Gen. Robinson Risner, POW for 7.5 yrs., passes

[midnight rambler]

I had the honor and privilege of personally knowing Robbie. We would sit in his den with all of his 'stuff' from his career and he would tell me war stories and flying stories. Robbie spent 7.5 years in the Hanoi Hilton and The Zoo. He endured INCREDIBLE torture, which he described to me matter of factly. I cannot imagine spending 7 days as a POW let alone 7.5 years. Robbie always said "it was God and country" that got him through that ordeal - Robbie was not(!) the least bit impressed by Russian aircraft when I shared my enthusiasm with him (he was in fact nonplussed and a little bit annoyed at the mere thought that anything could compare to US hardware). Robbie flew every single fighter and fighter/bomber aircraft of the USG from the P-51 to the F-111 and the F-15 up until his retirement - Nixon once summoned him to the WH and he immediately dispatched from Arizona with a co-pilot in a F-111. Robbie had quite a story to tell regarding him and his wingman raiding a N. Korean airfield after chasing a MiG pilot back to his home base (his wingman radioed him, "You've destroyed half their air force Robbie!" after he shot up a number of their planes on the airfield). This was the incident where his wingman's F-86 Sabre's engine failed and Robbie used his own F-86 to push his wingman's jet 70+ miles (IIRC) back to friendly territory (no one had ever done this before), unfortunately his wingman drowned after ejecting, but at least he didn't end up as a POW of the N. Koreans. This incident is detailed in his book about his time as a POW, The Passing of the Night.

Godspeed Robbie.

http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1965/1101650423_400.jpg

[midnight rambler]

BTW, I knew Robbie's wife Dot before I got to know Robbie and she was the most gracious and unpretentious lady (Dot's first husband was a AF Colonel shot down over Laos and presumed KIA), she never mentioned to me who her husband was and that he was a war hero, someone else advised me of this.

[midnight rambler]

Oh yeah, another story Robbie told me:


They (his captors) were constantly moving me around back and forth from The Zoo to the Hanoi Hilton, and from cell to cell. All the bunks in every cell were perfectly suited for the small stature of the Vietnamese however the bunks were way too short for us POWs. At one point I was placed in this cell with a window that overlooked a courtyard. Directly outside the window of my cell was a large loudspeaker which played indigenous music 18 hours a day, and it was LOUD! After only a couple of days of this mental noise torture I was praying to God, "Lord, I dunno if I can handle much more of this! If You don't do something I'm going to have to commit suicide!" And I kept praying on this, however I was seeing suicide as more and more attractive. Then soon after I started praying the speaker just up and quit emitting any sound whatsoever. My captors came and worked on it trying, spending a lot of time on it, to make it function again yet the entire rest of my stay for several days in that cell that loudspeaker never worked again. I'm convinced that the Lord answered my prayers and permanently messed up their loudspeaker.

I thought that was a very incredible experience.

[midnight rambler]

And another thing I recall - when I asked him about McCain as a POW he wouldn't talk about him, at all. I could tell he didn't care for McCain.

[midnight rambler]

Robbie was flying a F-105 'Thud' when he was shot down over N. Vietnam.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/2/5/2301522.jpg

[Dogman]

I was stationed at Ubon RTAFB, but spent some time at Korat RTAFB tdy, in 1971 abt 7 years after his shoot down and the guys there were still in awe and talked about him. My base flew F-4's and Korat flew the F-105 thud and I am still on the fence of which aircraft I like best.

One tough guy that a bunch liked and respected..

R.I.P

[Twisted Titan]

I dont know a thing about this man other then what a read here.

I am truly in awe.

R.I.P.

[midnight rambler]

Despite all his exploits, adventures, surviving 7.5 years as a POW and being a larger than life character Robbie was very humble. And he was a good Christian man (which is why he wouldn't express his opinion of McCain, 'cause if you can't say anything good about someone then don't say anything at all).

If you want to get to know Robbie the man, who he was comes through in his book The Passing of the Night. Of course I have an autographed copy. ;D

Wow - I just checked the price on Amazon and the prices range from $50 for used to $85 for new, so if you want a copy go to abebooks.com for down to earth prices.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hKl1qfR%2BL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

[midnight rambler]

Oh yeah, another detail (which he describes in his book) regarding chasing the MiG pilot back to his home base - Robbie was all over this N. Korean pilot during the pursuit which included hugging the terrain, lots of kicking and sticking, even dipping down into ravines, etc. that "I was so close to him I could see the stitching on his (leather) helmet."

And another little known detail he shared with me - above 15,000 ft. the F-86 ruled the sky and below 15,000 ft. the MiG ruled the sky, so the N. Korean pilots were always trying to draw the USAF pilots below 15,000 ft.

[Hypertiger]

you should not have joind the military if being a POW was not part of the plan.

Like is that what airforce pretty boys do?

7.5 years in prison for slaughtering people on the gorund and laughing all the way to the officers club for drinks...seems fine...he had to do the time for all the jerks that were getting orgasms from turning gooks into splatter and chunks.

How about this...Thank you USA...my heroes.

first Canadian's killed in a combat zone since Korea.

2002:

April 18: Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith were killed by friendly fire when an American fighter jet dropped a laser-guided 225-kilogram bomb on the soldiers during a training exercise near Kandahar. All served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

If you would like me to point out WW1 and WW2 from an non American brainwashed perspective...I will.

You can cling to your lies all you want...but what they are hiding has consequences...you are not going to escape.

You all are sniffing glue...

The old USA is a faded memory you all still think exists.

If I upset you...then you are in big trouble...because we are headed to the judgement day point...

In 1944 you bought Bretton woods hook line and sinker...

and we are fast approaching the pay later point..

You all are not taking a break from the fight to chew the fat of the good old days.

you never even began to fight...you never were fighting...

imagine decades of USA saves the world social engineering from Hollywood...and when its time to walk the walk...following the talk the talk.

It will be cosmic face plant.

or the rapture.

one of the two

[midnight rambler]

And a great big GO FUCK YOURSELF Twisted Kitty, ya giant cat turd.

[midnight rambler]

You know, I don't support the death and destruction of the MIC war machine in the very least, but Robbie was a dear friend of mine and I loved and supported him. Regardless of one's political views one has to respect someone who is able to maintain their sanity after 7.5 years as a POW (which of course is perceived as a life sentence [or even a death sentence when the torture is taken into account] when in captivity). I've tried, but there's no way in the world one can put themselves in the shoes of any former POW, imo they are giants* (despite them having been cannon fodder for the MIC). After his stint as a POW Robbie was on an elevated plane of existence, of this I'm convinced - and I was just in rapt awe of this.

*after having known Robbie I know this to be the fact of the matter

ETA: Robbie described to me one of the torture techniques they used on him where they bound his arms behind his back, working the binding up his arms, tightening it up until they broke his sternum - of course he received no medical treatment for this (while McAmnesty, an admiral's son, got medical treatment). Robbie got harsher treatment and more torture after the Time magazine cover (Robbie didn't advise me of this, I found this out on my own).

[midnight rambler]

You know, one time over lunch Robbie matter of factly told me of some weird stuff going on in his head while he was in captivity - really weird mindfuck stuff which at the time shocked me yet I kept my composure and didn't show any reaction. Definitely not something you'd think someone would want to share. It still unsettles me thinking about it, however he spoke of as if we were talking about the weather or going fishing. After hearing something like that I was amazed he was so well adjusted, and I'm certain it had to do with his strong faith. It was one of those 'Whoa!' moments and I gained even more respect for him for not losing his mind over his ordeal.

[Hypertiger]

If you are shocked by POW stories...You are a thumb sucking child.

You truly are leading a sheltered pampered sheep life in the USA.