[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING COLONEL JACK PITCHFORD

 Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, on December 2, 2009, retired Air 
Force COL Jack Pitchford died at the age of 82 after a long battle with 
a brain tumor. The Natchez, MS, native was a decorated fighter pilot, a 
survivor of the Hanoi Hilton, and a true hero. Our country will miss 
him.
  John Joseph Pitchford was born in 1926 in Natchez. The second of 12 
children and the eldest boy, Pitchford enlisted in the Army Air Corps 
after graduating from high school in 1944. He served as an aircraft and 
engine mechanic through the end of World War II.
  He then attended Louisiana State University from 1949 to 1952, 
graduating with a bachelor of science degree in forestry and receiving 
a Reserve Officer Training Corps commission in the Air Force. After 
entering pilot training in August 1952 at Bartow Air Force Base, 
Pitchford went on to receive his wings in September 1953.
  As the war in Vietnam escalated, Pitchford volunteered for the Wild 
Weasel program, tasked with flying low-altitude missions to hunt and 
destroy surface-to-air missiles. On December 20, 1965, during his third 
combat mission of the war, Colonel Pitchford's F-100F Super Sabre 
aircraft was hit by a North Vietnamese missile. He suffered a 
dislocated right shoulder during his ejection from the aircraft and 
three gunshot wounds to his right arm when his captors opened fire. 
Colonel Pitchford was the first Wild Weasel to be taken prisoner in 
Vietnam. He spent the next 7 years in various North Vietnamese 
prisoner-of-war camps, including the infamous Hanoi Hilton. After 373 
weeks of hellish captivity and torture, Colonel Pitchford was finally 
released on February 12, 1973.
  In recognition of his tremendous service and sacrifice, Colonel 
Pitchford was awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, and Legion of 
Merit. Upon retirement from the Air Force, he returned to Natchez where 
he became an active member of the community. In discussing his time as 
a POW, Colonel Pitchford once said:

       The one thing I would like to convey to the American people 
     is that no matter what happens in one's lifetime, one must 
     never lose faith in the United States of America. Ours is a 
     great country indeed. We must continue to rededicate 
     ourselves to the principles that have made it great. I, as a 
     POW, was maintained by my faith in God, country and by the 
     hardships much worse than my own that were endured by many of 
     my fellow POWs.

  I recently returned from Afghanistan. Many of the qualities Jack 
Pitchford exhibited in his life can be seen in our men and women who 
are serving our country there today. Their service and sacrifice 
ensures that Jack Pitchford's legacy will live on.

                          ____________________