NEW VIDEOS

Rick Goddard

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Flying over the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a very dangerous. There was a large number of heavy guns on the ground that could fill the sky with tracers and could bring down jets going over 400 knots. Rick tells the stories of some of the men that were lost bombing the Trail, and those lost to accidents. (5:59)

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Rick Goddard describes his arrival to Vietnam and the men in his squadron. Flying the F-100 allowed him to traverse wide swaths of the country in order to bring support to troops on the ground with the help of the Forward Air Controllers. (8:27)

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The protocol for getting awards was based on having your actions corroborated by officers, and Rick Goddard recalls some men not getting their full recognition for what they did in Vietnam. (1:41)

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Coming home is a memorable moment for all veterans, especially those coming back from Vietnam. Rick Goddard chose to make a career out of the Air Force when he returned and trained new pilots who were on their way to Vietnam. (5:07)

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Rick Goddard discusses the challenges we faced during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. At any moment, they might need to mobilize six planes with nuclear weapons. (1:58)

Lee Ellis

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While locked away in a POW camp, Ellis says that the guards were armed around the clock with AK-47s, but were not allowed to hurt prisoners unless they tried to directly escape. He does remember one time, however, when a prisoner got in deep trouble for crafting a makeshift American flag inside his prison cell. (6:17)

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When the prisoners weren't cooperating with the NVA, the guards would use rope to torture them. Ellis describes in detail what it was like to feel that pain, as well as how frightening it was when American air raids flew right over the prison. There was a lot of potential to be bombed, but fortunately they never were. (4:36)

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Ellis talks about POWs who were in Son Tay, Vietnam for far longer than he was, which really put things into perspective for him. After the North Vietnamese demanded he make them a radio program and he refused to cooperate many times, Ellis' co-pilot Ken was subject to being forcefully kept awake for 21 whole days. (5:53)

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At the POW camp in Son Tay, Vietnam, Ellis had to do plenty of different jobs to essentially clean up after himself and the other prisoners, and would rotate jobs frequently. After two whole years of being there, he got to write a letter back home to let them know he was okay. He remembers a few unfortunate death stories from the POW camp, and a few where some men attempted to escape. He himself never attempted escape, though. (5:19)

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Although prisoners were kept on high lockdown and weren't allowed to communicate with any other prisoners outside their own cell, Ellis and his fellow POWs still found ways to do it occasionally. The North Vietnamese wanted to fool the world into thinking they were treating their prisoners kindly, so they created propaganda to hide how they were actually being treated. (5:20)