NORRINGTON, GILES RODERICK

Name: Giles Roderick Norrington
Rank/Branch: O3/United States Navy, pilot
Unit: RVAH 1
Date of Birth: 27 Sept 35
Home City of Record: Springfield OH
Date of Loss: 05 May 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 181800 N 1053800 E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C
Missions: 22
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard Tangeman, Returnee

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK April 1997 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Update in 2001 with
information from Capt. Norrington.

REMARKS: 730314 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).

GILES R. NORRINGTON
Lieutenant Commander- United States Navy
Shot Down: May 5, 1968
Released: March 14, 1973

An open letter to my fellow Americans:

For almost five years I dreamed of looking at a horizon. I prayed for the day
when we would all feel a fresh wind on our faces and feel the indescribable
sensation of freedom. I have read a great deal of material written by people
who asked, "Why Vietnam?" I would ask in return, "Why Lexington? Why Concord?
Why Okinawa?" Since its birth as a nation our United States has realized its
international responsibility, and we have demonstrated time and time again
that we are a nation of people who care. We  care about the filth in which
millions live; we care about the lack of medical care from which so many
suffer; we care about children whose life expectancy is measured in months
rather than years; and we care about spiritual and political freedom ...
that's  why Vietnam! All of us who have served in this conflict are grateful
for having had the chance to do so. And those of us who were prisoners of war
are the fortunate ones. We came home. It remains for us to continue our work.
We must have an accurate accounting of our missing brothers-in-arms. We must
not forget Vietnam, or Laos, or Cambodia, or anywhere men fight for the right
to govern themselves in Freedom.

My personal experiences in Vietnam are typical. I gained strength through my
God and my fellow prisoners of war. They are giants among men, and I am
privileged to have served with them. I have seen that beautiful horizon and
now look forward to a full, happy life as a citizen of a free and responsible
nation.

God Bless America . . . and preserve us as a Nation.

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Giles Norrington retired from the United States Navy as a Captain. He and
his wife Eileen reside in North Ridgeville, Ohio.

------------------------------------
Memories of Vietnam
Club Honors Ex-POW on Anniversary of His Release
By Lan Nguyen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 27 1997; Page V01
The Washington Post 

Navy Lt. Giles Norrington was making his 22nd reconnaissance flight into
North Vietnamese territory when communist rebels shot off the right wing of
his RA-5C Vigilante. The plane erupted into a fireball. As Norrington and
his navigator, Richard Tangeman, tried to escape, Norrington thought, "It's
taking a long time to die."......