SPOON, DONALD R.

Name: Donald R. Spoon
Rank/Branch: O2/United States Air Force
Unit: 480TFS
Date of Birth: 22 December 41
Home City of Record: Mound City MO
Date of Loss: 21 January 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213600N 1062800E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C, #0810
Incident No: 0580
Missions: 38

Other Personnel in Incident: William J. Baugh, returnee

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

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).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO

DONALD RAY SPOON
Captain - United States Air Force
Shot Down: January 21, 1967
Released: March 4, 1973

BIOGRAPHY:

I was born in Mound City, Missouri on 22 December 1941. I lived there until
1952, then moved to Trenton, Missouri where I graduated from high school.
While there I was active in the high school band (trombone 6 years), glee
club, mixed chorus, and sports (football and track). I was also active in Boy
Scouts and was a member of the Trenton Nazarene Church. I then attended one
year of the Naval Academy Preparatory School in 1959 to March 1960. In June
1960 1 entered the Air Force Academy and graduated on June 3, 1964. While at
the Academy I was active mainly in the Protestant Choir and the Chorale. I
received a BS degree with a major in Engineering Science. From June 1964 to
August 1965 I was in pilot training at Vance AFB, Enid, Oklahoma. September
1965 to February 1966 I attended F-4C training at Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona.
After completing F4C training I reported to my first assignment-81st TAC
Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England. I volunteered for Southeast Asia and
was sent to Da Nang Air Base in the Republic of South Vietnam in late 1966. I
flew about 40 missions and was shot down on a MIG Cap mission over Kep Air
Field, North Vietnam on 21 January 1967. I was released 4 March 1973 and
returned to the United States.

SINCE RETURN

I debriefed at Scott AFB, Illinois. While there I met Captain Alice Braswell.
Our relationship grew and resulted in our marriage on 25 August 1973. We
honeymooned in the St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Jamaica. I requested to go
to graduate school and reported to Colorado State University, Fort Collins,
Colorado on 4 June 1973 to start on my Masters Degree in Biological Science. I
have completed my first quarter and have really enjoyed it.

FUTURE

Alice and I are looking forward to a wonderful life together. Our main
ambition is to raise as many children as we can afford and give them all the
love we have in us. In support of this major goal I hope to be able to attend
medical school and become a physician. Alice is a nurse and has been a great
help to me already. We are looking forward to this opportunity together. If I
am not accepted to medical school, I plan to teach in the Life Science
Department at the USAF Academy.

My ambition to become a doctor has been heightened by the wonderful welcome
home I received. I hope that in my capacity as a doctor I can continue to
serve my country and the wonderful people therein. I plan to stay in the Air
Force until I am kicked out.

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Donald Spoon retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel . He and
his wife Alice reside in Texas.

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