ELLIS, LEON FRANCIS

Name: Leon Francis Ellis
Rank/Branch: O3/United States Air Force
Unit: 390th TFS
Date of Birth: 09 October 1943
Home City of Record: Commerce GA
Date of Loss: 07 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174500 North  1062500 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Missions: 53
Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth Fisher, returnee
 


Official pre-capture photo


2018

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. 2023

REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV




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Leon Ellis Jr. retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel. He and
his wife Mary reside in Georgia.

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http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/metro/north-fulton/ellispow0801/   PICS

http://freedomstarmedia.com/lee-ellis   Leading with Honor Introduction - Lee Ellis

http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Honor-Leadership-Lessons-Hilton/dp/0983879303/ref=la_
B006YYV0SC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365209759&sr=1-1
= THE BOOK

==========================

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20130404/NEWS01/304040061/vietnam-pow-recounts-struggles
 
Vietnam POW recounts struggles, lessons
 
Written by Stephen Herzog
 

When Lee Ellis had his plane shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, he wasn't worried.

Planes were downed fairly regularly those days. He'd been trained on how to act in such a
situation, and his equipment all worked properly upon evacuation.

"I kept pretty cool at first,"¯ said Ellis, who will be speaking in Branson this week. "It wasn't
until I got captured that I went into shock."

The biggest problem was where the plane ended up — right in the middle of an enemy base.....

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May 2015
ANNOUNCEMENT: Lee Ellis - DAR Distinguished Citizen Award Recipient 

Earlier this month, the Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) awarded Lee as a
2015 Distinguished Citizen Award Recipient
for his lifelong contribution to helping
preserve America’s freedom. Georgia First Lady, Sandra Deal (pictured in the photo
with Lee and his wife, Mary) presented Lee with his award.
 
Thanks for celebrating with us, and please learn more about this worthwhile organization!


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Son Tay Raid Documentary
 
In case you are interested and have 1.5 hours to watch a documentary on the Son Tay POW camp raid by special forces in Nov 1970, here is the link (below).

 
I lived in that camp 25 miles NW of Hanoi for the two years it was open. We moved out in July 1970, before the raid in November. Perfectly executed raid, but no one was there except a few Vietnamese soldiers and some other taller Asian soldiers staying in a barracks a few hundred yards away.

 
The troops were disappointed, but it turned out well for us. We were all moved back to the Hanoi Hilton and that’s when we went into the large rooms where we had education programs.
 
My presentation starts at the 45:40 point and goes for about 15 minutes. I share what it was like living in Son Tay and what happened after the raid.
Son Tay Raid Panel and Documentary
 
Leon “Lee” Ellis

 

Son Tay Raid
CC: From Lee Ellis..... 12/11/2021
 
The week of 21 Nov I went to the 50th anniversary of the Son Tay Reunion (postponed a year due to Covid). There I met several of the Raiders on the Blueboy Team—the ones on the chopper that crashed into the compound to get us out of the cells. One was Tom Jaeger, the SF team member responsible for breaking into the cells. By fate, we sat next to each other for dinner at the bar in the hotel. We started talking and he said that he was so disappointed that the cells were empty and he could not get us out and that this was the first STRA reunion he had attended in 50 years.
 
I asked Tom which building he was working on and he said the Cat House and then proceeded to describe Room 3 which was my cell. When he finished I told him it was my cell and I was so sorry that I had not been there. Tears came to his eyes and he said he had never met one of us. We talked for a long time that evening and during the rest of the reunion and I think it was a real time of healing for him. And I was so honored to meet him, feeling like it was a divine appointment that I came to the reunion. I was the only POW there for most of the time (two others were coming and got delayed with flight cancellations etc.)
 
Note his courageous service before the Son Tay Raid. His citation looks more like a MOH than a Distinguished Service Cross (equal to the AF Cross).

06/12/2022  By Lee Ellis:

Leading with Honor is the original, award-winning book outlining the 14 leadership lessons learned in the POW camps of Vietnam.
Engage with honor
is the followup book that applies many of the original leadership lessons into a practical Courageous
Accountability Model.

Purchase the Honor Book Combo Package

 


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Vietnam War POW enjoys 50 years of freedom ... for their humane treatment and
release through the National League of POW/MIA Families.

 

MORE INFO  http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=423