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Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle talks with escort officers and other POWs in the passenger lounge after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. CPT Pyle was captured on 13 Jun 66 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Army CWO-2 James Hardy Hestand talks with escorts and other POWs in the passenger lounge after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. CWO-2 Hestand was captured on 17 Mar 71 in Cambodia and released by the Viet Cong at Loc Ninh on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air ForceMAJ Robert Norland Daughtrey in the passenger lounge after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. MAJ Daughtrey was captured on 2 Aug 65 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Army MAJ William H. Hardy talks with escort officers and other POWs in the passenger lounge after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. MAJ Hardy was captured on 29 Jun 67 in by the South Vietnan and released by the Viet Cong at Loc Ninh on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force COL Raymond James Merritt at the microphone, thanks the crowd and press upon arriving on a flight from Clark Air Base. COL Merritt was captured on 16 Sep 65 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Larry James Chesley is greeted by 22nd Air Force Vice Commander, BGEN William Deitrich and BGEN Ralph Saunders upon arriving on a flight from Clark Air Base. CPT Chesley was captured on 6 Nov 65 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi 12 Feb 73
At Gia Lan Airport, surrounded by North Vietnamese and American officials, the press and public, just released, ex-POW U.S. Navy LCMDR Joseph C. Plumb Jr., (Captured 19 May 67) walks to meet his escort officer for the trip to Clark Air Base
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Kevin Joseph McManus talks to the press after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. CPT McManus was captured on 14 Jun 67 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force COL Robinson Risner, at the microphone, waves his thanks to the crowd and press upon arriving on a flight from Clark Air Base. 22nd Air Force Commander, MGEN John Gonge stands behind COL Risner. COL Risner was captured on 16 Sep 65 and released by North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force LCOL James Quincy Collins Jr. talks with escorts and other POWs in the passenger lounge after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. LCOL Collins was captured on 2 Sep 65 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Subject Operation/Series: HOMECOMING
Base: Travis Air Force Base
State: California (CA)
Country: United States Of America (USA)
Scene Camera Operator: SSGT Phillip M. Porter
Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files
On January 27, 1973, the United States agreed to a ceasefire with North Vietnam allowing withdrawal of American military forces from South Vietnam. The agreement also included the release of about 600 American prisoners of war. On Feb. 12, 1973, three C-141 flew to Hanoi, North Vietnam, and one C-9A aircraft was sent to Saigon, South Vietnam to pick up released prisoners of war. The first flight of 40 U.S. prisoners of war left Hanoi in a C-141A, later known as the "Hanoi Taxi". From February 12 to April 4, there were 54 C-141 missions flying out of Hanoi, bringing the former POWs home, the total number of returned was 591. The return of the nearly 600 POWs increased the polarization of the public and media. A majority of the POWs returned in Operation Homecoming were bomber pilots shot down while carrying out the campaign waged against civilian targets located in Vietnam and Laos. Many viewed the freed POWs as heroes, while others questioned if treating these men as heroes served to distort and obscure the truth about the war. Some felt these men deserved to be treated as war criminals or left in the North Vietnamese prison camps. Many worried that Homecoming hid the fact that people were still fighting and dying on the battlefields of Vietnam and caused the public to forget about the over 50,000 American lives the war had already cost. Veterans of the war had similar thoughts concerning Operation Homecoming with many stating that the ceasefire and returning of prisoners brought zero sense of an ending or closure. Operation Homecoming has been largely forgotten by the American public.
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