BURER, ARTHUR WILLIAM

Name: Arthur William Burer
Rank/Branch: O3/United States Air Force
Unit: 45th TRS
Date of Birth: 03 September 1932
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 21 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191300N 10546 E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:RF101
Missions: 40

Other Personnel in Incident: none

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK 06 September 1996 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 021273 RELEASE BY DRV

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

ARTHUR W. BURER
Major - United States Air Force
Shot Down: March 21, 1966
Released: February 12, 1973

I was born on September 3, 1932 at San Antonio, Texas, the second of four
sons born to a man who himself dedicated twenty-five years of honorable
service to his country. My older brother served twenty years in the United
States Air Force and my younger brother is currently serving in the US Army
as a Captain stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. During my captivity, he
served two separate tours in South Vietnam and distinguished himself on the
field of battle.

My early life was spent at various military posts throughout the country. I
graduated from Anacostia High School in June of 1950 and went to work as a
paying and receiving teller at the American Security and Trust Company of
Washington, D. C. During the summer of 1951, at the height of the Korean
War, I enlisted in the US Air Force and was subsequently assigned to Bolling
AFB, Washington, D. C. as an aircraft maintenance technician. In 1957 I won
an appointment to officer candidate school which led to a commission and
flying training school. I served as an Aircraft maintenance officer and
branch chief at Sheppard AFB, Texas. In 1960 I was assigned as an instructor
pilot in the Air Force pilot training program at Laredo AFB, Texas. I
started my formal education at George Washington University in 1954,
transferred to Laredo Junior College in 1960 and finally graduated with a BA
degree from the University of Omaha in 1964 through Operation Bootstrap.

With the outbreak of hostilities in South Vietnam, I volunteered for
training in the reconnaissance field piloting an RF-101 aircraft. On March
21st, 1966, while on a reconnaissance mission deep in the heart of North
Vietnam, my aircraft was struck by hostile fire and I was forced to abandon
the aircraft over enemy territory. Within moments after reaching the ground
I was captured and imprisoned in and around Hanoi, North Vietnam until my
release on February 12, 1973. I was in captivity for 83 months. During this
time I conducted myself as an officer, a gentleman and a prisoner of war,
living my life in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

PERSONAL MESSAGE: Faith is the substance of unseen things hoped for. The
one thing that pulled me through the seven arduous years of my captivity was
my faith in God, my country, and my family. The events since my release on
February 12, 1973 have proved this faith to be well founded.

November 1996
Arthur Burer retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel. He and
his wife Nan reside in Texas.

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