Our flag means everything to this Sarasota veteran

It was in August of 1955 and Lt. Col. Eugene Vaadi landed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., on his way home after two and a half years of prisoner of war hell in China.

University Village's Vaadi was a U.S. Air Force pilot at the time whose Boeing B-29 Superfortress was shot down along the border of North Korea and China during the Korean War. He was captured by what he believes were North Korean soldiers and after several days of interrogations was turned over to the Chinese, who imprisoned and tortured him for much of his incarceration.

After United Nationals Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld led the way to secure the release of Vaadi and his 10-person crew, he had various stops on his way back to the United States.

Then he landed at Travis Air Force Base.

"(It) was the greatest emotional part of the trip home," Vaadi wrote in his account of his military service, "Wings and War." "After getting off the aircraft and stepping on the free and greatest country in the world, and to see our flag, the symbol that represents it all. That space will remain with me forever. It was a rebirth of the universe for which I had encountered in my lifetime, surviving it all, knowing that I had been cared for by the Heavenly Father."

And as he puts it in his book, which was self-published in 2015, he added, "The flag that waves free. There is nothing to surpass it and must be guarded to infinity. We can all be thankful to live under the most beautiful sight in the sky, the American flag. God Bless America."

As East County residents hang their flags on July 4, perhaps they don't have its meaning burned into their conscious in a manner similar to Vaadi. But at 98, and living in University Village, he remains committed to sharing his experiences.

Walking around Vaadi's home that he shares with his wife of 60 years, Marge, few mementos of his service are apparent, other than a den which houses a small display case of medals and photos of Vaadi's crews and aircraft he led through three wars — World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam.

But it shows just a tiny portion of his extensive wartime story.

Not only did Vaadi fly missions in three wars, he was shot down and imprisoned in two ... World War II and Korea.

Even after being shot down and going through terrible ordeals in enemy prisons, he still found a way to fly missions in Vietnam, even though he had military restrictions prohibiting him from doing so.

Marge Vaadi, who was living in Nashville, Tenn. in August of 1972, found out while having coffee with other officers' wives. She knew he was in Vietnam, but she also knew he wasn't supposed to be flying missions.

"I was talking to the commander's wife and I was told," said Marge Vaadi, who is a retired Air Force staff sergeant. "I raised hell and they sent him back. He was upset, but he got over it. He had done his time."

His time started just after Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. He grew up in La Fargeville, N.Y. on a farm and he knew a farmer's ingenuity would help him because he wanted "revenge on the Japanese."

Even though he never had been on an airplane, and never had even been around one, he told his family he was going to fly so he could drop bombs on the Japanese.

He took a series of tests intended for West Point cadets and passed all of them so the Army, which needed bomber pilots, agreed to train him to fly.

"Everything you did on the farms in those days had to be innovative," he said. "You had to do your own repairs."

After taking regular Army training, he began learning to fly. His first flight was in June of 1942.

"I thought it was the greatest thing there was," he said. "I was in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in a PT-17."

He got his wings in March of 1944. In October, he was sent to England and began flying missions in a B-17. The month before he arrived 10 crews had been shot down. He was a replacement.

He flew 18 missions ("Every time our plane was shot up) before he was shot down March 2, 1945 when he was in the lead plane of a 3,000-aircraft mission. The German fighter pilots had changed their strategy by flying directly into the lead aircraft and attacking. 

"I got the crew out and we got down to 15,000 feet," Vaadi remembered while sitting in an easy chair in his home. "The copilot and I got out and the aircraft blew up. Nobody saw us, so we were reported killed in action. And the Germans were right there when we hit the ground. There was a rifle pointed right between my eyes."

Fortunately for Vaadi, the war was coming to an end with the final battles in the European theater coming in April and May of 1945. He was in a prison camp in Moosburg, Germany when Gen. George Patton led his forces through the area. Patton had his men leave as much food and medical supplies as possible after freeing the prisoners, but he had places to be.

"He just drove past us," Vaadi said. "He said, 'I've got to kill me some (expletive) Germans.' I was standing right there."

Vaadi was sent back to the U.S., and he wanted to join U.S. forces fighting Japan, but that, too, came to an end soon afterward as well.

He remained with the Army reserves, and was reinstated in 1950 to fight in Korea. At that time, a new organization had been formed, the U.S. Air Force. Since the Army's quota of pilots was filled, Vaadi joined the Air Force. He was sent to the Philippines and began flying missions.

His Korean War imprisonment by the Chinese was a more complex story. A 1998 story by the Associated Press broke the news that his mission had been part of a Central Intelligence Agency and Air Force partnership that created an "unconventional warfare" group whose mission remains secret to this day. Government records were released at that time, confirming the story.

"We trained to fly at 500 feet so you could avoid the radar," Vaadi said.

Vaadi's B-29 bomber was shot down just before midnight on Jan. 12, 1953. Of the 14-man crew, three died in the attack and the others were captured and eventually turned over to the Chinese. The Air Force crew of "Stardust Four Zero" knew little of the CIA's operation and they thought they were flying a low-risk flight to drop pamphlets on North Koreans.

Twelve Russian-made MiG-15s were waiting for "Stadust Four Zero" and downed the plane. The tail-gunner and two radar men were killed and the other 11 crew members parachuted just before the plane blew up. Vaadi believes there was a leak about the mission.

After hitting the ground on a mountain top, he was free for 24 hours before being run down by North Korean forces using dogs. After being interrogated by the North Koreans, he was turned over to the Chinese.

The torture he endured was relentless. He was constantly in heavy chains and he said he was beaten, kicked and battered with sticks on a daily basis. He would have to stand during the interrogations and if he fell, he was beaten. He was constantly monitored in his isolation cell and was given one meal of "slop" a day. He lost almost half his body weight. He had no information about his crew so he didn't know if they were alive or dead, even though they were being held at the same prison.

"The only voices you heard were of Chinese prisoners being tortured," he said. "They were screaming."

He got through the days by visualizing books he had read throughout his school days. "I visualized things in my mind."

He said he basically went through his entire education in his mind. 

Eventually he was accused of trying to overthrow the Chinese government, as was the rest of the crew, and they all went through a highly publicized Chinese trial in 1954 and sentenced to long terms in prison. 

They eventually were released on Aug. 4, 1955 as the longest held Air Force prisoners of war during the Korean War. Their release came two years after the Korean War Armistice.

More than 60 years later, the physical scars of war seem to have faded away, but Vaadi never will forget. 

For years after his service, he would go to schools and give presentations to the students.

"I wanted to explain to them what transpired and what we did," he said.

His wife said he never became bitter.

"He is doing very well for what he has gone through," she said. "He has all his faculties, and he is gentle and kind. He doesn't hate."

More than anything, he shows appreciation for his flag.

"It is the greatest sight on Earth to me, that American flag," he said.