WILLIS, CHARLES E.

RIP 03/24/1999

Name: Charles E. Willis
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 01 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162734N 1073551E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Gostas, Theodore USA (released); Henderson,
Alexander CIV (released); Meyer, Lewis CIV (released); Olsen, Robert CIV
(Released); Page, Russell CIV (Released); Rander, Donald USA (Released);
Rushton, Thomas CIV (Released); Spalding, Richard CIV (Released); Stark,
Lawrence CIV attached to USN (Released); Daves, Gary CIV (Released).

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK 14 February 1997 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources and information
provided by Ret. Major Gostas and Lawrence Stark. 2023

REMARKS: 730327 Released by PRG

SYNOPSIS:

Willis was working in the northern part of South Vietnam during TET '68 when
Hue came under seige. Ret. Major Ted Gostas (135th MIBN PROV) recalls being
trapped without his radio in the city, and being unable to warn hundreds of
5th Marines as they walked into an ambush and their death. Government
records indicate Willis and 11 others were captured soon afterward. Ten of
those were civilians working with the Vietnamese.

Charles Willis was held captive for 4 1/2 years prior to his release on
March 27, 1973. He resided in Idaho prior to his passing.

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https://1997-2001.state.gov/publications/statemag/statemag_sept99/feature2.html

Feature Story: POW/MIA Recognition Day

From left, Charles Willis with his wife Josephine and his sons Howard and Charles at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., following his release in 1973. Center, Douglas Ramsey in Vietnam before his capture in 1966. Right J.R. Bullington meets with student demonstrators in Hue in 1966. ept. 17 is National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day of special tribute to men and women who, in the service of the United States, became prisoners of war or were missing in action during wartime. While most of the nation's POWs and MIAs have been in the military, members of the Foreign Service, too, have suffered the hardships of enemy captivity with honor, dignity and distinction. Here, taken largely from their own accounts, are the stories of two Foreign Service officers held prisoner and one who narrowly escaped capture during the Vietnam War...