GLENDON WILLIAM PERKINS
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron,
Home City of Record: Orlando FL (family in Little
Date of Loss: 20 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215058N 1051657E (WK292160)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C
Other Personnel in Incident: Lawrence Barbay;
Norman A. McDaniel; Edwin L. Hubbard; William H.
Means (all released POWs); Craig R. Nobert
(missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May
1990 from one or more of the following: raw data
from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK.
REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV
SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was
outfitted as an electronic warfare aircraft which
carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in
addition to its flight crew of three and
technical personnel. The EB66C featured a
pressurized capsule installed in the bomb bay,
that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic
reconnaissance gear. On July 20, 1966, an EB66C
was dispatched from the 41st Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron at Takhli Airbase in
Thailand on an electronic countermeasure mission
over North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that
day included Capt. Lawrence Barbay, Capt. Glendon
W. Perkins, Capt. Norman A. McDaniel, Capt.
William H. Means Jr., 1Lt. Edward L. Hubbard, and
1Lt. Craig R. Nobert. Nobert served as the
electronics warfare officer on the flight. The
flight was normal to the target area near Tuyen
Quang, Quang Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam.
At this point, the aircraft was orbited east/west.
During this maneuver, the aircraft was hit by
hostile fire. Two parachutes were seen to eject
the aircraft, after which the aircraft descended
and disintegrated. In the spring of 1973, 591
Americans were released from prison camps in
Vietnam, including most of the crew of the
Skywarrior lost on July 20, 1966. They had been
held in various POW camps in and around Hanoi
for nearly seven years. Only Nobert remained
Missing in Action. For 24 years, the Vietnamese
have denied knowledge of the fate of Craig R.
Nobert, even though the U.S. believes there is a
good possibility he was captured and died in
captivity. On January 18, 1978, the Department of
the Air Force declared Craig Nobert dead, based
on no specific information he was still alive.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in
1980 that the Vietnamese "stockpiled" the remains
of Americans to return at politically
advantageous times. Could Nobert be waiting, in a
casket, for just such a moment? Even more
disturbing are the nearly 10,000 reports received
by the U.S. relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have
examined this information (largely classified),
have reluctantly come to the conclusion that many
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia.
Could Nobert be among these? Perhaps the most
compelling questions when remains are returned
are, "Is it really who they say it is?", and "How
-- and when -- did he die?" As long as reports
continue to be received which indicate Americans
are still alive in Indochina, we can only regard
the return of remains as a politically expedient
way to show "progress" on accounting for American
POW/MIAs. As long as reports continue to be
received, we must wonder how many are alive. As
long as even one American remains alive, held
against his will, we must do everything possible
to bring him home -- alive. During their
captivity, Perkins, Barbay and McDaniel were
promoted to the rank of Major. Hubbard was
promoted to the rank of Captain. Means was
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Craig R. Nobert was promoted to the rank of Major
during the period he was maintained missing.
Norman A. McDaniel resided in Camp Springs,
Maryland in early 1990. William H. Means, Jr.
died in 1986 as a result of illness stemming
from his incarceraton in Vietnam.
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret),
Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor P.O.W. Publications,
10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original
publication (including date and spelling errors).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO
GLENDON W. PERKINS
Major - United States Air Force
Shot Down: July 20, 1966
Released: February 12, 1973
"I'll never forget what they did. But I don't
want to be filled with hate and bitterness or
anything like that. I would be a burden to my
family. I look at it as an experience. It was six
and a half years in a lifetime. That's not really
that long. The wounds have healed leaving the
scars, yet the mental humiliation and physical
abuses were hard to submerge." After ejecting
from a flaming plane which was shot down over
North Vietnam,2,399 days were spent in numerous
cells in four prisons. "The Communists use
physical abuse as well as propaganda to fight
their wars. We weren't treated like prisoners of
war, we were treated like criminals. The
Communists thrive on lies and distortions. They
even tortured me so I would play the organ for
photographers and then it would be used to make
it appear as if church services were allowed and
they were not." However, his imprisonment is past,
and Major Perkins is ready to lead a normal life,
to "get back to being just another American." He
plans to continue his education, because with all
the years with nothing to read but propaganda
books, education has become very important; he
will study for a degree "not for credits, but to
broaden me." He returned to a decent, united
family made extraordinary by events. His wife's
mother had died the week before he came home and
his own mother was gravely ill. Both had been
very supportive of Major Perkin's family while
he was away. His wife, Kay, had worked in the
POW movement, and had tried through giving
speeches to groups and giving stories to the
media to keep the POW's plight alive. His
children, Ed, Paul, Cindy, and Steven revealed
their maturity and strength to adjust when their
father returned, "It's like Daddy was never gone."
As for disappointments when he came home, there
were none. Even the fact that Kay had decorated
the room in a flowerly way pleased him - just as
long as it is not bamboo, he commented. The
reception was heartwarming. "It proved once again
all our faith we had in our country was right.
Our people are the greatest people in the world.
"Life used to be a rat race. All the time trying
to make money to buy things-one loses sight of
the family. I learned you don't need much and
that the values of life are family, faith in God
and fellow man. These are things you can't buy.
They have to be developed in the home." He and
Kay plan to do this together.
He continues to support the value of the military.
Twenty of his thirty eight years have been in the
military. "It doesn't take anything out of me to
help. There's rest in holy work." Glendon Perkins
retired from the United States Air Force as a Lt.
Colonel. He and his wife Kay reside in Florida.
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