BLACK, COLE
Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 32
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 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 Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action early in U.S. involvement in
Southeast Asia. Its fighter models participated both in the first Gulf of
Tonkin reprisal in August 1964 and in the myriad attacks against North
Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used exclusively
by the Navy and Marine air wings (although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot
reported shot down on an F8) and represented half or more of the carrier
fighters in the Gulf of Tonkin during the first four years of the war. The
aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of MiG kills in Vietnam.
The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were
the C, D, and E models although the H and J were also used. The Charlie
carried only Sidewinders on fuselage racks, and were assigned such missions
as CAP (Combat Air Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model had a
heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were
used to attack ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo
version launched with less fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store, and
frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel. The RF models were equipped for
photo reconnaissance.
The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was comparable to similar
fighters. Between 1964 to 1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or
destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required major rebuilding. 145 Crusader
pilots were recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots were captured and
released. The other 43 remained missing at the end of the war.
Commander Cole Black was the pilot of an F8E sent on a combat mission over
North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. His flight route took him northeast of
Hanoi, where he was shot down near the border of Lang Son and Ha Bac
Provinces about 15 miles southwest of the city of Lang Son.
For the next 7 years, Black was held in various prisoner of war camps,
including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released in
the general prisoner release in 1973.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive
today. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return
unless all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the
honor of our country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly
held. It's time we brought our men home.
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
COLE BLACK
Commander - United States Navy
Shot Down: June 21, 1966
Released: February 12, 1973
I am Cmdr. Cole Black and I was born and grew up on a farm back in
Minnesota. I attended a little school out in the country for the first eight
years of my formal education. I then went to high school at Lake City,
Minnesota. I enjoyed high school very much and became interested in sports.
I liked football and wrestling best. At age 17 I enlisted in the U.S. Navy
and spent five years working as an electronics technician.
After completing the officers candidate school at Newport Rhode Island I was
given a commission. I attended flight training and won my wings of gold in
February 1957. I then became a reccee (reconnaissance) pilot and spent four
years with Light Photographic Squadron 62 based at Cecil Field Florida.
After leaving that squadron in 1961 I attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate
School at Monterey California where I received my B.S. degree in 1964. The
war in Vietnam was getting started and after leaving Monterey I was assigned
to Fighter- Squadron 211 based at Miramar California. I had completed one
combat cruise in Southeast Asia and had only seven days left on my second
cruise when I was shot down.
I was shot down on 21 June 1966 while flying an F8E of Fighter Squadron 211
based aboard the attack carrier Hancock. I was shot down north of Hanoi near
Kep airfield. I ejected from my disabled fighter at a very low altitude and
was captured by some Vietnamese peasants very shortly after I hit the ground.
The peasants did not treat me too badly. However, I was soon in the hands of
the VPA. On the way to Hanoi I was put on display for the local people. Some
of them were very hostile, others just curious. When I arrived at Hanoi I was
treated like an animal. The communists call it "reducing you to a dog."
Perhaps that is a good analogy because when they get done with you, you are
unable to use your hands and have to do things, such as eating, like a dog.
Soon after I arrived in Hanoi, on July 6, 1966, the communists saw fit to
display American POWs in Hanoi. We were hauled down town and forced to walk
through the streets of Hanoi while the local population humiliated, beat and
tried to intimidate us. It was probably the most real demonstration of mob
action I have or ever will see. I believe that even with the vice-like grip
the communists have on their people, the people nearly got out of hand that
night. In my opinion they were so keyed up they would have liked to have
killed us all.
During my tour in prison, I can say that I have come to know some of the
greatest guys in the world. We have known humiliation together; we have known
compassion together; we have suffered together and now that we are home we
once again, know the joy of being free and being in our great country. For me
the thoughts of returning to America and to loved ones inspired me throughout
my captivity. Even when you seem to be losing all else no one can take away
the precious memories you may have of the loved ones you left behind, the joys
you knew as a boy, the beauty of the country you will one day return to, and
all the kind things your father and mother have done for you.
I am very happy to be back and I feel very lucky to be here. I hope to stay in
the Air Force and serve my country once again.
November 1996
Cole Black retired from the United States Navy as a Captain. He and his wife
Karen live in California.
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