George Alan “GAR/Al” Rose was born in Kansas City MO and placed up for adoption. His adoptive father was an All-American basketball player at Arkansas in 1928.
His dad became a college basketball coach and later was asked to return and coach Arkansas.
GAR attended the University of Arkansas and participated in ROTC and after an initial problem with the USAF flight physical was headed for pilot training at Laredo, TX.
An F-4 backseat assignment came next. Followed by an assignment to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam – his “first” war.
His “Cold War” was from Spangdahlem Airbase in Germany complete with sitting nuclear alert.
He upgraded to the front seat and for his “second” war deployed back to the Vietnam War flying from Ubon RTAB, Thailand.
He was shot down in 1972 and became a POW.
Repatriated after the war, he flew A-10s and after retirement went to work with Hughes Aircraft (later Raytheon), then flew with Wings West (later American Eagle).
Aviation was good to GAR, except for his tour as a POW.
I was shot down by a Mig 21 on June 21, 1972. After safely ejecting, I was captured with
my fellow crewman, 1st Lt. Peter Callaghan. We were about 40 miles northwest
of Hanoi. After nine months and one week, I was repatriated on March 28, 1973.
Many have inquired as to what sustained me while I was a POW. There were
three beliefs: My faith in God, that I was not alone, my faith in the United
States, that we had not been forgotten, and my faith in my fellow prisoners;
that together, we could do anything to survive.
Distinguished Flying Cross
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS
DURING Vietnam War
GENERAL ORDERS:
Headquarters, 7th Air Force, Special Orders No. G-1308 (August 23, 1967)
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant George Alan Rose (AFSN: FR-3157557), United States Air Force, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an F-4C Pilot in Southeast Asia on 11 November 1966. On that date, Lieutenant Rose was scrambled on two occasions from the F-4C alert area in response to friendly forces in heavy contact with determined hostile forces. Each scramble required Lieutenant Rose to expend his ordnance within fifty meters of friendly positions. Displaying exceptional pilot skill and disregarding personal safety, Lieutenant Rose struck time after time with pin-point accuracy to relieve the beleaguered friendly forces. The professional competence, aerial skill, and devotion to duty displayed by Lieutenant Rose reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
