Howard Elmer Rutledge

Captain Rutledge was born on 13 November 1928 in Tulsa, OK, and graduated from Tulsa Webster High School in 1946. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve and attended the University of Tulsa (1946–1948). Rutledge began flight training in March 1948, earning his Naval Aviator Wings in September 1949. He later flew 200 combat missions during the Korean War.

Rutledge became Executive Officer of VF-191 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) and was deployed to Southeast Asia in June 1965. On his 75th mission he was forced to eject from his F-8 Crusader over North Vietnam and taken prisoner on 28 November 1965. After spending 2,643 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on 12 February 1973. After several assignments in the Pentagon and the Philippines, his last assignment was as commanding officer of the Naval ROTC detachment at the University of Oklahoma.

It was during Captain Rutledge’s imprisonment in North Vietnam that he demonstrated the highest qualities of an American military officer. He was subjected to extreme mental and physical cruelties to obtain military information and confessions for propaganda purposes. Rutledge spent five years in solitary confinement, including two years in the prison camp called Alcatraz as the enemy tried to isolate him and ten other leaders from the other prisoners. His undaunted courage, leadership, and communication skills helped make the hundreds of American prisoners a cohesive unit that was able to effectively resist the enemy.

For his actions, Rutledge was awarded three Silver Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross, six Bronze Stars for Valor, the Air Medal, two Legion of Merits, Prisoner of War Medal, and two Purple Hearts.

Captain Rutledge died on 11 June 1984 at the age of 55 and buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, OK. His experience as an American POW in Vietnam is memorialized in a book entitled In the Presence of Mine Enemies: 1965-1973 – A Prisoner of War.