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Reserve Maj. Gen. Ed Mechenbier, the Air Force's last Vietnam-era former prisoner of war still serving, retired on 30 June, ending more than four decades of active-duty, Guard, and Reserve service. In June 1967, Mechenbier, flying an F-4C, was shot down over North Vietnam on his 113th combat mission. He would not return until 1973, enduring almost six years as a POW. When the Vietnam War ended, Mechenbier returned to the US on a C-141 StarLifter, affectionately named the Hanoi Taxi. On 29 May of this year, he flew that same aircraft back to Hanoi on his final flight, bringing home the remains of two service members listed as missing in action.
Photo By SRA Chris Polites
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