Similar
200122-N- FS414-2602 LOS ANGELES (Jan 22, 2020) – Damage
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. James R. Kriesel, deputy
A US marshal searches a Cuban prisoner before he boards a 437th Military Airlift Wing C-141B Starlifter aircraft for a flight to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Air Force is helping the Bureau of Prisons transfer 1,200 Cubans from a prison in
Related
Ex-POW U.S. Army SGG Bobby Louis Johnson (Captured 25 Aug 68), talks with a Viet Cong official after his released by the Viet Cong to the American Military. He is one of the twenty eight American POWs released by Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
Ex-POW U.S. Army CWO-2 James Hardy Hestand (Captured 17 Mar 71), (Center of photo) listens as member of U.S. military talks to him after his release by the Viet Cong to the American Military. He is one of the twenty eight American POWs released by Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
SGT Felix V. Neco-Quinones, U.S. Army, (Captured 16 Jul 68) stands with other POWs, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese military during the POW exchange. He is one of the twenty eight American POWs who were released by the Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
Ex-POWs and U.S. Army Captains, Mark A. Smith (Captured 7 Apr 72) and George K. Wanat Jr. (Captured 30 Apr 72), after their release by the Viet Cong to the American military. They are two of the twenty eight American POWs released by the Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
(On left) CPT George K. Wanat Jr., U.S. Army and (Left of center) CPT Mark A. Smith, U.S. Army (Captured 7 Apr 72) talks with a North Vietnamese Army officer. They are two of the twenty eight American POWs who were released by the Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
Former POW and U.S. Army SSG Bobby Louis Johnson (Captured 25 Aug 68), is greeted by MGEN John Gonge, 22nd Air Force Commander and BGEN William Deitrich, Vice Commander, 22nd AF upon his arrival on the C-141 Starlifter from Clark Air Base, Philippines. SSG Johnson was in the group of POWs captured in South Vietnam and released on 12 Feb 73 by the Viet Cong at Loc Ninh, South Vietnam
CPT David Earle Baker, U.S. Air Force, (Captured 27 Jun 72) shot down while flying his O-2 Forward Air Control aircraft and held captive by the Viet Cong until his release on February 12, 1973. He was one of twenty eight American POWs who were released during the prisoner exchange between the Viet Cong and the Americans and South Vietnamese
POWs, U.S. Army SGG Bobby Louis Johnson, (Black American) Captured 25 Aug 68), (In center with hood on head) U.S. Civilian Richard George Waldhaus and (smoking cigarette) U.S. Civilian James U. Rollins line up prior to their release from the Viet Cong to the American Military. They are part of the twenty eight American POWs released by Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
POW and U.S. Army CPT George K. Wanat Jr. (Captured 30 Apr 72), has identification attached to his shirt, after his release by the Viet Cong to the American military. CPT Wanat is one of the twenty eight American POWs released by the Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
Ex-POW U.S. Army SGT Kenneth Wallingford (Captured 7 Apr 72) in a group of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army personnel after his released by the Viet Cong to the American Military. He is one of the twenty eight American POWs released by Viet Cong on February 12, 1973
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Subject Operation/Series: HOMECOMING
Base: Loc Ninh
Country: South Vietnam
Scene Camera Operator: SSGT Herman Kokojan
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.