YOUNG, MYRON A.

Name: Myron A. Young
Rank/Branch: O3/United States Air Force, pilot
Unit:469th TFS
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Napa Valley CA
Date of Loss: 12 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213000 North 1063300 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Cecil Brunson, 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.

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

MYRON A. YOUNG
Captain - United States Air Force
Shot Down: October 12, 1972
Released: March 29, 1973

I was born and grew up in California's Napa Valley. I graduated from
Sacramento State College in 1967 with a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and
a minor in Geology. That Fall I entered the Air Force Officer Training
School. My flight training was at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio,
Texas I was fortunate enough to get assigned to F-4's at Davis-Monthan AFB
in Tucson, Arizona. Here I met my wife Jane. We were married shortly before
I left for Southeast Asia in 1970. When I returned in 1971, I went to George
AFB, California for upgrading to aircraft commander. In November 1971, I was
back in Southeast Asia flying out of Thailand. On October 12, 1972 I was
shot down 50 miles northeast of Hanoi. Later on in captivity, my
backseater, 1st Lt. Cecil Brunson, and I wrote a song about our shoot down.
We call it "The Ballad of Sparrow 3" and it goes to the tune of "The Last
Kiss."

I managed to evade for 26 hours before I was captured. I was almost shot
right then. The bullets missed only by inches. They grabbed me, beat me with
a bamboo club until I was groggy, took away everything but my underwear, and
forced me to walk about two miles without any boots. Then I was put in the
back of a truck and driven towards Hanoi. That night I was kept in a
schoolroom with barred windows and the military allowed children to stone me
on three different occasions during the night. The next morning I was taken
to the "Hanoi Hilton" where I spent 14 days in isolation while I was being
interrogated.

Isolation is the loneliest place in the world until you realize that God is
with you. And I was thankful for being there. Thankful that the Lord had
protected me this far and I feared not, for I knew He had not brought me
this far to die. My prayers were not so much for myself as for my fellow
prisoners and my loved ones back home. It is certainly hardest on those at
home, the apprehension and anguish they must have gone through. My stay in
prison was nothing spectacular. I just took one day at a time, trying to
Iearn about myself and my fellow man, knowing that someday I would return to
civilization again.

When I returned to Clark AB, Philippines, I learned that the North
Vietnamese had never acknowledged my capture until the peace had been
signed. I don't know what they thought they gained by keeping myself and
others in MIA status. It only made it harder on the loved ones back home.

I was certainly not prepared for the reception at Clark and it wasn't until
I had been home for two weeks that I began to feel like I wasn't dreaming it
all. The welcome home receptions at every stop were just fantastic and I
want to thank everyone.


Myron Young retired from the United States Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. He
and his wife Jane resided in Utah until his death July 3, 1999. He lost a
two year battle with cancer and passed away at home with his wife, son and
duaghter at his side. "Joe" had enjoyed skiing and fly fishing until the
end.

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