CUTTER, JAMES DICKINSON
Name: James Dickinson Cutter Rank/Branch: United States Air Force/O3 Unit: 308 TFW Date of Birth: 23 November 1940 Home City of Record: Stillwater OK Date of Loss: 17 Febraury 1972 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 165300 North 1065000 East Quang Binh (really DMZ) Status (in 1973): Returnee Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105G Missions: Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth Fraser, Returnee Refno: 1797
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated 2008.
REMARKS: 730328 RELEASED BY DRV
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977 Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602 Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and spelling errors).
JAMES D. CUTTER Captain - United States Air Force Shot down: February 17, 1972 Released: March 28, 1973
What a tremendous feeling of elation on March 28, 1973! That was the day that I was released with 39 other American POW's by North Vietnam. It was a joyous day but was just the beginning of a tremendous welcome home by Americans near and far. We were told that the welcome home would continue to get bigger and better as we returned to the United States, but I never could have dreamed of the overwhelming reception awaiting us. Thanks to the good Lord and the courage and perseverance of President Nixon, we are home today.
My life began on 23 November 1940, when I was born at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. My dad was in the Army but has since retired in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is coaching swimming and Mother is teaching English at Oklahoma State University. My two brothers and sister, all younger, attended Oklahoma State University too. I have a wonderful wife, Jinny, and two fine boys-Jimmy, 10 and Keith, 8.
I attended North Carolina State College, receiving a BS degree in Industrial Management and a commission in AFROTC in 1962. In October 1963,1 received my pilot's wings at Moody AFB, Georgia. I spent the next six years flying a KC-135 at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota and Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. The fall of 1969, I headed for McConnell AFB, Kansas to fly the F-105, affectionately known as the "Thud." This was the beginning of a long sought after dream. After the completion of F-105 training, our class was held at McConnell AFB because the single seat Thuds were coming home. The summer of 1971, I received my assignment to Southeast Asia in the F-105 Wild Weasel. I was finally going to see it from the other end after having supported the Thuds and other fighters for fifteen months while in the KC-135 tanker.
I was at Korat AB, Thailand from July 1971 until I was shot down by a SAM (surface-to-air-missile) over North Vietnam on 17 February 1972. I spent the first month in solitary at the Hanoi Hilton before being moved to the Zoo with my backseater. The remainder of my 13 « months as a POW were spent at the Zoo except for a month at Christmas during the bombing that ended the war.
It was a tough decision for our President to make, but one that I feel was right. The North Vietnamese have once again shown their true colors and intentions by breaking the Peace and Agreements. There's no conceivable reason why we can't have our MIA's and KIA's back except that they probably don't want us to see their preparations for continued fighting. Why all the construction and building of roads, warehouses, barracks, AAA and SAM sites, and large numbers of North Vietnamese troops in Northern South Vietnam? There's a lot more, but that's just one of their violations. It seems that the signing of the Agreements by the North Vietnamese is only a continued attempt to still conquer South Vietnam after the defeat they suffered at Christmas of 1972. Their memory is certainly shortlived.
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James Cutter retired from the United States Air Force as a Major. His wife's name is Jinny and in 2003 they moved from Albuquerque, NM to Idaho. This put them closer to family and grandchildren.
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Subject: Refno: 1797 CUTTER, JAMES DICKINSON Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 13:14:20 -0800 From: "DeLuca, Brian L" <ketone64@home.com>
This might be an interesting tidbit.
I met Jim at Travis AFB, while boarding a Seaboard World Airlines contract flight "meatwagon", carrying troops to SEA in early Summer '71. Jim and I shared adjacent seats in the front - he was headed to his F105 tour and I to my RF-4C tour at Udorn RTAFB, as a Recce AC. We were well cared for on that flight. By wonderful coincidence, four of the flight attendants were my neighbors in my apartment house in Fairfield CA, when I was there as a C-141 copilot Feb 69-Feb 70. After that flight - we said our goodbyes and went to our respective tours.
The next time I had contact with Jim was on the mission on which he was shot down. He was Ironhand support on station for a particularly dicey Recce mission, for which I got one of my two DFCs. I didn't know it was Jim until I got back to Udorn and checked the Intel info. I was happy to see his return - but never made contact.
Ciao! Brian L. DeLuca =========================================
2004 UPDATE from JD: I have talked with Brian DeLuca in WA & renewed acquaintences. We were seat mates on our flight to Vietnam, he to Udorn (RF4C) & me to Korat (F-105G).
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