# " AIR FORCE NOW " VIETNAM WAR PRISONERS OF WAR (POWS) RETURN TO USA OPERATION HOMECOMING 48254

This extraordinary film about American POWs is one of a series of "Air Force Now" magazine type movies made for the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s and 1980s. This particular episode focuses on the return of Prisoners of War (POWs) from Vietnam after the war. It was apparently made in either late 1973 or early 1974, after Operation Homecoming took place. Operation Homecoming took place from February 14, 1973 to April of that year, and involved the return of 591 American prisoners of war held by North Vietnam. Homecoming was a negotiated part of the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Opening: Vietnam Ex-POW Lt. Col. Lewis Shattuck speaks on his experience. Title: Air Force Now. Pilot ejects and parachutes to the ground. POW salutes an officer and walks away. A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter lifts into the air, happy Americans onboard (:06-2:58). Starlifter lands. People wait for their loved ones. Ex-POWs shake hands with officers/ They undergo physical exams, haircuts, eat lots of food, get dressed. City shots and welcome home signs. Soldiers hug their loved ones (2:59-4:53). Ex-POW Lt. Col. Alan Lurie speaks. People applaud. Ex-POW Col. John Stavast shakes hands after returning. Ex-POW Col. Thomas Kirk, Jr. speaks. Ex-POW Lt. Col. Lewis Shattuck speaks. Lt. Col. Thomas Madison speaks. Maxine McCaffery, a painter, speaks (4:54-7:20). Maxine McCaffery's paintings of POWs in isolation. Maj. Jan Tillisch, Internist in Cardiology, speaks. Ex-POW Lt. Col.…

- Kind: Film
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: War, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/48254-air-force-now-45)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/48254-air-force-now-45?play=1)