Treasures of the Valley

Vietnam POW Returns Home to Montrose – Part 2

Last week we read about Lt. George McSwain, a Vietnam POW. He grew up in Montrose and went on to become a Navy pilot. He was shot down over North Vietnam in 1966. He was a POW for 6½ years but was released in early 1973 to return home to Montrose.

McSwain’s homecoming was to be a community-wide event. Donations flooded in to make his reception a big deal. Six thousand bumper stickers welcoming McSwain home were printed and distributed everywhere in the valley and a big banner was strung across Ocean View and Honolulu. McSwain’s mother Eudene watched a live broadcast of her son arriving at his first stop in the Philippines, and told the newspapers, “He looked beautiful!” She also said that in a recent letter he seemed most interested in any changes in his neighborhood and the community.

Mrs. McSwain, with the help of neighbors, decorated her house for the homecoming. The Navy sent an official car, decorated with the welcome home bumper stickers, to take her to his final drop-off point in San Diego. She took with her a bottle of champagne, a book of Peanuts cartoons (his favorite), a book of Apollo moon landing photos (he missed that), a Playboy magazine and recent copies of the local paper, The Ledger.

Families of the returning POWs gathered at the runway as a silver hospital plane, dubbed the “Hanoi Taxi,” set down and taxied toward them. Thirteen gaunt men, all pilots shot down in 1966 and ’67, walked down the ramp and onto a red carpet as the crowd erupted in cheers. Lt. McSwain shouted, “Hello, America!” and was hugged by his mom. Another POW who hailed from Glendale came down the ramp and into the arms of his family, a wife and two sons he hadn’t seen in over six years. Even jaded news reporters covering the reunions had tears in their eyes. After a quick hospital checkup, McSwain and mom headed back to Montrose.

Honolulu Avenue was lined with a flag-waving crowd as McSwain was driven down the street, flanked by a police escort. Part way down the street, the car McSwain was riding in broke down. He was transferred to a Glendale police car and the whole parade went around the block for a second pass down Honolulu. They arrived at the McSwain house crowded with well-wishers. A huge red, white and blue cake was donated by Ebmeyer’s Bakery and a new watch for McSwain was given by Montrose Jewelry. McSwain spent about five days at home in Montrose before reporting back for duty. He couldn’t wait to get back in a jet and that’s exactly what he did. He piloted fighter jets until he retired in 1981 with two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and a Legion of Merit medal.

The wrap-up to this story is pretty amazing. In 1973, a 5-year-old girl in Oregon was watching a newscast of the returning POWs. She saw McSwain debark from the plane in San Diego. She asked her father why the man looked so angry and he explained about the torture the man had been through. The little girl touched the man’s face on the TV screen, and told her father that she would make sure that he would never be hurt again.

Fast forward to 2009. That little girl is now a waitress at a small café in Eastern Oregon. McSwain had retired nearby and the two struck up a friendship. Soon the young woman realized who McSwain was and their connection grew deeper. It was fate, a friendship meant to be. Despite the three decades of difference in their age, McSwain became an integral part of the woman’s life and the life of her children. In 2014, McSwain was diagnosed with terminal cancer and soon suffered a massive stroke. The waitress took McSwain into her home and took care of him until he died just a few months later. The promise she had made as a 5-year-old had been fulfilled to help Lt. George McSwain through his pain.

Mike Lawler is the former
president of the Historical
Society of the Crescenta Valley
and loves local history.
Reach him at lawlerdad@yahoo.com.