LARSON, GORDON ALBERT

Name: Gordon Albert Larson
Rank/Branch: O5/United States Air Force
Unit: 469th Squadron Commander
Date of Birth: 15 November 1927
Home City of Record: Winona MN
Date of Loss: 05 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205000 North  1051000 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Missions: 94 1/2
          Served in United States Navy in WWII and Korea
Other Personnel in Incident: none

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.

REMARKS: 730304 RELEASED BY DRV

GORDON A. LARSON
Colonel - United States Air Force
Shot Down: May 5, 1967
Released : March 5, 1973

Bio of Gordon A. Larson--Hanoi May 67 to Mar 73.

Born Winona, Mn., 1927.  Graduated from High School, June 1945 and entered
Navy V-5 pilot training.  (same class as Harry Jenkins)  When war in Japan
ended, reverted to V-6 and was discharged in August 1946.  Returned to
school under GI Bill until entry into Aviation Cadet training in September
1948.

Graduated from Nellis flying P-51s, in September 1949.  Tours were Germany,
1949 to 1952 flying P-47s and F-84s.  1952 to 1955, Del Rio as wing
Standardization Officer and Wing Gunnery Officer.  Attended Fighter Weapons
School at Nellis (1953).  Fighter Weapons School instructor, Luke AFB, 1955
to 1957.  Squadron Operations Officer, F-86s, Osan, Korea 1957 to 1958.

Lockbourn AFB, Ohio, 1958 to 1960.  B-47 Aircraft Commander.  Homestead AFB,
Fl., 1960 to 1966.  B-52H Aircraft Commander and Group Staff.  Volunteered
for Vietnam, flying fighters, and went through short upgrading course at
Nellis in F-105s.  Assigned to Korat AB, Thailand in November 1996 as
Squadron Commander, 469th Squadron.  Flew 94 1/2 missions until shot down
over Hanoi, April 1967, by SAM.  Severe compression fractures in back and
fractured knees due to high speed ejection in excess of Mach 1.  Severely
tortured in three week long interrogations, without any medical treatment.

Contracted severe Kidney disease in 1968.   Released in March 1973 and
returned to my wife and children in San Antonio, Texas. I have two sons,
Michael and Robert, and one daughter, Pamela. I was medically retired from
the Air Force in 1974.

I became a Stock Broker, and later entered a succesful real estate career.

In 1980 got interested in oil production, and formed my own small oil
company and  successfully drilled shallow oil wells South of San Antonio. I
became interested in horses and moved to a small horse farm South of San
Antonio, where we raised and sucessfully raced,  Quarter Horses. I had my
first heart attack in 1982, and had another in 1991, which necessitated
surgery and selling the farm to move back to San Antonio to a less stressful
life.  I still own and race several horses every year.