‘Gentlemen, welcome to freedom’

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nicole Sikorski
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  He wakes up in a 7-foot-by-7-foot cell. The hot sun beats down on the prison camp as he scratches his mosquito bitten skin.  With only a few feet to separate his cellmate's bed from his own, privacy is no longer commonplace for retired U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Milligan. 

Milligan recalls many days like this during his six-year confinement as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

He and his family visited Ramstein Air Base, Germany to speak about his experiences as a POW and participate in a run and wreath-laying ceremony for those who have lived a similar experience as his, Sept. 16 and 17. 

During the luncheon, he vividly described the experience he had with 12 of his closest friends.

It was another day of duty for Milligan and his team of F-4 Phantom II "Wild Weasel" pilots when they were shot down in an aerial attack, May 20, 1967.  

Upon being captured, Milligan was taken as a POW to a prison camp, where he would spend the next six years of his life. 

"After I had been placed in a cell with other cellmates, I started to tap on the wall," Milligan described. "One of the first questions that I asked (my cellmate) was how long he had been here. He told me he had been here for two years -- that made me pause. I couldn't comprehend how anyone could survive and tolerate these conditions."

Milligan recalled the cell he was in to be dark, dingy and insect infested.  

"You would wake up at night to find a rat chewing at the dead skin on your feet," he continued. "There were swarms of mosquitos around all the time. ... The heat was the worst thing. ... The tropical sun would beat down on our prison cells all day, spiking temperatures up to almost 140 degrees [Fahrenheit]."

Although there was no relief in his situation, he never gave up hoping, he said.

"I always had hope," Milligan said. "That's the American way. You see it on the POW/MIA (missing in action) flags because we are not forgotten.  The words of the Airman's Creed let us know that no one will be left behind."

According to the retired colonel, he will always be grateful for his experience and the opportunity to serve his country. 

Although it is a distant memory to him now, it is no less vivid, he explained.

"We saw the C-141 [Starlifter] sitting on the ramp waiting for us," he said. "We then went through protocol to be turned back over to American authorities, and there were people in uniforms who grabbed us by the arm and escorted us onto the plane and up the ramp. Everyone sat down in their seats and the ramp closed.  We taxied onto the runway, and everyone was absolutely silent - we were still on North Vietnamese soil.  When the wheels of the airplane lifted off of the runway, everyone burst out into cheers and applause.  The pilot came onto the intercom and said, 'Gentlemen, welcome to freedom.'"

Col. Andra Kniep, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing and 435th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, thanked Milligan for his attendance and sharing his personal experience with Airmen at Ramstein.

"It was our honor to have you here," Kniep said to Milligan. "We appreciate the stories that you have shared with us and all that you have gone through in service to our nation. You have led by example by what you have done, and we hope ... that we can strive to live up to what you have done as your inspiration will continue to guide us."

Veterans like Milligan lead by example in terms of resilience and honoring core values.