Dozens of former Vietnam POWs will reunite for a dinner recreating a White House banquet held 50 years ago by Richard Nixon to mark their freedom and heroism.
It was — and still is — the biggest banquet in White House history.
The dinner was hosted by President Nixon, a brief relief from the unfolding national nightmare of Watergate, and was itself a rare moment of unity during the slow end of a war which had divided the nation. On stage Irving Berlin sang his composition God Bless America, with Nixon and his wife Pat joined by Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Hope , the MC of the evening.This was the menu for the dinner. An identical menu will be served at the 50th reunion dinner, at tables set with identical centerpieces.Its most famous inmate was John McCain, then the Navy pilot son of the supreme commander in the Pacific, Admiral John McCain Jr., and later the Republican senator from Arizona and presidential candidate.
The 591 POWs had been repatriated through Operation Homecoming, which began after the Paris Peace Accords.But the dinner in Yorba Linda will be a chance to honor the survivors while it is still possible — and reflect on their stories of heroism.“THEY DIED IN MY ARMS.” FLIGHT SURGEON’S HELL IN PRISON CAMP
There, Kushner saw a Life magazine containing a picture of his father playing with his son, Michael — whose existence he had been unaware of. “My wife had been pregnant when I left and we didn’t know it.” His daughter, Toni Jean was 3 and a half when he left and remembered him when he returned, so “resuming a normal relationship was easier.”
Ellis, an F-4C Phantom pilot was shot down on a bombing mission targeting the Ho Chi Minh trail. He was a lieutenant when shot down, and was promoted to captain. Ellis keeps a memento of his freedom, a picture of him and fellow prisoners being released, including John McCain . Ellis believes the support the POWs gave each other helped them to rebound better after they came home.
Held at gunpoint, injured in 17 places, Wallingford was held up by his friend Ed Carlson as they were marched to the camp in Cambodia. But when cobras and vipers crawled near his cage and soldiers killed them, he realized he was being kept alive “as a bargaining chip.” Capt. Collins was a distinguished pilot already when he volunteered for Vietnam, piloting a supersonic F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber.
But Collins formed a choir in the prison camp in 1967, and performed at the welcome home dinner held at the White House by President Nixon, where he got to perform “The POW Hymn.” After retiring from the military, Col. Collins became a real estate broker and wrote a memoir, “Out of the Blue.” Now retired, he lives with his wife Katherine in Charlotte, North Carolina.Now 91, he is remarried to Katherine, and when they go to the dinner from Charlotte, North Carolina, his thoughts will not focus on himself.“THEY’D TAKE YOU TO THE POINT YOU WANTED TO DIE.”
“When we were beaten and tortured, thrown back in our cell, we would say in code: ‘Good night. God bless you. We’ll talk tomorrow.’ It was like someone holding your hand.
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