Photo By Master Sgt. Amanda Geiger | U.S. Air Force Col. Tucker, Commander, 140th Wing, shakes hands with retired Col....... read more read more
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BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo.- The 120th Fighter Squadron honored retired Col. Thomas N. Moe, Nov. 4, for his service as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and former F-16 pilot.
Moe shared his story with members of the 120th Fighter Squadron.
“I decided I was going to be Navy Pilot but my girlfriend at the time, now my wife, said she wasn’t going to marry a Navy pilot. . . so I joined the Air Force Reserve and went into pilot training.” Moe said.
Moe was sent to Vietnam directly after pilot training when he was 23 years old. According to the Library of Congress website, in 1968 Moe was conducting a bombing run when he experienced a weapons malfunction and had to bail out of his plane. He evaded capture for three days but eventually was captured and imprisoned at Ho Chi Minh for approximately five years.
After his release he wanted to understand the mindset of his captors, so he attended graduate school at Notre Dame and obtained a masters in Soviet, Eastern European studies and terrorism, and continued to fly for the Air Force Reserve for 27 years.
Col. Jeremiah S. Tucker, Commander, 140th Wing, told Moe that his debt can never be repaid, however the 120th wanted to give Moe a piece of his history back to him.
Tucker presented, Moe with a 20-millimeter gatling gun barrel mounted to a hand-made wooden display, with a hand carved 120th logo and the 34th fighting squadron logo on either side. “We honor [Veterans] and we honor you every day we show up in uniform. That is our charge for the future,” said Col. Tucker.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2024 17:14 |
| Story ID: | 457227 |
| Location: | AURORA, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 120th Fighter Squadron Honors Vietnam POW, by MSgt Amanda Geiger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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