David Duart was selected for the USAF Aviation Cadet Pilot Training Program on April 23, 1954, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings on August 1, 1955. He was selected for F-100 Training at Luke and Nellis AFB and assigned as a combat-ready F-100 pilot with the 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Turner AFB, GA. He was next assigned overseas in the F-100 with 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron/18th Tactical Fighter Wing, Kadena AB, Japan from 1961-64. Back in the states, he was as an F-100 Instructor Pilot at Nellis AFB with the 4524th Combat Crew Training Squadron.
Capt Duart then served as an F-105 pilot with the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from January 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on February 18, 1967.
After spending 2,207 days in captivity, Col Duart was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, and then served as an A-7 Corsair II pilot and as Chief of the Weapons and Tactics Division with the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, from August 1973 to July 1975. Col Duart attended U.S. Army War College from July 1975 to June 1976, followed by service as Assistant Deputy Commander for Maintenance with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, from June 1976 until his retirement from the Air Force on May 1, 1980.
Dave Duart died on September 10, 2003, and was buried at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
(source: https://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1336)
David Duart – POW Story
Between October 1966 and March 1967 there were three F-105 D/F shootdowns attributed to SAM sites. Most losses were caused by Anti Aircraft Artillery. One of the three THUDS lost was “Iron Hand” (No. 63-8282 Magnum 03) which had been trying to lure an SA-2 site into firing at it on February 18, 1967.
The jet took a hit after launching a Shrike from just above a 10,000 ft cloud base. Captains David Duart and Jay Jensen on their 13th mission became POW’s for the next 5 years.1
“My F-105 was hit by a Surface to Air Missile over North Vietnam on the 18th of February, 1967. I was captured immediately upon reaching the ground by the local militia. For the next six years, I lived in various camps in and around Hanoi, including the Hanoi Hilton and The Zoo.
I believe that the concern of the American people led by the various POW/MIA organizations and the United States government was directly responsible for the improvement of the treatment of the POW’s in North Vietnam beginning in late 1969. I am eternally grateful for this tremendous effort in our behalf. Although I will never be able to adequately express my thankfulness to each of you, I will quote a poem by Helen Steiner Rice that I wish I had written for you.
THE WORLD NEEDS FRIENDLY FOLKS LIKE YOU
In this troubled world, it’s refreshing to find
Someone who still has the time to be kind,
Someone who still has the faith to believe
That the more you give the more you receive,
Someone who’s ready by thought, word or deed
To reach out a hand in this hour of need.
I plan to stay in the Air Force and in this capacity, do what I can to repay my country and those who showed such great concern for my plight as a Prisoner of War.
Thank you and God Bless each of you.”
“POW Treat” from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (March 5, 1973, The Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania · Page 9)
The families of seven returning Pennsylvania prisoners of war got the television late show treat of their lives over the weekend when they watched the arrival of POWs in the Philippines. The Pennsylvanians were among 100 flown from captivity in North Vietnam Sunday. … In the rural Bradford County community of Granville Summit, the “baby sister” of Air Force Lt. Col David H. Duart said the first thing that popped into her mind when she saw her brother on television was the recollection of bidding him goodbye when he first enlisted 19 years ago. “I was four then. I’m 23 now. My mother and father and I took him down to the train station. He was wearing a pink shirt, I remember, and pants like they wore then- kind of baggy and loose.”
Read a beautiful story about David’s POW bracelet by Barbara Talisman, CFRE at (https://talismantol.com/2015/11/11/vietnam-bracelets-and-veterans-day/)
(source: https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/d/d061.htm)
F-105 Wild Weasel vs SA—2 ‘Guideline’ SAM: Vietnam 1965–73 by Peter E. Davies
