He was an Air Force Captain attached to the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron flying his 6th combat mission in a F-105D Thunderchief when he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on April 4, 1965. He was immediately captured and taken as a Prisoner of War. After spending 2,871 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He retired from the Air Force as a Colonel on July 31, 1979.
