The Friends of the Library

Graduate Prisoners of War

In early 2012 a team of two USAFA graduates immersed themselves in the painstaking work of creating an interactive database of information pertaining to graduates who had been prisoners of war. As part of a multi-year heritage project supported by The Friends of The Academy Library, this effort reflects The Friends commitment to being a premiere Academy organization in recording and preserving the heritage of the Air Force Academy. The project’s continuing goal is to assemble all the available material dealing with the adult lives of these Air Force Academy graduates and any future graduates who become POWs.

Currently a total of 37 graduates have been held as POWs, 33 in Vietnam and 4 in Desert Storm. Previously there was no central location for information about these graduates nor was much of the existing information readily accessible. Relying on exceptional cooperation from the staffs of the Academy’s Association of Graduates and the McDermott Library Clark Special Collections Branch to make the project a reality, the team has collected, scanned, electronically filed, and indexed hundreds of pages of written and photographic documentation thus far.

The team has established procedures for updating these files as more information on Academy POWs is acquired from additional sources and adding files if other graduates become POWs. If you have any information you wish the team to consider for inclusion in this database, you may contact the team by email at The Friends

We encourage you to enjoy the fruits of this historic project. The Friends believe this project will have a lasting impact for decades to come – indeed as long as the Academy exists.

NOTE: Dates listed below are dates of capture and release, respectively.

The graduate database is currently in the process of being migrated from legacy software to a more modern, user accessible interface. Until complete, data will be unavailable. Please check back frequently as this process continues.

Southeast Asia


Hayden Lockhart Jr. Class of 1961 12 March 1965 12 Feruary 1973	Jerry Singleton Class of 1962 6 November 1965 12 February 1973	Jerry Driscoll Class of 1963 24 April 1966 12 February 1973	John Borling Class of 1963 1 June 1966 12 February 1973	Ralph Browning Class of 1964 8 July 1966 12 February 1973	Ronald Bliss Class of 1964 4 September 1966 4 March 1973


Leroy Stutz Class of 1964 2 December 1966 4 March 1973	Donald Spoon Class of 1964 21 January 1967 4 March 1973	Thomas McNish Class of 1964 24 January 1967 4 March 1973	James Shively Class of 1964 11 May 1967 18 February 1973	Kevin McManus Class of 1964 14 June 1967 18 February 1973	Edward Mechenbier Class of 1964 4 August 1967 18 February 1973


Lance Sijan Class of 1965 Reported MIA on 9 November 1967	Jon Black Class of 1959 17 November 1967 16 February 1968	Howard Hill Class of 1965 16 December 1967 14 March 1973	Guy Gruters Class of 1964 20 December 1967 14 March 1973	Wayne Smith Class of 1965 18 January 1968 14 March 1973	Myron Donald Class of 1965 23 February 1968 14 March 1973


Edward Leonard Jr. Class of 1960 2 June 1968 28 March 1973	Martins Neuens Class of 1964 2 August 1969 4 March 1973	John Fer Class of 1962 27 November 1970 4 March 1973	Kenneth Johnson Class of 1961 21 December 1971 14 March 1973	Charles Jackson Class of 1969 27 June 1972 12 February 1973	John Cerak Class of 1967 27 June 1972 28 March 1973


Paul Robinson Jr. Class of 1962 1 July 1972 28 March 1973	William Beekman Class of 1968 1 July 1972 28 March 1973	James Kula Class of 1969 29 July 1972 23 March 1973	Marion Marshall Class of 1968 25 August 1972 29 March 1973	Michael Bosiljevac Class of 1967 29 September 1972 –––––	William Reich Class of 1970 13 November 1972 28 March 1973


Timothy Ayers Class of 1968 12 December 1972 28 March 1973	Jack Trimble Class of 1970 27 December 1972 29 March 1973	William Gauntt Class of 1968 29 January 1972 27 March 1973

Desert Storm


Harry Roberts Class of 1982 19 January 1991 6 March 1991	Thomas Griffith Jr. Class of 1979 22 January 1991 4 March 1991	Robert Sweet Class of 1988 15 February 1991 6 March 1991	William Andrews Class of 1980 27 February 1991 6 March 1991