Similar
Members of Team Seymour greet Airmen during a redeployment
U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Chet B. Waters (left)
Maj. Erskine Cook, 81st Inpatient Operation Squadron
Pennsylvania National Guardsmen from the 171st Air
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Lance Lewis, left, the oncoming
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Lance Lewis, right, commanding
Area IV Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army shakes
Two civilian volunteers help pass out lottery tickets
A Vineland Veterans Memorial Home resident is given
Related
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Lynn Guenther is greeted by BGEN Ralph Saunders and 22nd Air Force Vice Commander, BGEN William Deitrich upon arriving on a flight from Clark Air Base. CPT Guenther was captured on 26 Dec 71 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle is greeted by MGEN John Gonge, Commander 22nd Air Force and BGEN Ralph Saunders after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. CPT Pyle was captured on 13 Jun 66 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S.Navy LMDR Everett Alvarez (Captured 5 Aug 64) is lead to the microphones by MGEN John Gonge, 22nd Air Force Commander after his arrival from Clark Air Base. LCMDR Alvarez was released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi 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
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Edward John Mechenbier is greeted by the crowd of well wishers after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines. CPT Mechenbier was captured on 14 Jun 67 and released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 18 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Air Force LCOL George Robert Hall salutes and is welcomed to the states by MGEN John Gonge, 22nd Air Force Commander and BGEN Ralph Saunders upon his arrival on the C-141 Starlifter. LCOL Hall was captured by the North Vietnamese on 27 Sep 65 and was released in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S.Navy LMDR John Heilig (Captured 5 May 66)waves to the public and press there to greet the plane load of former POWs flown in from Clark Air Base. LCMDR Helig was released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Army CWO-2 Daniel F. Maslowski (Captured 2 May 70) waves to the public and press who were there to greet the plane load of former POWs flown in from Clark Air Base. In the background MGEN John Gonge, Commander 22nd Air Force and BGEN William Deitrich, 22nd AF Vice Commander greet former POW and U.S. Air Force SMSGT Arthur Cormier (Captured 6 Nov 65). CWO-2 Maslowski and SMSGT Cormier were released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73
Former POW and U.S. Marine LCOL Edison Wainright Miller (Captured 13 Oct 67) is greeted by MGEN John Gonge, Commander 22nd Air Force and BGEN William Deitrich, 22nd AF Vice CO on his arrival from Clark Air Base. LCOL Miller was released by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on12 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.
- 27 Gonge Images: PICRYL - Public Domain Media Search Engine ...
- Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Edward John Mechenbier is ...
- Former POW and U.S. Marine LCOL Edison Wainright Miller ...
- In the Clark AB hospital, released Prisoner of War, U.S. Navy CMDR ...
- Former POW and U.S. Navy CMDR Robert Harper Shumaker ...
- Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle is greeted ...
- Former POW and U.S. Air Force LCOL George Grigsby McKnight is ...
- Former POW and U.S. Air Force LCOL George Robert Hall salutes ...
- Former POW and U.S. Navy CMDR Raymond Arthur Vohden ...
- Former POW and U.S. Air Force LCOL Armand Jesse Myers looks ...