DUTTON, RICHARD ALLEN
Deceased 12/12/99
Name: Richard Allen Dutton
Rank/Branch: O4/United States Air Force, pilot
Unit: 333rd TFS
Date of Birth: 24 April 1930
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 05 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213000 North 1051400 East
Status (in 1973): Releasee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F
Missions: 30+
1st tour, F105D, 469th TFS, 100 missions
Other Personnel in Incident: Earl Corbeil, remains returned
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews.
REMARKS: 730314 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).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO
RICHARD A. DUTTON
Colonel - United States Air Force
Shot Down: November 5, 1967
Released: March 14, 1973
Biographical
Born in Chicago on April 24, 1930
Son of Colonel and Mrs. Ralph A. Dutton, USA, Retired
Graduated from Georgia Tech
Received direct commission as Second Lieutenant through Air Force ROTC
Ordered to Korea January 1953
Ordered to Southeast Asia October 1967
Family-Wife-Jean, Children-Diana 12, Son Russell 10
Story
Colonel Dick Dutton trained in the super secret "Wild Weasel" program. The
F-105 is a jet literally bulging with sensitive electronic gadgets. In
November 1967, 90 miles north of Bangkok, Captain Glen Cabeil and Major Dick
Dutton briefed for their mission. They were to be the spare aircraft in the
event a plane would have to abort. There would be four aircraft that would
preceed the fighter-bombers. The Wild Weasel aircraft's job was to seek out
the guided missile sites, knock them out before they could launch the
"flying telephone poles" (name given to enemy missiles). The F-4 Phantoms
provided MIG cover for the Weasels and the strike aircraft. "As I made a
wide sweeping turn, after releasing one of my bombs, the missile radar
started working on me. A 37mm hit my tail and I was on fire. I was seven
minutes from the Red River. We tried to nurse the stricken plane, but the
time came when we knew we had to eject. I figured if I could hide until dark
perhaps I could get across the Red River-that being friendly territory.
However, I landed right in the middle of a populated area.
Quickly the peasants disrobed me with no thought of unfastening buttons or
zippers. They even cut my boots. With elbows tied behind my back, a loose
blindfold over my eyes and a noose over my head, I was led barefooted down a
rocky path. The civilians hit me with bamboo poles, rocks, dirt clods and
fists. I had a gaping wound and one peasant woman stuffed it with a piece of
cotton that had a mercurochrome like antiseptic on it. Loaded into a small
truck, we bounced along and finally arrived at an empty church. Shortly
thereafter Communist soldiers put unconscious Glen Cabeil in one truck and
me in another. Then we were taken to a Russian built helicopter and placed
in the cargo section. My ankles were tied to a floor hook. As we flew along
my blindfold was pulled up around my forehead and I saw an Oriental sitting
on a packing crate holding a raised jack handle. I thought he was going to
smash my brains in. He shoved my head around to look at Glen. There was no
wound on him. We finally arrived at the Hanoi Hilton. Glen was alive. I
never saw him again but I heard him. We were tortured continuously and on
the fifth day I heard Glen scream my name and then I heard the sounds of
them beating and clubbing him. He did not come home alive.
They beat, they shackled, they even played a game of forcing me to sit on a
stool in the middle of a room and the guards would take turns knocking me
off with blows to the head. The object was to see how far they could knock
me. I think the record was ten feet! Today I have a loss of hearing in one
ear due to those blows on the head.
I existed from second to second, minute to minute, hour to hour. I would
detach my mind from my body. I could take it and suspend a set of eyes above
me and watch the show. I convinced myself it wasn't me being tortured. In
fact, I wondered what they were going to do next to the poor soul. The
torture went on seven nights and seven days. It was too much, I had to give
in.
However, we learned to bounce back and pass each hour in the hope it would
soon be time to go home. Now I am home and my biggest job is to become a
father instead of "that man Mama's been telling us about."
------------------
Richard Dutton retired from the Air Force as a Colonel. He and Jean
resided in Florida until his death.
------------------
Richard A. Dutton
Richard A. Dutton, Colonel, USAF (Ret), 69, died on Sunday, Dec. 12, 1999 in
a local hospital. He was born April 24, 1930 in Chicago, IL to Geraldine and
Ralph A. Dutton.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Dutton; son and daughter-in-law, Russell
and Barbara Dutton, and their daughters, Abbey and Sarah, of Hanau, Germany;
daughter and son-in-law, Diana and Michael Yares, of Phoenix, AZ; and his
aunt, Grace Morse, residing at SunPointe/Westwood Senior Living Facility.
Colonel Dutton retired from the United States Air Force in 1981 after
serving his country for more than 30 years. During that time he received
numerous awards. He was a fighter pilot who flew F-86s, F-100s, and F-105s.
In 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam where he was taken as a
prisoner of war and was held there until his release in March 1973. After
spending a year at the National War College at Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C.,
he was assigned to Hurlburt Field in 1974, where he served as Deputy
Commander for Maintenance and later as Commandant of the United States
Special Operations School.
He was a member of several organizations including Daedalians, Am Vets, Sons
of the American Revolution, and the Air Commando Assn. He served as a board
member and treasurer of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He was
also a dedicated fisherman, and was an active member of the Fort Walton
Beach Sailfish Club, where he served as treasurer for many years. He was
recently awarded the International Game Fish Association Elwood K. Harry
Fellowship Award by the Sailfish Club in recognition of his commitment to
fishing. Other interests included genealogy.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Special Operations
Warrior Foundation, P.O. Box 14385, Tampa, FL 33690 or to the charity of
your choice
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