The Passing of the Night: Seven Years as a Prisoner of the North Vietnamese, Code of Conduct for American Fighting Men. When the Korean War began, he wangled his way out of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and arrived in Korea on May 10, 1952, where he was assigned to the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron at Kimpo Air Base. James R. Risner. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Fighting one MiG at nearly supersonic speeds at ground level, Risner pursued it down a dry riverbed and across low hills to an airfield 35 miles (56km) inside China. Performing in the role of air coordinator, Colonel Risner arrived over the target area before the main strike force, evaluated the effectiveness of each strike, redirected subsequent strikes, and provided flak suppression against defenses that would hinder delivery aircraft in the performance of their mission. Only one Bullpup could be guided at a time, and on his second pass, Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the missile struck the bridge. Risner became an ace in the Korean War and commanded a squadron of F-105 Thunderchiefs in the first missions of Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965. The retired brigadier general was 88-years-old. [21][22][23][n 7], On April 3 and 4, 1965, Risner led two large missions against the Thanh Ha Bridge in North Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, Risner was a double recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest military decoration for valor that can be awarded to a member of the United States Air Force, awarded the first for valor in . He radioed Joe to shut down his engine. Rob was born about 1948 and died January 25, 1975 in Oklahoma City, victim of a chronic lung condition. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 - October 22, 2013) was a Brigadier General, fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, and a senior leader among U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. James Robinson Risner was a man of humble origins, son of an Arkansas sharecropper, educated at secondary school level, not particularly ambitious, a common man save for two things: He could fly the hell out of an airplane; and, under terribly difficult circumstances as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam, he rose to a level of heroic leadership [31] After publication of the book, McCarthy strenuously attacked both Risner (deeming him "unlikeable") and Risner's credibility in a review. The trophy is permanently displayed at the United States Air Force Academy, with each winner's name inscribed. and his oldest son, Robbie Jr., died two years after his return of a congenital heart defect. Colonel Risner initiated the attack, directing his aircraft into the target in the face of heavy automatic ground fire. Morrocco, John, and Manning, Robert (1984). Once Risner determined that he was the senior ranking officer, he began to put structure and guidance into the POWs lives, a sense of order and community, the very thing their captors were trying desperately to prevent. For additional information: He also became a P-51 Mustang pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. [26], On the morning of September 16, 1965, on an Iron Hand sortie, Risner scheduled himself for the mission[21] as the "hunter" element of a Hunter-Killer Team searching for a SAM site in the vicinity of Tuong Loc, 80 miles (130km) south of Hanoi and 10 miles (16km) northeast of the Thanh Hoa Bridge. He actually had his cast removed to fly his first mission. Risner in 1973 after being released as a POW by the North Vietnamese, Risner's call sign this date was "John Red Lead". He was on his 55th combat mission at the time. Additional support provided by the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation Inc. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 - October 22, 2013) was a general and a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. On August 12, 1965, U.S. Air Force and Navy air units received authorization to attack surface-to-air missile sites. He wrestled for Tulsa Central High School, where he graduated in 1942. I prayed he would give me strength to endure it. [7][10][11], On the return flight, Risner's wingman, 1st Lt. Joseph Logan, was struck in his fuel tanks by anti-aircraft fire over Antung. Risner is one of only four airmen with multiple awards of the Air Force Cross, a combat decoration second only to the Medal of Honor. Grumbach, Doris (March 16, 1974). Through his extraordinary heroism and willpower, in the face of the enemy, Lieutenant Colonel Risner reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force. Risner is a double recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest military decoration for valor that can be awarded to a member of the United States Air Force. [33][34], Risner was released in Operation Homecoming on 12 February 1973 and returned to the United States. Risner shut down his own engine in an attempt to save fuel, but eventually his engine flamed out and he glided to a deadstick landing at Kimpo. He directed his aircraft over the Gulf of Tonkin, ejected, and was rescued. Little Rock, AR. [8], His first two months of combat saw little contact with MiGs, and although a flight leader, he took a three-day leave to Japan in early August. One of 'em is 9 feet tall and headed west in full afterburner. Risner retired as a brigadier general in 1976. Bri. While undergoing hospital treatment in the Army, he met his future wife Catherine Shaw (Kathleen Shaw), she was a nurse from Ware Shoals, South Carolina, Risner and Shaw got engaged on a ship and were discharged and married the next month. At his death, Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark A. Welsh III observed: "Brig. In an effort to help him reach Kimpo, Risner attempted to push Logan's aircraft by having him shut down his engine and inserting the nose of his own jet into the tailpipe of Logan's, an unprecedented and untried maneuver. Can you list the top facts and stats about Robbie Risner? He was the first living recipient of the medal.[1]. Related Entries. In the course of the operation, Colonel Risner's unit encountered the first MIG force committed in aerial combat against the U.S. [n 12] The Risner Award is a six and one-half foot trophy consisting of a sculpture of Risner in flight suit and helmet on a marble base, weighing approximately four tons. Were going to get through this, and Ill see you when its over., Using coded messages that could be passed with the flash of a hand or the whisk of the broom, Risner encouraged his several hundred fellow Americans at Hoa Lo to hang tough and resist until you are tortured but never lose your ability to think.. Forces in Southeast Asia. Risners first marriage ended in divorce. [38], General Risner received the following awards and decorations:[15][39]. Only one Bullpup could be guided at a time, and on his second pass, Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the missile struck the bridge. The day after his arrival he returned to Korea when he learned that MiGs were operational. Risner was awarded the Silver Star for a September 15, 1952, action in which his wingmans jet was damaged during fighting with enemy aircraft. I prayed he would give me strength to endure it. On the afternoon of April 3, the strike package of Rolling Thunder Mission 9 Alpha consisted of 79 aircraft, including 46 F-105s. He maneuvered his aircraft over the Gulf of Tonkin, ejected a mile offshore and was rescued after fifteen minutes in the water. (Davis, p. 43), Risner is quoted as identifying the airfield as "Tak Tung Kau". Forced to land on a dry lakebed, he found that he was in Mexico and encountered bandits, but successfully flew his Mustang to Brownsville after the storm had passed. He became in the eyes of others in the business one of two things: the perfect role model, or just plain crazy. Risner became the inspiration for all of the confused and scared young men in a very hostile environment. Near Cho Do, Lt. Logan bailed out, after radioing to Risner, "I'll see you at the base tonight." Risner then said, Learn the tap code, and heres how it works, memorize it, and practice it, its vital. Adding, Eat everything they give you, no matter how disgusting; itll keep you alive. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner : Rank, Service: Brigadier General O-7, U.S. Air Force. Risner was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on January 23, 2014, with fellow former POWs and current members of the 336th Fighter Squadron among those in attendance. In August 1964, Lieutenant Colonel Risner took command of the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron, an F-105D Thunderchief fighter-bomber unit based at Kadena AB, Okinawa, as part of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing. Tragically, Joe Logan didn't make it; he became tangled in his parachute lines and drowned. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (born January 16, 1925) [1] was a general officer and professional fighter pilot in the United States Air Force . He subsequently received training in the F-80 Shooting Star at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. In 1976, he met his second wife, Dorothy Marie ("Dot") Williams, widow of a fighter pilot missing-in-action in 1967, and subsequently married her after her missing husband was declared dead. He wrestled for Tulsa Central High School, where he graduated in 1942. "The Art of Reviewing By Innuendo". Comedian Kevin Fredericks won the Outstanding Social Media Personality award on Friday. Risner's determination to be assigned to a combat unit was nearly ended when on his last day before going overseas he broke his hand and wrist falling from a horse. According to fellow prisoner Charles G. Boyd (who retired as a four-star general), Risner told him his name and asked for his name and rank. In October 1952 Risner was promoted to major and named operations officer of the 336th FIS. Risner retired as a brigadier general in 1976. Kiley, Frederick, and Rochester, Stuart I (1999). In Vietnam, Risner was struck by enemy fire on four out of five consecutive missions, and he was shot down over the Gulf of Tonkin in March 1965. The extremely harsh treatment inflicted upon him was to become a way of life for him in the subsequent years. Two years before he retired from the air force as a brigadier general in 1975, he published his memoir of his time as a prisoner of war, The Passing of the Night. Robinson Risner, Ace Fighter Pilot, Dies at 88. New York Times, October 28, 2013. The strike force consisted of more than 100 F-105, F-100 and B-57 aircraft, and in the congested airspace, heavy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire seriously disrupted its coordination and radio communications. Gen. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner was part of that legendary group who served in three wars, built an Air Force, and gave us an enduring example of courage and mission success Today's Airmen know we stand on the shoulders of giants. Subsequently, he served as commander of the 34th Fighter-Day Squadron, also at George Air Force Base. Gender. James R. Risner. Risner enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in April 1943 and attended flight training at Williams Field, Arizona, where he was awarded his pilot wings and a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in May 1944. (Davis, p. 46), Another flight member, 1st Lt. Willard P. Dunbar, reported that the MiG pilot was a red-headed Russian who shook his fist at Risner before crashing. [8][9] Scoring numerous hits on the MiG, shooting off its canopy, and setting it on fire, Risner chased it between hangars of the Communist airbase, where he shot it down into parked fighters. Obituary from the. Thompson, Warren E., and McLaren, David R. (2002). They remained married until the end of his life, with the two younger of his four surviving sons choosing to live with him and Risner adopting her three youngest children. . He was extensively tortured for information but successfully resisted their demands and established a standard of honorable conduct and resistance which was followed by hundreds of Americans after him. His story of being imprisoned drew wide acclaim after that war's end. [36], A nine-foot bronze statue of Risner, sculpted by Lawrence Ludtke and mounted on a five-foot pedestal of black granite, was commissioned by Perot and dedicated in the Air Gardens at the Air Force Academy on November 16, 2001. For Risner, this moment came on Sept. 16, 1965, during a raid over North Vietnam when his F-105 Thunderchief was hit by ground fire. Risner was later transferred to Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico as Commander of the 832d Air Division in February 1974 and flew the F-111 fighter-bomber. James Robinson Risner was a man of humble origins, son of an Arkansas sharecropper, educated at secondary school level, not particularly ambitious, a common man save for two things: He could fly the hell out of an airplane; and, under terribly difficult circumstances as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam, he rose to a level of heroic leadership matched by few men in American military history. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. (1925 - 2013) (RIP) James Rob. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 - October 22, 2013) was a Brigadier General, fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, and a senior leader among U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War . He flew a combined 163 combat missions, was shot down twice, and was credited with destroying eight MiG-15s. [28] He was on his 55th combat mission at the time. Robinson Risner, Air Force Ace and POW, Dies at 88. Washington Post, October 29, 2013. Robinson Risner was often assigned to fly F-86E-10 Sabrejet, nicknamed Ohio Mike and bearing a large cartoon rendition of Bugs Bunny as nose art, in which he achieved most of his aerial victoriesOn Sept. 15, 1952, his fighter unit found itself in a fierce dogfight over the Yalu River near the East China Sea when he noticed that the plane of his wingman, 1st Lt. Joseph Logan, had been hit and was leaking fuel. It was according to him, the most gratifying period of his life. [19], On April 3 and 4, 1965, Risner acted as mission commander on two large missions attacking the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, Risner was a double recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest military decoration for valor that can be awarded to a member of the United States Air Force, awarded the first for valor in aerial combat and the second for gallantry as a prisoner of war of the North Vietnamese for more than seven years. 512824, nicknamed Ohio Mike and bearing a large cartoon rendition of Bugs Bunny as nose art, in which he achieved most of his aerial victories. [n 8] Risner's aircraft was at very low altitude flying at approximately 600 miles per hour (970km/h),[27] approaching a site that was likely a decoy luring aircraft into a concentration of AAA. Survivors include his wife of 36 years, the former Dorothy Miller Williams, of Bridgewater; six children; a sister; and 14 grandchildren. [4] he also joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard, becoming an F-51 Mustang pilot. It was no accident that the statue was nine-feet tall. Born in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas on Jan. 16, 1925 and raised in a religious family, Robinson Risner made his first critical life choice between attending Bible College or joining the Army Air Forces during World War II. One Year After Saigon's Fall, Eight Ex-P.O.W.s Try to Cope with a Changing U.S. Obituary For: Brigadier General Robinson Risner, "USAF Weapons School Robbie Risner Award", "Nomination of United States Representatives and Alternate Representatives to the 40th Session of the United Nations General Assembly", Celebrated pilot and Vietnam POW dies at 88. (Thompson and McLaren, p. 67). In October, Robinson Risner was promoted to Major and named Operations Officer of the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. Employed at low altitudes, the "hunters" located the missiles and attacked their radar control vans with canisters of napalm, both to knock out the SAM's missile guidance and to mark the target for the "killers", which followed up the initial attack using 750-pound bombs to destroy the site. The couple raised their combined six children together. White. While undergoing hospital treatment in the Army, he met his first wife, Kathleen Shaw, a nurse from Ware Shoals, South Carolina. James Robinson Risner Jr. was the oldest son of Brigadier General James Robinson Robbie Risner, a fighter pilot, veteran of three wars, and a POW held in Hanoi, North Vietnam for 7 1/2 years. . The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Air Force Cross to Lieutenant Colonel James Robinson Risner, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force while a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from 31 October 1965 to 15 December 1965. The award is presented annually to the outstanding graduate of the USAF Weapons School, with the first recipient being Capt. He was a guiding presence, a behavior yardstick, and he managed to achieve this without direct contact. Courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum. He completed transition training in P-40 Warhawk and P-39 Airacobra fighters before being assigned to the 30th Fighter Squadron in Panama. They told Risner there were only three people they would rather have as a captive: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara or Dean Rusk. His second wife, Dorothy Risner, was the widow of an American soldier who died in the war. [n 1] During their defense of the bombers, Risner's flight overflew the MiG base at Antung Airfield, China. On 1 August 1975, he became Vice Commander of the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and retired from the Air Force on 1 August 1976. After two attempts, Risner was forced to discontinue when leaking fuel and hydraulic fluid covered his canopy and threatened to stall his own engine. Following being shot down a second time and then captured, his arrival in the old French dungeons of Hanoi began the trial of his life, but also the leadership role that would be his legacy. In his words he describes how he survived a torture session in July 1967, handcuffed and in stocks after destroying two pictures of his family to prevent them from being used as propaganda by an East German film crew: To make it, I prayed by the hour. Risner, in Davis (1978), p. 46, is quoted as identifying the airfield as "Tak Tung Kau". All, however, held him in awe. The missions saw the first interception of U.S. aircraft by North Vietnamese MiG-17 fighters, resulting in the loss of two F-105s and pilots of the last flight, struck by a hit-and-run attack while waiting for their run at the target.[24]. While the Korean War may have been Risners favorite period, it was by no means the most consequential in the lives of others. Five USAF aircraft, including three of Risner's F-105s, were shot down on the Xom Biang strike, but all of the 67th TFS pilots including Baird were rescued. Risners leadership was on display when he organized a forbidden worship service in 1971. Online at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/us/robinson-risner-ace-fighter-pilot-dies-at-88.html?mcubz=3 (accessed December 16, 2017). Robinson Risner was born on January 16, 1925 in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, USA. As soon as he was eligible, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces, having been accepted as an aviation cadet. In 1946, Risner was involved in an off-duty motorcycle accident. [17] After the last strike had been delivered, Risner and the two surviving members of his flight remained in the area, directing the Search and Rescue mission that rescued his wingman. Baird, W. David, and Goble, Danney (1994). Robbie Risner was born on January 16, 1925, in Mammoth Spring, the son of sharecroppers Grover W. Risner and Lora Grace Robinson Risner. With (Captain James) Stockdale we had wisdom. His autobiography, The Passing of the Night: My Seven Years as a Prisoner of the North Vietnamese, describes seven years of torture and mistreatment by the North Vietnamese. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 - October 22, 2013) was a Brigadier General, fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, and a senior leader among U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. It was largely thanks to the leadership of Risner and his Navy counterpart, Commander (later Vice Admiral) James Stockdale, that the POWs organized themselves to present maximum resistance. [18] He was part of the first group of prisoners released in Operation Homecoming on 12 February 1973 and returned to the United States. He was a close friend of the billionaire businessman and onetime presidential candidate H. Ross Perot, who commissioned a statue of Robinson Risner, which was installed at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, on November 16, 2001. The LA Times reported he was beaten, starved, and held down by ropes. The first time you log in to our catalog you will need to create an account. In 1946, Risner was involved in an off-duty motorcycle accident. He said he would be ready to return to duty after three good meals and a good nights rest.. He flew a combined 163 combat missions, was shot down twice, and was credited with destroying eight MiG-15s. Portrait of General James Robinson Risner. He was the fifth of seven children. His five sons had been ages 3 to 16 when he was shot down and imprisoned.[33]. Subsequent to that said he received his first Air Force Cross in April 1965 for leading air strikes against a strategicbridge in North Vietnam. James Robinson Risner 'Robbie' Engagements: Korean War (1950 - 1953) Vietnam War (1960 - 1973) Biography: James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 - October 22, 2013) was a general officer and professional fighter pilot in the United States Air Force.. Risner was a double recipient of the Air Force Cross, the second highest military decoration for valor that can be awarded to . Copyright 2003-2021. [10] In his words: To make it, I prayed by the hour. SURVEY . Learned that MiGs were operational the time, is quoted as identifying the airfield as `` Tak Kau! The afternoon of April 3, the most consequential in the lives of others in the of. 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