Former Vietnam War POW retired Col. Ken Cordier, left, his wife Barbie, and former POW retired Col. Elmo “Mo” Baker at the Frontiers of Flight Museum for the Vietnam 50th Anniversary Commemoration event on March 21 in Dallas. Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Some 50 years after of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, the Air & Space Forces Association’s Seidel Chapter commemorated the anniversary March 21 with other Dallas-area veterans groups at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
About 450 Vietnam-era veterans and family members joined in, and veterans were individually presented with commemorative Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pins. Several spouses of deceased veterans received the Surviving Spouse pin.
Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) offered remarks. Recently elected to the seat held for 29 years by the late Rep. Sam Johnson, a retired colonel and former prisoner of war, Self declared: “It is our obligation to remember the courage of those at Hue and Khe Sanh, at Tan Son Nhut and Saigon, from Hamburger Hill to the B-52 missions in Operation Linebacker and the Wild Weasel anti-SAM missions. Future generations deserve to know that those we honor today won every major battle they fought.”
Seidel Chapter member and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate Jen Colby pins a Vietnam Veteran lapel pin on at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Prisoner of War Pins and certificates were presented to retired Cols. Ken Cordier and Elmo Baker, who both spent six years as POWs and earned Silver Stars for bravery.
Other speakers included retired Capt. Allen Clark, who lost both legs in Vietnam and earned the Silver Star, and Natan Ton-that, who emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 11 and later served in the Peace Corps and the U.S. Army. Captain Clark recalled the combat medics who saved his life after he was wounded.
“You veterans here in this museum today, who served your country, are the nobility of the United States,” Ton-that said. “There are hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Americans who are here in America because of you. You fought for us and came back to a country that did not appreciate your service. Today you should be proud that you served a noble cause.”
Featured during the ceremony were 18 portraits of Vietnam veterans from Texas. Painted by artist, author, and Seidel Chapter member Colin Kimball, the portraits will remain on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as a reminder of the contributions of the brave men and women who served in the Vietnam War.
Angela Bennett Engle, left, daughter of Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Steven Bennett, who was killed in action in Vietnam when she was 2 years old, talks to Texas Congressman from the 3rd District, retired Lt. Col. Keith Self, and portrait artist and Air Force veteran Colin Kimball as they view a picture of her father and his Medal of Honor.Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Master of Ceremony Scott Murray describes the Commemoration program to the members in the audience at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Master of ceremony Scott Murray, left, thanks Lt. Gen. John Campbell (Ret,), former Seidel Chapter president and event coordinator, during the Vietnam 50th Anniversary Commemoration. Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Retired Lt. Gen. John Campbell, left, and Texas Congressman retired Lt. Col. Keith Self, present a Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin to U.S. Air Force veteran Fletcher Sharp from the American Legion Harding-Blaine Post 321 Color Guard. Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent, USAF (Ret.)
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Air Education & Training Command received its first T-7A Red Hawk when the long-awaited next-generation jet trainer landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on Dec. 5.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
The United States Air Force is flying less than historic norms and funding for acquisition and readiness is on a path to further hollow out this too small and old force to that is incapable of sustaining an enduring combat air campaign.
For an investment of less than $24 million, the Air Force was able to return a damaged B-2 bomber to flying status in November. The service offered an unusually detailed description of the methods used to fix the stealth aircraft.
An Air Force F-16 Thunderbird crashed Dec. 3 near Death Valley, Calif., with the pilot ejecting safely. In a statement, the Thunderbirds—officially the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron—said the incident occurred at approximately 10:45 a.m. local time “during a training mission over controlled airspace in California.”
The U.S. Air Force’s KC-46 Pegasus fleet hit a major milestone Dec. 2 with the delivery of its 99th and 100th aircraft at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
The Air Force’s airlift fleet is in desperate need of modern connectivity, spare parts, and other innovations to keep going amid growing demand and modernization plans still in their infancy, according to a former senior leader and a new research paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
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