JAMES LINTON HUARD
JAMES L HUARD
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James Linton Huard was born in 1946 to Neil and Viola Huard in Detroit. He and his brother Neil and sister Jaon lived with their parents in west Dearborn and attended Howard Elementary and Dearborn High School where he was on the baseball and basketball teams. He graduated from Dearborn High in 1964.
After graduating from Central Michigan with a degree in mathematics in 1968, Jim became a math teacher at Woodworth Junior High. He married Cynthia Biederman, and they had three sons: twins Peter and Paul, and Daniel. Jim had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, so he joined the Air Force in 1969.
He graduated with honors from both Officer Training School and in pilot training school at Webb Air Force Base in Texas. Because of his performance there, he was allowed to choose the plane the wanted to fly. He chose the F-4. After three years in the Air Force, Jim was promoted to Captain. He was initially assigned to Germany, but asked for reassignment to Southeast Asia. Captain Huard believed in service, and felt that the greatest thing a person could do was to give his life for his country.
In November of 1971, Captain James Huard arrived at Udon Air Force Base in Thailand. This air base served as the basis of operations in Vietnam for the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was a described him as “a natural.” On the morning July 12, 1972, Capt. Huard and his “backseater” Capt. Samuel O’Donnell were serving as Forward Air Controller on a flight into North Vietnam. As “Wolf 08,” they left on a reconnaissance mission. They never returned. Captains Huard and O’Donnell were declared missing in action on July 15, 1972 when no sign of their F4 Phantom could be found.
Captain James Huard was declared killed in action by the U.S. Air Force on September 24, 1973. He was 27 years old when his plane went missing. His remains were repatriated to the United States in 1988, but were not identified until 1997 using DNA from his mother. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in May of 1997. His mother Viola lived to see her son return home. Remains of Capt. Samuel O’Donnell have never been recovered.
