THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you returned home after the passage of so many years though I wish it had been under very different circumstances. May you rest in eternal peace.

Dear LTC Russell Poor, Thank you for your service as an Electronic Warfare Officer. I am glad you were identified in 2008, welcome home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Memorial Day just passed when our nation remembers your sacrifice. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Lieutenant Colonel Russell Arden Poor, Served with the 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 7th Air Force.

The Douglas EB-66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB-66C featured a pressurized capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear. On February 4, 1967, an EB-66C was dispatched on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included MAJ Jack W. Bomar, 1LT John O. Davies, CAPT John Fer, CAPT Russell A. Poor, CAPT Herb Doby, and MAJ Woodrow H. Wilburn. At a point about 40 miles from the China border in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam, the EB-66C was shot down. Bomar, Fer and Davies were captured. The fates of Doby, Poor and Wilburn were uncertain. In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam, including Bomar, Davies and Fer. They had been POWs for just over six years. Poor, Doby and Wilburn remained Missing in Action. In 1977, the Vietnamese returned remains which were identified as being those of CAPT Herb Doby, but denied any knowledge of the fates of Poor and Wilburn. In 1990, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" and returned the remains of MAJ Woodrow H. Wilburn. For decades the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fates of the missing from the EB-66C they shot down on February 4, 1967. Among the entire crew, only Poor’s remains missing. [Taken from pownetwork.org]

Dear LTC Russell Arden Poor, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter