During the roundtable panel, the men discussed their respective stories.

Lt. Col. (ret.) John Blevins was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese Sept. 9, 1966 after having to bail out of the F-105D aircraft he was flying. He said he parachuted onto enemy soil and as he landed, he heard a sound similar to that of a tree limb breaking. Unfortunately, the sound was his leg breaking.

"When the rescue capture party arrived, they took my boots, my watch and my flight suit. Soon I was unable to walk so they began carrying me like a wounded animal," recalled Lt. Col. Blevins.

The pilot spent six-and-a-half years in the Vietnamese prison in a 12 by 12 cell with two other prisoners.

"War is hell. They can imprison your body but they can't imprison your mind," he said.

Col. (ret.) Kevin "Mike" Gilroy, one of the most decorated electronic warfare officers in the history of the Air Force, and Lt. Col. (ret.) Ed Larson, the fighter pilot Col. Gilroy flew with, told their story of being shot down by enemy fire while performing one of their many missions together and escaping capture.

Col. Gilroy said someone later told him while he was the mayor of a California town that he handled pressure well. He dismissed the notion of politics being pressure-packed.
"I said no, being in a badly damaged jet fighter at 5,000 feet, doing 350 knots while everybody is trying to kill you, that is pressure," he said.

Lt. Col. Larson, who was enlisted in the Air Force for nine years before commissioning and becoming a pilot, spoke fondly of his time as an Airman.

"I spent 28-and-a-half years in the military and if you see something running down my cheek here, it is envy looking at you young people," Lt. Col. Larson told the crowd of mostly young officers and enlisted members.

Col. (ret.) Joe Lee Burns, who was shot down in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1972, told a similar story as Col. Gilroy and Lt. Col. Larson but with a humorous twist. Several times during his story, the audience was overcome with laughter. The overall sentiment shared by Col. Burns was that extensive training is vital to surviving during war and is what sets military members apart from the rest of the world.

Following the roundtable, most who were in attendance made their way to Heritage Park for a special retreat ceremony. Four T-38 Talon aircraft performed a flyover, Col. Michael Frankel, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, addressed the crowd and Laughlin's honor guard retired the American and POW/MIA flags.

"This is a time to remember the faces of the prisoners of war, remember the names of those missing in action and remember and reaffirm the pledge our nation's leaders have made to account for every service man who did not come home," said Col. Frankel. "There is no greater legacy for our future aviators to mirror than these great men."