KULA, JAMES D.
Name: James D. Kula
Rank/Branch: O2/United States Air Force, pilot
Unit: 4th TFS
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Manchester NH
Date of Loss: 29 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212900 North 1063200 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Missions: 35
Other Personnel in Incident: Melvvin Matsui, returnee
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. Updated in 1999.
REMARKS: 730329 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
JAMES D. KULA
Captain - United States Air Force
Shot Down: July 29, 1972
Released: March 29, 1973
I was born in Manchester, New Hampshire and was brought up there until I was
eighteen. I then entered the Air Force Academy and graduated in 1969. I went
to pilot training at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas and then to RTU at George
Air Force Base, California, in the F-4. After serving a year at Seymour Air
Force Base, North Carolina, I went to Southeast Asia.
I am glad to be home and proud to be an American.
December 1996
Colonel James Kula is still active in the United States Air Force. He and
his wife Jane reside in Arizona.
-----------------------------
30 Apr 1999
End of a journey: Vietnam POW retires after 30 years
by Staff Sgt. Madelyn Alvarez
Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- Few have experienced the intensity of
flying combat missions over foreign soil and the shock of being shot down
and arriving at a prisoner of war camp to face interrogations.
Col. James D. Kula, Air Force ROTC Detachment 28 commander at Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., experienced this 27 years ago
when his F-4E was shot down over North Vietnam July 29, 1972. After being
held captive for eight months in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kula was repatriated March
29, 1973.
Today the 30-year veteran is only one of two Vietnam POWs remaining on
active duty. But that will change June 30 when Kula faces yet another event
that will profoundly impact his life and military career -- his retirement
from the Air Force.
"I was very proud to serve my country in a foreign land and risk my life,"
said Kula. "My country trained me very well to perform my mission. (After)
30 years in the Air Force, I am very proud of the job I did. I'm proud of
the Air Force and my nation."
While serving in the Air Force, Kula earned the Legion of Merit with one oak
leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with a bronze star and valor
device, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service
Medal with five oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters,
Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf
cluster and the Prisoner of War Medal. He flew 3,000 hours in the F-4, F-16
and T-38 with 270 hours of combat time over Vietnam and Iraq.
After receiving his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1969 with
a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, Kula attended pilot
training at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas. He was assigned to his first duty
station at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., upon completing combat crew training
at George AFB, Calif. After being at Seymour Johnson AFB for one year, Kula
was sent to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam,
and later to Tahkli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand. He was shot down during
his time there.
"I remember Vietnam as a beautiful, lush, green country with a very rugged
coastline," said Kula. "(After I was shot down,) I was on the ground for two
hours before being captured. My captors walked me for six hours out of the
mountains to a town called Lang Son." After spending part of the night in a
cave, Kula said captors took him to the Hanoi Hilton where he was placed in
New Guy Village.
At the time of his capture, Kula had recently married his wife, Jane, who he
said has stood by him for 28 years through his capture and the ups and downs
of his career.
"This experience showed me the value of friendship and a stable family,"
said Kula.
According to the 52-year old colonel, Jane is anxious about the change in
career.
"We are not looking at this as a retirement, although the Air Force calls it
that. We are looking at it as a career change," Kula said.
After retiring, Kula said he wants people to remember him as someone with
very high standards.
"I want folks to see someone who worked hard at his job, realized the
importance of family, and was very proud to be an American."
"He's the best colonel I've worked for in my nine-year career," said Capt.
Minh-Tri Trinh, Det. 28 unit admissions officer. "He is an excellent
communicator and he listens to others to understand daily operations as well
as personal challenges in our lives. He is not one to step on others for his
personal striving. To me, he is an excellent role model and father figure."
Trinh was 8 years old when he was evacuated out of South Vietnam two weeks
before the fall of Saigon.
"Without debating the 'cause' or being argumentative, I am reminded that
without American involvement in Vietnam, I would not be here today," Trinh
said. "Col. Kula is a patriot. In safeguarding freedom, in his own capacity,
he has helped liberate others like me to freedom that otherwise would not
have been possible."
During his time as Det. 28 commander, Kula said he used his own personal
knowledge about the Air Force to mold future officers.
"I tried to use real-world experiences to relate the importance of
commitment these cadets will make when they become officers in the U.S. Air
Force," he said.
Kula also added that the success of each job in the Air Force depends on the
outlook and approach a person takes.
"There is no job or location that is bad. With a good attitude, solid moral
standards and a commitment to work hard, any job will be fulfilling."
Learning to take care of others and not taking them for granted are a few
lessons Trinh has learned from the colonel.
"During his captivity, Col. Kula's strength for survival was the thought of
being together with his wife again," said Trinh. "I've learned to look loved
ones in the eye when I'm talking to them instead of giving a casual glance.
I've learned to ponder situations before speaking out, and I've learned to
balance my profession and family."
Looking back on his career, Kula said his most memorable moment is when he
was released from the POW camp and boarded a C-141 at Gia Lam airport in Hanoi.
"On the front of the airplane was this big American flag lit up by
spotlights," said Kula. "I knew then that my country had come to take me
home."
(Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)
Use your Browser's BACK function to return to the PREVIOUS page