CAMPBELL, BURTON WAYNE

Name: Burton Wayne Campbell
Rank/Branch: O4/United States Air Force, pilot
Unit: 13th TFS
Date of Birth: 27 May 1939
Home City of Record: Lorain OH
Date of Loss: 01 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174100N 1060100E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105
Missions: 13
Other Personnel in Incident: none

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK 06 September 1995 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 730212 RELEASED 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).

BURTON W. CAMPBELL
Captain - United States Air Force
Shot Down: July 1,1966
Released: February 12, 1973

Captain Burton W. Campbell was shot down July 1, 1966 over North Vietnam.
Two thousand four hundred nineteen days later, he was released. He is now
seeking a new career in his home town of Lorain, Ohio.

Ohio was Captain Campbell's home until he joined the Air Force. He was born
in Amherst, Ohio on May 27, 1939 and resided in Lorain until 1957. After he
received his B.A. in Government from Ohio University in 1961, he attended
Officers Training School and was commissioned in the USAF in May 1962. A
year later he graduated from pilot training at Webb AFB, Texas and was
stationed at several U.S. air bases until his tour in Vietnam.

He is still very much interested in aviation. He has flown T-37's, T-38's,
F-100's and F-105's. He plans to work in a held related to aviation;
however, it must be near Lorain, Ohio.

Why Lorain, Ohio? Captain Campbell explains the reasons. "Well, a lot of
time was spent in Hanoi trying to decide exactly what we would all do when
we got home, what course of action we would take regarding our careers. A
very common point of discussion was where we were going to live and what we
would do with our spare time, in addition to pursuing our careers, be they
in the military or elsewhere.

"Why did I come back here? I guess the primary reason is the people. It's
going to sound a bit corny, but maybe as a shocker I can say one of the most
common phrases the Vietnamese used in their propaganda efforts against us
while we were in Hanoi was the phrase 'People Power.'

"I wish to stay here because of the friends I have and the ties I found to
be most important. It's not the climate, it's not the recreation in the
area, not the different abstractions that attract you to other areas of the
country - it's the people.

"When I think of this area, I think of a lot of people who helped me in
planning a place to live, helped me readjust, did little favors for me, and
asked nothing in return. I think the things that actually have had the most
impact, have meant the most to me, are the very simple routine daily
encounters that you all do each day. These things have proven to be a prime
instrument in my readjustment and my reunderstanding of this country that
I'm so proud of.

"I want to thank the people of Lorain and the new friends I have made, the
officials of the military organizations, Amvets, IAC, nationality clubs, and
administrations of these clubs.

"I found I wanted to come back to the roots I had, keep the roots I had, the
friends I had, and appreciate that which is around Lorain, Amherst,
Vermillion."

November 1996
Burton Campbell retired from the United States Air Force as a Lt. Colonel.
He and his wife Adrienne reside in Ohio.

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