SHATTUCK, LEWIS WILEY
Name: Lewis Wiley Shattuck
Rank/Branch: United States Air Force/O3
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 11 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214500 North 1062000 East (Lang Song-60 Miles NE Hanoi)
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Missions: 42 NVN 21 Laos
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno: 0392
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: 730212 RELEASED
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).
LEWIS W. SHATTUCK
Lieutenant Colonel - United States Air Force
Shot Down: July 1, 1966
Released: February 12, 1973
A native of the state of Washington, Colonel Shattuck was educated there until
his enlistment in the Air Force in 1952. He graduated from Aviation Cadet
school in 1954 and served in both Japan and Italy as well as various posts in
the U.S. He volunteered for duty in Southeast Asia and was accepted in
February 1966.
Colonel Shattuck flew forty-two missions in North Vietnam and twenty-one in
Laos. He was shot down on July 1, 1966, but made it to about seventeen miles
out to sea to be rescued by an SA16 and then was shot down again. He made his
adjustment to prison life and decided at once that he actually did want to
live to return to the great and glorious country of America.
"I find that I have come home with an awareness that I never had before, an
appreciation for life that had escaped me. It is fascinating for me these days
just to walk outdoors and to look around and to be able to see the clouds, to
see the moon, and the fabulous fruits of our natural life - flowers, grasses,
mountains, trees.
"I believe I have gained an insight, not only into myself, but into my
fellowman as well. I've seen people in periods of fear and terror and extreme
pain, and I guess living in those tight quarters for so long I have begun to
understand the actions of people. I am fascinated these days to meet with
people and to talk with people.
"I've come home with a patience that I never had before. I find that even in
the heavy pace of life today, I'm generally relaxed and do not feel the press
of 'having' to be here or 'having' to be there. I am better able to pace
myself, far better able to cope with life today.
"I have a great appreciation for color; we were so starved for all those
years. Our lives were devoid of color, and the brightness of this country, is
so fascinating and so beautiful. Just before I go to sleep at night, I thank
God for the beautiful days He has chosen to afford me and for the life He
helped me to keep.
I've found an awareness of God while I was over there that I had not had
before.
"One more thought has come to me and that is the deep, deep love I have for
this country, a love that grew out of the awareness that I've spoken about. I
had time to sit and reflect about my life while in prison, to think about the
future and about all the beautiful things in our country. Unfortunately, there
are people who don't realize what is about them; they don't take the time to
reflect on their lives as we were afforded the opportunity to do. They don't
look back to see where they've been, they don't look forward to see where they
are going. They are caught up with the press of the day ... we had to see
where we were going.
"I gained a deep, deep appreciation for this country, for the beauty of it,
for the beauty of our way of life, the beauty in our form of government - a
real tribute to a small group of men who sat down and drew up a document that
was SO flexible, so capable of growing for future generations.
"My country is a mosaic or a caleidoscope; in that mosaic I see tiles of the
Kansas wheat fields, of the California sequoias, the Douglas firs of Oregon
and Washington, the pines of the East coast. I see the character of the waters
change that surround our horders. I see the different soldiers that we've had
in our time, each in their battle garb, marching off to defend that country,
sometimes not understanding what it was all about, but going anyway, on the
faith in our way of life. I see our succession of Presidents, congressmen, and
officials that run this country. I see the frontiersmen, the Indians who had
their own frontiers; the Africans who were brought as slaves but are now
becoming a part of society; I see the Spanish people through California, New
Mexico, and Arizona; I see the modern people who cross their own frontiers,
frontiers of space, and medicine and progress. And when I look at my whole
mosaic, I see that it is a rectangle with red and white stripes and a blue
field of fifty stars."
December 1996
Lewis Shattuck retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel. He and
his wife Sharon reside in Washington State.
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