Local chaplain Azar delivers prayer at POW return anniversary
Mar. 10—PLATTSBURGH — U.S. Air Force (Retired) Chaplain Thomas Azar delivered the opening prayer Thursday evening at a ceremony in Shalimar, Fla. to honor American troops captured in the Vietnam War and brought back home 50 years ago.
"The Elks, VFW groups, are sponsoring the 50 — year anniversary when the U.S. government and the Vietnamese government worked out the trade, so the 591 Prisoners of War at the Hanoi Hilton were released," Azar, a Dannemora resident, said.
"They were released on St. Patrick's Day. So this March, this is what they're celebrating down here. The City Council and Eglin Air Force Base are sponsoring this to bring people together to honor these survivors. I don't know what other cities around the country are doing, but they asked me as a retired Air Force Chaplain if I would do the opening prayer."
OKALOOSA SEVEN
The Air Force Armament Museum hosted the event, a free reception and program, to honor seven POWs that formerly or once called Okaloosa County home.
Their names include: Brig. Gen. George "Bud" Day, U. S. Air Force, Retired. (Feb. 24, 1925 — July 27, 2013); Col Richard A. Dutton, U. S. Air Force, Retired (Apr. 24, 1930 — Dec. 12, 1999); and Col. Keith Hall, U. S. Air Force Retired.
Those in attendance were: Col. Howard Hill, U. S. Air Force, (Retired); Col. Ed Hubbard, U. S. Air Force, (Retired); Col. Ron Webb, U. S. Air Force, (Retired); and Lt. Col. Dave Gray, U. S. Air Force, (Retired).
"The motivating factor was that being the 50th anniversary of the POWs release, we felt like it was a momentous anniversary," Tricia Flaherty, director of operations at the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation, said.
"What we're going to have it's going to be about 45 minutes of la social/networking, meet the POWs, have some hors d'oeuvres, beer, wine and water. At 6:15, we're going to begin a program that will last about 45 minutes to an hour, which will include at least of the three of the POWs speaking. The Voices of Northwest Florida State College are also going to perform."
American airmen, seamen and Marines were shot down and taken prisoner during the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese, according to nixonfoundation.org
These Prisoners of War endured the harshest conditions imaginable, including regular subjection to physical and psychological torture as well as mental abuse and isolation at the hands of their captors, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, to which North Vietnam was a signatory.
Their collective plight became a rallying cry to Americans at home, expressed through films, songs and cultural movements, most notably the presence of yellow ribbons in kitchen windows, town squares and community centers, and the wearing of "POW bracelets."
One of President Nixon's two non-negotiable conditions in his administration's negotiations with the North Vietnamese was the return of all American Prisoners of War.
After the Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, 591 Prisoners of War were repatriated — while having to restart life at home, and pick up the pieces of time lost.
PLATTSBURGH POWS
U.S. Air Force Col. (Retired) Joseph B. McNichols recalls that Major "Red Dog" Watson, in the FB-111 world, was a POW.
"I have no idea even if he's alive," he said.
"I haven't seen him at an FB reunion in forever. Bob Hudson, he was a B-52 co-pilot when he was shot down, then he came to the FB world. He's in Dalton, Texas. Red Dog and Hudson were at the Hanoi Hilton (Ha Lò Prison). Col. John Dramesi (author of 'Code of Honor') was our vice commander, then he went over to Pease to be the wing commander. He escaped twice."
Morrisonville native Gen. Leroy Manor led the 1970 raid to free POWs from Son Tay prison camp in North Vietnam.
"Unfortunately, the intel was bad, and they moved everybody like a week before," McNichols said.
"The Son Tay camp is basically in the suburbs of Hanoi. When Leroy Manor led that raid, he went in there and they were ready to get everybody out and nobody was there. Big failure of intel."
SACRIFICES OF WOMEN
On February 12, 1973, the first of 591 U.S. prisoners began the trip home with more flights returning until late March, according to nixonfoundation.org
The United States fought in the Vietnam War for 10 years from 1965 to the fall of Saigon in 1975.
"2.6 million men and women served in the Vietnam War, (58, 220) were killed, and 11,000 nurses were among those 2.6 million and 59 of them were killed in Vietnam," Azar said.
"There are 16 Chaplains whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I write an article every month for the Military Officers Association. A lot of people just don't give women the credit for all they did in Vietnam and a lot of the other wars. A lot of these nurses went over there and served and were in combat. Some were shot down in planes, and some were killed on the battlefield trying to help troops. I think there's maybe (8) women's names on the Memorial Wall."
Azar lives in the Air Force Widows Village in Shalimar.
"I come down here and help out in the winter," he said.
"These are all military widows. There is about 550 of them. A lot of them their spouses served in Korea and Vietnam. I do counseling. I do a Bible study. I do funerals, and I bring communion on the weekends to shut-ins. Some of them are on hospice care or have serious health issues.
"It's also called Bob Hope Village because Bob Hope helped set it up when he learned about so many widows who were being subsidized because most of the wives back then didn't work.
"So when their husbands passed away, they really didn't have much resource. So this was set up about 50 years ago. Now, I'm doing funerals for the men and women who did serve, and a lot of them live in this Bob Hope community."
Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
Twitter@RobinCaudell
