Vietnam POW set to retrieve comrades’ remains

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DAYTON, Ohio – The last Vietnam prisoner of war still flying in the Air Force will mark his final military flight by traveling to Hanoi to retrieve the remains of fallen comrades.

Edward J. Mechenbier, an Air Force Reserve major general, will fly a C-141 transport plane, known as the “Hanoi taxi” – the same model that carried him from North Vietnam in 1973. The flight is scheduled to land in Hanoi on Thursday.

Mechenbier, who flies with the 445th Airlift Wing based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, called the mission “a chance for the 445th to prove once again how valuable it is.”

The wing’s two squadrons support missions ranging from Antarctic supply flights to evacuations of sick or wounded personnel from Iraq.

Mechenbier was a major flying an F-4C Phantom fighter jet when he was shot down over North Vietnam on his 80th mission in June 1967. He was captured and held prisoner in Hanoi for nearly six years.

Mechenbier, 61, of Beavercreek, said he felt no special desire to revisit Hanoi. Instead, two other pilots came up with the idea to make this his final mission.

“They got the brilliant idea that it sure would be nice if they could fly a repatriation mission in the Hanoi Taxi with me at the controls,” Mechenbier said.