LAKE CITY -- Cole Black, 74, a native of Lake City, and former POW in Vietnam, died Friday (Nov. 9, 2007) in a twin-engine plane crash near Delano, Calif. Two others were killed in the crash.
Mr. Black was born Nov. 28, 1932, and grew up on a farm near Lake City. He joined the Navy at age 17. In June 1966, just one week from returning home, he was flying an F-8 Crusader over North Vietnam when he was shot down and taken prisoner. For more than six years, he was held in several prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was released in February 1973. He retired from the Navy in 1986 and moved to Escondido, Calif. He earned a master's degree in business and worked in real estate in Escondido. He also served four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
Survivors include his second wife, Karen Black, whom he married in May 1976; two daughters, Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; three sons, Rick Black of La Mesa, Calif., Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway, Calif.; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Marlin of Lake City; and a sister, Vonne Oliver of Lake City.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday in the chapel at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego; tentative time is 1 p.m. In order to enter the base, civilians will need a valid driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.
Memorials are preferred to the USS Midway Museum in care of Dennis Schafer, 16122 Del Norte, Poway, CA 92064.
-------------
By Adrian Vore
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2007
Cole Black of Escondido, who by his own count spent 2,428 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes as a POW in Vietnam, died Friday in a plane crash near Delano in the Central Valley.
Two others also died in the accident – Bruce Klein, the owner of several pizza restaurants in Oregon, who was flying the plane, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired schoolteacher – the News-Review newspaper in Douglas County, Ore., reported.
Black was flying in a Piper Aerostar twin-engine plane from Oregon to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. He had visited Roseburg, Ore., to speak to students about his experience as a prisoner of war. He would have turned 75 Nov. 28.
The plane crashed before noon in an orange grove after experiencing mechanical problems, said Karen Black, his second wife, from their home in Escondido.
Black, a former Navy captain, spent seven years as a POW. He was flying an F-8 Crusader on a mission over North Vietnam in June 1966 when a MiG fighter downed his plane. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home.
He ejected from the plane and tried to hide in some tall grass. "I was captured almost instantly," he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2003 interview.
He was held in four prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."
"It's a feeling no one really knows," Black said in the interview. "Nobody knows what it is like to totally lose your freedom and be reduced to nothing. You're thousands of miles from home and haven't got friend one."
Black said he spent part of his time in a 7-by-9-foot cage, with a concrete slab for a bed. Twice a day, the guards served him meals – a dish of rice and boiled greens that grew in swampy, septic water.
He endured through his stoicism, his wife said Friday night. "He didn't get rattled. He also had "an honest belief that the country wouldn't let him down," and he would be freed, she said.
His strength carried him through terrible times. She said that shortly after he was captured, interrogators told him, "We will reduce you to a dog."
His captors bound his arms so tightly that he still carried scars.
One of his worst moments occurred a month after his capture, said Karen Black, 69. He and other prisoners were forced to walk through the streets of Hanoi in a propaganda spectacle that became known as the Hanoi March. People began throwing rocks and hitting the POWs, who barely avoided being killed.
But it was during the march that Black learned of the code POWs used to communicate with one other. It would relieve what he told his wife was "hours of boredom interrupted things less desirable."
Despite the misery, Black found a positive aspect to his imprisonment. "Not one among us would wish to get shot down again, but I think it changed my life for the better. I came back with a real zest to live. I wanted to do some things," he said in a 2005 interview with the Union-Tribune.
Black and other POWs were released in February 1973. Karen Black said they knew they would be freed the day the guards removed the radios in prisoners' cells that were used to blare propaganda to torment the men.
Although Black was able to withstand his captivity, his marriage to his first wife could not. It fell apart within a month of his return, Karen Black said.
The emotional toll of coming home to a broken marriage was almost more difficult to deal with than his suffering in Vietnam, she said.
Many POWs experienced the same pain, which led Karen Black to write a novel based on the ruined marriages. She self-published the book "Code of Conduct" in 2002. Her research included listening to 12 hours of tapes in which her husband told military debriefers in 1973 about his time as a POW.
Karen Black met her husband-to-be Nov. 27, 1973, at Bully's East restaurant in Mission Valley, where each had arrived separately with friends to have a few drinks. She said they ended up talking for six hours.
"He was genuine, real, such a nice guy," she said. They married in May 1976.
Cole Black was born Nov. 28, 1932. He was raised on a farm in Lake City, Minn. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man at age 17 so he could see the world, Karen Black said. He rose to petty officer first class in less than four years, and the Navy selected him to attend Officer Candidate School. He graduated in 1955 and earned his wings two years later.
He retired from the Navy in 1986, the same year he and Karen moved to Escondido. He attended National University and earned a master's in business and a real estate broker's license. He worked for High Point Realty in Escondido.
Black returned to Vietnam for a visit in 1994 after Karen bought tickets for a cruise. "It was the best vacation we ever had," she said.
They arrived at the "Hanoi Hilton" the day workers were tearing it down. The couple collected pieces of brick as mementos.
Black served for four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; sons Rick Black of La Mesa, Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway; brother, Marlin Black, and sister, Vonne Oliver, both of Lake City, Minn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
----------------
Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 32
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
--------------
In late 2002, Karen authored "CODE OF CONDUCT" a novel, based on her own and her husbands experiences as a Vietnam, former Prisoner of War.
It is available at www.code-of-conduct.com.
---------------
LAKE CITY -- The death Friday of her brother, Cole Black, a retired Navy captain who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1966 to 1973, hit Vonne Oliver with deja vu. Black, 74, of Escondido, Calif., and a Lake City native, was a passenger on a twin-engine plane when it crashed near Delano, Calif. Also killed were Bruce Klein, a restaurant owner, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired school teacher. Learning that the plane had gone down reminded Oliver of the moment decades ago when she found out her brother, then a Navy pilot, was shot down during a mission over Vietnam. "This is like it's happening all over again," said Oliver, of Lake City. Black, Oliver and their younger brother, Marlin Black, grew up in the Lake City area during the Great Depression but weathered the hardships "with very, very good parents that helped us," Oliver said. After high school, Cole Black enlisted in the Navy and earned his wings in 1957. He was flying a combat mission June 21, 1966, when his aircraft was shot down north of Hanoi. Her brother believed his upbringing helped him survive after being captured as a prisoner of war, Oliver said. "It made him tough," she said. Black was released in 1973 but was "never bitter at all" toward the Vietnamese, Oliver said. "He said that when they got on the plane and they were leaving Vietnam to go to Hawaii when they were first released, he looked back and he felt so sorry for the people because their country had just been blown to bits," she said. "He was a very compassionate man. He was our hero."Black's wife of 31 years, Karen Black, described the time her husband spent as a POW as a painful experience that "he wouldn't give a plugged nickel to do over again.""He said it's pretty hard when you go from being a studly fighter pilot to having nothing, having no control over your life, not knowing whether you're going to live or die, eating out of a bowl, being tortured," Karen Black said in a telephone interview. Cole Black, whose highly decorated military career spanned 37 years, didn't hesitate to talk about those years, especially with high school students. On Friday, he was returning home from speaking with students in Oregon when the plane crashed. "I'm getting through this because he loved what he was doing and it was so good for him to work with our younger generation," Oliver said. Cole and Karen Black last visited Lake City in October, when he was inducted into the Lake City Schools Hall of Fame with three other graduates of Lincoln High School. Karen Black said her husband was a humble man who didn't necessarily understand why he deserved such recognition. "He was very appreciative," she said. "He was totally honored to have received that."In addition to his wife, sister and brother, Black is survived by two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A funeral service is tentatively planned for Saturday at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, Calif.
Cole Black was born on November 28, 1932, in Lake City, Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 25, 1950, and served as an aviation electronics technician and made Petty Officer First Class before receiving his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1955. He next went through flight training and became a Naval Aviator in February 1957. He spent four years as an aerial reconnaissance pilot before flying the F-8 Crusader. Capt Black began flying combat missions in the F-8 in 1966 and he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. He spent the next 2,428 days as a Prisoner of War of the North Vietnamese before being released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. After his return, Capt Black served as Executive Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1973 to October 1974, Commanding Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1974 to October 1975, Executive Officer of the USS New Orleans, LPH-11, from January 1976 to July 1978, Executive Officer at NAS Miramar from July 1978 to June 1981, he attended Attache Training in Washington, D.C., and language training at Roslyn from July 1981 until July 1982, and he served as Naval Attache to Mexico in Mexico City flying the Embassy Beech King Air from July 1982 until June 1985. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1986. Cole served as President of NAM-POWs from June 2003 until May 2006. Cole Black was killed in an airplane crash on November 9, 2007, and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
His 2nd Silver Star Citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. In October 1967, his captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting intering attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.
Mr. Black was born Nov. 28, 1932, and grew up on a farm near Lake City. He joined the Navy at age 17. In June 1966, just one week from returning home, he was flying an F-8 Crusader over North Vietnam when he was shot down and taken prisoner. For more than six years, he was held in several prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was released in February 1973. He retired from the Navy in 1986 and moved to Escondido, Calif. He earned a master's degree in business and worked in real estate in Escondido. He also served four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
Survivors include his second wife, Karen Black, whom he married in May 1976; two daughters, Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; three sons, Rick Black of La Mesa, Calif., Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway, Calif.; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Marlin of Lake City; and a sister, Vonne Oliver of Lake City.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday in the chapel at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego; tentative time is 1 p.m. In order to enter the base, civilians will need a valid driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.
Memorials are preferred to the USS Midway Museum in care of Dennis Schafer, 16122 Del Norte, Poway, CA 92064.
-------------
By Adrian Vore
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2007
Cole Black of Escondido, who by his own count spent 2,428 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes as a POW in Vietnam, died Friday in a plane crash near Delano in the Central Valley.
Two others also died in the accident – Bruce Klein, the owner of several pizza restaurants in Oregon, who was flying the plane, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired schoolteacher – the News-Review newspaper in Douglas County, Ore., reported.
Black was flying in a Piper Aerostar twin-engine plane from Oregon to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. He had visited Roseburg, Ore., to speak to students about his experience as a prisoner of war. He would have turned 75 Nov. 28.
The plane crashed before noon in an orange grove after experiencing mechanical problems, said Karen Black, his second wife, from their home in Escondido.
Black, a former Navy captain, spent seven years as a POW. He was flying an F-8 Crusader on a mission over North Vietnam in June 1966 when a MiG fighter downed his plane. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home.
He ejected from the plane and tried to hide in some tall grass. "I was captured almost instantly," he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2003 interview.
He was held in four prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."
"It's a feeling no one really knows," Black said in the interview. "Nobody knows what it is like to totally lose your freedom and be reduced to nothing. You're thousands of miles from home and haven't got friend one."
Black said he spent part of his time in a 7-by-9-foot cage, with a concrete slab for a bed. Twice a day, the guards served him meals – a dish of rice and boiled greens that grew in swampy, septic water.
He endured through his stoicism, his wife said Friday night. "He didn't get rattled. He also had "an honest belief that the country wouldn't let him down," and he would be freed, she said.
His strength carried him through terrible times. She said that shortly after he was captured, interrogators told him, "We will reduce you to a dog."
His captors bound his arms so tightly that he still carried scars.
One of his worst moments occurred a month after his capture, said Karen Black, 69. He and other prisoners were forced to walk through the streets of Hanoi in a propaganda spectacle that became known as the Hanoi March. People began throwing rocks and hitting the POWs, who barely avoided being killed.
But it was during the march that Black learned of the code POWs used to communicate with one other. It would relieve what he told his wife was "hours of boredom interrupted things less desirable."
Despite the misery, Black found a positive aspect to his imprisonment. "Not one among us would wish to get shot down again, but I think it changed my life for the better. I came back with a real zest to live. I wanted to do some things," he said in a 2005 interview with the Union-Tribune.
Black and other POWs were released in February 1973. Karen Black said they knew they would be freed the day the guards removed the radios in prisoners' cells that were used to blare propaganda to torment the men.
Although Black was able to withstand his captivity, his marriage to his first wife could not. It fell apart within a month of his return, Karen Black said.
The emotional toll of coming home to a broken marriage was almost more difficult to deal with than his suffering in Vietnam, she said.
Many POWs experienced the same pain, which led Karen Black to write a novel based on the ruined marriages. She self-published the book "Code of Conduct" in 2002. Her research included listening to 12 hours of tapes in which her husband told military debriefers in 1973 about his time as a POW.
Karen Black met her husband-to-be Nov. 27, 1973, at Bully's East restaurant in Mission Valley, where each had arrived separately with friends to have a few drinks. She said they ended up talking for six hours.
"He was genuine, real, such a nice guy," she said. They married in May 1976.
Cole Black was born Nov. 28, 1932. He was raised on a farm in Lake City, Minn. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man at age 17 so he could see the world, Karen Black said. He rose to petty officer first class in less than four years, and the Navy selected him to attend Officer Candidate School. He graduated in 1955 and earned his wings two years later.
He retired from the Navy in 1986, the same year he and Karen moved to Escondido. He attended National University and earned a master's in business and a real estate broker's license. He worked for High Point Realty in Escondido.
Black returned to Vietnam for a visit in 1994 after Karen bought tickets for a cruise. "It was the best vacation we ever had," she said.
They arrived at the "Hanoi Hilton" the day workers were tearing it down. The couple collected pieces of brick as mementos.
Black served for four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; sons Rick Black of La Mesa, Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway; brother, Marlin Black, and sister, Vonne Oliver, both of Lake City, Minn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
----------------
Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 32
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
--------------
In late 2002, Karen authored "CODE OF CONDUCT" a novel, based on her own and her husbands experiences as a Vietnam, former Prisoner of War.
It is available at www.code-of-conduct.com.
---------------
LAKE CITY -- The death Friday of her brother, Cole Black, a retired Navy captain who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1966 to 1973, hit Vonne Oliver with deja vu. Black, 74, of Escondido, Calif., and a Lake City native, was a passenger on a twin-engine plane when it crashed near Delano, Calif. Also killed were Bruce Klein, a restaurant owner, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired school teacher. Learning that the plane had gone down reminded Oliver of the moment decades ago when she found out her brother, then a Navy pilot, was shot down during a mission over Vietnam. "This is like it's happening all over again," said Oliver, of Lake City. Black, Oliver and their younger brother, Marlin Black, grew up in the Lake City area during the Great Depression but weathered the hardships "with very, very good parents that helped us," Oliver said. After high school, Cole Black enlisted in the Navy and earned his wings in 1957. He was flying a combat mission June 21, 1966, when his aircraft was shot down north of Hanoi. Her brother believed his upbringing helped him survive after being captured as a prisoner of war, Oliver said. "It made him tough," she said. Black was released in 1973 but was "never bitter at all" toward the Vietnamese, Oliver said. "He said that when they got on the plane and they were leaving Vietnam to go to Hawaii when they were first released, he looked back and he felt so sorry for the people because their country had just been blown to bits," she said. "He was a very compassionate man. He was our hero."Black's wife of 31 years, Karen Black, described the time her husband spent as a POW as a painful experience that "he wouldn't give a plugged nickel to do over again.""He said it's pretty hard when you go from being a studly fighter pilot to having nothing, having no control over your life, not knowing whether you're going to live or die, eating out of a bowl, being tortured," Karen Black said in a telephone interview. Cole Black, whose highly decorated military career spanned 37 years, didn't hesitate to talk about those years, especially with high school students. On Friday, he was returning home from speaking with students in Oregon when the plane crashed. "I'm getting through this because he loved what he was doing and it was so good for him to work with our younger generation," Oliver said. Cole and Karen Black last visited Lake City in October, when he was inducted into the Lake City Schools Hall of Fame with three other graduates of Lincoln High School. Karen Black said her husband was a humble man who didn't necessarily understand why he deserved such recognition. "He was very appreciative," she said. "He was totally honored to have received that."In addition to his wife, sister and brother, Black is survived by two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A funeral service is tentatively planned for Saturday at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, Calif.
Cole Black was born on November 28, 1932, in Lake City, Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 25, 1950, and served as an aviation electronics technician and made Petty Officer First Class before receiving his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1955. He next went through flight training and became a Naval Aviator in February 1957. He spent four years as an aerial reconnaissance pilot before flying the F-8 Crusader. Capt Black began flying combat missions in the F-8 in 1966 and he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. He spent the next 2,428 days as a Prisoner of War of the North Vietnamese before being released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. After his return, Capt Black served as Executive Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1973 to October 1974, Commanding Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1974 to October 1975, Executive Officer of the USS New Orleans, LPH-11, from January 1976 to July 1978, Executive Officer at NAS Miramar from July 1978 to June 1981, he attended Attache Training in Washington, D.C., and language training at Roslyn from July 1981 until July 1982, and he served as Naval Attache to Mexico in Mexico City flying the Embassy Beech King Air from July 1982 until June 1985. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1986. Cole served as President of NAM-POWs from June 2003 until May 2006. Cole Black was killed in an airplane crash on November 9, 2007, and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
His 2nd Silver Star Citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. In October 1967, his captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting intering attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.
LAKE CITY -- Cole Black, 74, a native of Lake City, and former POW in Vietnam, died Friday (Nov. 9, 2007) in a twin-engine plane crash near Delano, Calif. Two others were killed in the crash.
Mr. Black was born Nov. 28, 1932, and grew up on a farm near Lake City. He joined the Navy at age 17. In June 1966, just one week from returning home, he was flying an F-8 Crusader over North Vietnam when he was shot down and taken prisoner. For more than six years, he was held in several prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was released in February 1973. He retired from the Navy in 1986 and moved to Escondido, Calif. He earned a master's degree in business and worked in real estate in Escondido. He also served four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
Survivors include his second wife, Karen Black, whom he married in May 1976; two daughters, Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; three sons, Rick Black of La Mesa, Calif., Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway, Calif.; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Marlin of Lake City; and a sister, Vonne Oliver of Lake City.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday in the chapel at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego; tentative time is 1 p.m. In order to enter the base, civilians will need a valid driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.
Memorials are preferred to the USS Midway Museum in care of Dennis Schafer, 16122 Del Norte, Poway, CA 92064.
-------------
By Adrian Vore
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2007
Cole Black of Escondido, who by his own count spent 2,428 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes as a POW in Vietnam, died Friday in a plane crash near Delano in the Central Valley.
Two others also died in the accident – Bruce Klein, the owner of several pizza restaurants in Oregon, who was flying the plane, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired schoolteacher – the News-Review newspaper in Douglas County, Ore., reported.
Black was flying in a Piper Aerostar twin-engine plane from Oregon to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. He had visited Roseburg, Ore., to speak to students about his experience as a prisoner of war. He would have turned 75 Nov. 28.
The plane crashed before noon in an orange grove after experiencing mechanical problems, said Karen Black, his second wife, from their home in Escondido.
Black, a former Navy captain, spent seven years as a POW. He was flying an F-8 Crusader on a mission over North Vietnam in June 1966 when a MiG fighter downed his plane. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home.
He ejected from the plane and tried to hide in some tall grass. "I was captured almost instantly," he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2003 interview.
He was held in four prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."
"It's a feeling no one really knows," Black said in the interview. "Nobody knows what it is like to totally lose your freedom and be reduced to nothing. You're thousands of miles from home and haven't got friend one."
Black said he spent part of his time in a 7-by-9-foot cage, with a concrete slab for a bed. Twice a day, the guards served him meals – a dish of rice and boiled greens that grew in swampy, septic water.
He endured through his stoicism, his wife said Friday night. "He didn't get rattled. He also had "an honest belief that the country wouldn't let him down," and he would be freed, she said.
His strength carried him through terrible times. She said that shortly after he was captured, interrogators told him, "We will reduce you to a dog."
His captors bound his arms so tightly that he still carried scars.
One of his worst moments occurred a month after his capture, said Karen Black, 69. He and other prisoners were forced to walk through the streets of Hanoi in a propaganda spectacle that became known as the Hanoi March. People began throwing rocks and hitting the POWs, who barely avoided being killed.
But it was during the march that Black learned of the code POWs used to communicate with one other. It would relieve what he told his wife was "hours of boredom interrupted things less desirable."
Despite the misery, Black found a positive aspect to his imprisonment. "Not one among us would wish to get shot down again, but I think it changed my life for the better. I came back with a real zest to live. I wanted to do some things," he said in a 2005 interview with the Union-Tribune.
Black and other POWs were released in February 1973. Karen Black said they knew they would be freed the day the guards removed the radios in prisoners' cells that were used to blare propaganda to torment the men.
Although Black was able to withstand his captivity, his marriage to his first wife could not. It fell apart within a month of his return, Karen Black said.
The emotional toll of coming home to a broken marriage was almost more difficult to deal with than his suffering in Vietnam, she said.
Many POWs experienced the same pain, which led Karen Black to write a novel based on the ruined marriages. She self-published the book "Code of Conduct" in 2002. Her research included listening to 12 hours of tapes in which her husband told military debriefers in 1973 about his time as a POW.
Karen Black met her husband-to-be Nov. 27, 1973, at Bully's East restaurant in Mission Valley, where each had arrived separately with friends to have a few drinks. She said they ended up talking for six hours.
"He was genuine, real, such a nice guy," she said. They married in May 1976.
Cole Black was born Nov. 28, 1932. He was raised on a farm in Lake City, Minn. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man at age 17 so he could see the world, Karen Black said. He rose to petty officer first class in less than four years, and the Navy selected him to attend Officer Candidate School. He graduated in 1955 and earned his wings two years later.
He retired from the Navy in 1986, the same year he and Karen moved to Escondido. He attended National University and earned a master's in business and a real estate broker's license. He worked for High Point Realty in Escondido.
Black returned to Vietnam for a visit in 1994 after Karen bought tickets for a cruise. "It was the best vacation we ever had," she said.
They arrived at the "Hanoi Hilton" the day workers were tearing it down. The couple collected pieces of brick as mementos.
Black served for four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; sons Rick Black of La Mesa, Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway; brother, Marlin Black, and sister, Vonne Oliver, both of Lake City, Minn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
----------------
Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 32
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
--------------
In late 2002, Karen authored "CODE OF CONDUCT" a novel, based on her own and her husbands experiences as a Vietnam, former Prisoner of War.
It is available at www.code-of-conduct.com.
---------------
LAKE CITY -- The death Friday of her brother, Cole Black, a retired Navy captain who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1966 to 1973, hit Vonne Oliver with deja vu. Black, 74, of Escondido, Calif., and a Lake City native, was a passenger on a twin-engine plane when it crashed near Delano, Calif. Also killed were Bruce Klein, a restaurant owner, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired school teacher. Learning that the plane had gone down reminded Oliver of the moment decades ago when she found out her brother, then a Navy pilot, was shot down during a mission over Vietnam. "This is like it's happening all over again," said Oliver, of Lake City. Black, Oliver and their younger brother, Marlin Black, grew up in the Lake City area during the Great Depression but weathered the hardships "with very, very good parents that helped us," Oliver said. After high school, Cole Black enlisted in the Navy and earned his wings in 1957. He was flying a combat mission June 21, 1966, when his aircraft was shot down north of Hanoi. Her brother believed his upbringing helped him survive after being captured as a prisoner of war, Oliver said. "It made him tough," she said. Black was released in 1973 but was "never bitter at all" toward the Vietnamese, Oliver said. "He said that when they got on the plane and they were leaving Vietnam to go to Hawaii when they were first released, he looked back and he felt so sorry for the people because their country had just been blown to bits," she said. "He was a very compassionate man. He was our hero."Black's wife of 31 years, Karen Black, described the time her husband spent as a POW as a painful experience that "he wouldn't give a plugged nickel to do over again.""He said it's pretty hard when you go from being a studly fighter pilot to having nothing, having no control over your life, not knowing whether you're going to live or die, eating out of a bowl, being tortured," Karen Black said in a telephone interview. Cole Black, whose highly decorated military career spanned 37 years, didn't hesitate to talk about those years, especially with high school students. On Friday, he was returning home from speaking with students in Oregon when the plane crashed. "I'm getting through this because he loved what he was doing and it was so good for him to work with our younger generation," Oliver said. Cole and Karen Black last visited Lake City in October, when he was inducted into the Lake City Schools Hall of Fame with three other graduates of Lincoln High School. Karen Black said her husband was a humble man who didn't necessarily understand why he deserved such recognition. "He was very appreciative," she said. "He was totally honored to have received that."In addition to his wife, sister and brother, Black is survived by two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A funeral service is tentatively planned for Saturday at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, Calif.
Cole Black was born on November 28, 1932, in Lake City, Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 25, 1950, and served as an aviation electronics technician and made Petty Officer First Class before receiving his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1955. He next went through flight training and became a Naval Aviator in February 1957. He spent four years as an aerial reconnaissance pilot before flying the F-8 Crusader. Capt Black began flying combat missions in the F-8 in 1966 and he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. He spent the next 2,428 days as a Prisoner of War of the North Vietnamese before being released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. After his return, Capt Black served as Executive Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1973 to October 1974, Commanding Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1974 to October 1975, Executive Officer of the USS New Orleans, LPH-11, from January 1976 to July 1978, Executive Officer at NAS Miramar from July 1978 to June 1981, he attended Attache Training in Washington, D.C., and language training at Roslyn from July 1981 until July 1982, and he served as Naval Attache to Mexico in Mexico City flying the Embassy Beech King Air from July 1982 until June 1985. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1986. Cole served as President of NAM-POWs from June 2003 until May 2006. Cole Black was killed in an airplane crash on November 9, 2007, and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
His 2nd Silver Star Citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. In October 1967, his captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting intering attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.
Mr. Black was born Nov. 28, 1932, and grew up on a farm near Lake City. He joined the Navy at age 17. In June 1966, just one week from returning home, he was flying an F-8 Crusader over North Vietnam when he was shot down and taken prisoner. For more than six years, he was held in several prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was released in February 1973. He retired from the Navy in 1986 and moved to Escondido, Calif. He earned a master's degree in business and worked in real estate in Escondido. He also served four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
Survivors include his second wife, Karen Black, whom he married in May 1976; two daughters, Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; three sons, Rick Black of La Mesa, Calif., Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway, Calif.; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Marlin of Lake City; and a sister, Vonne Oliver of Lake City.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday in the chapel at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego; tentative time is 1 p.m. In order to enter the base, civilians will need a valid driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.
Memorials are preferred to the USS Midway Museum in care of Dennis Schafer, 16122 Del Norte, Poway, CA 92064.
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By Adrian Vore
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2007
Cole Black of Escondido, who by his own count spent 2,428 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes as a POW in Vietnam, died Friday in a plane crash near Delano in the Central Valley.
Two others also died in the accident – Bruce Klein, the owner of several pizza restaurants in Oregon, who was flying the plane, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired schoolteacher – the News-Review newspaper in Douglas County, Ore., reported.
Black was flying in a Piper Aerostar twin-engine plane from Oregon to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. He had visited Roseburg, Ore., to speak to students about his experience as a prisoner of war. He would have turned 75 Nov. 28.
The plane crashed before noon in an orange grove after experiencing mechanical problems, said Karen Black, his second wife, from their home in Escondido.
Black, a former Navy captain, spent seven years as a POW. He was flying an F-8 Crusader on a mission over North Vietnam in June 1966 when a MiG fighter downed his plane. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home.
He ejected from the plane and tried to hide in some tall grass. "I was captured almost instantly," he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2003 interview.
He was held in four prisons, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."
"It's a feeling no one really knows," Black said in the interview. "Nobody knows what it is like to totally lose your freedom and be reduced to nothing. You're thousands of miles from home and haven't got friend one."
Black said he spent part of his time in a 7-by-9-foot cage, with a concrete slab for a bed. Twice a day, the guards served him meals – a dish of rice and boiled greens that grew in swampy, septic water.
He endured through his stoicism, his wife said Friday night. "He didn't get rattled. He also had "an honest belief that the country wouldn't let him down," and he would be freed, she said.
His strength carried him through terrible times. She said that shortly after he was captured, interrogators told him, "We will reduce you to a dog."
His captors bound his arms so tightly that he still carried scars.
One of his worst moments occurred a month after his capture, said Karen Black, 69. He and other prisoners were forced to walk through the streets of Hanoi in a propaganda spectacle that became known as the Hanoi March. People began throwing rocks and hitting the POWs, who barely avoided being killed.
But it was during the march that Black learned of the code POWs used to communicate with one other. It would relieve what he told his wife was "hours of boredom interrupted things less desirable."
Despite the misery, Black found a positive aspect to his imprisonment. "Not one among us would wish to get shot down again, but I think it changed my life for the better. I came back with a real zest to live. I wanted to do some things," he said in a 2005 interview with the Union-Tribune.
Black and other POWs were released in February 1973. Karen Black said they knew they would be freed the day the guards removed the radios in prisoners' cells that were used to blare propaganda to torment the men.
Although Black was able to withstand his captivity, his marriage to his first wife could not. It fell apart within a month of his return, Karen Black said.
The emotional toll of coming home to a broken marriage was almost more difficult to deal with than his suffering in Vietnam, she said.
Many POWs experienced the same pain, which led Karen Black to write a novel based on the ruined marriages. She self-published the book "Code of Conduct" in 2002. Her research included listening to 12 hours of tapes in which her husband told military debriefers in 1973 about his time as a POW.
Karen Black met her husband-to-be Nov. 27, 1973, at Bully's East restaurant in Mission Valley, where each had arrived separately with friends to have a few drinks. She said they ended up talking for six hours.
"He was genuine, real, such a nice guy," she said. They married in May 1976.
Cole Black was born Nov. 28, 1932. He was raised on a farm in Lake City, Minn. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man at age 17 so he could see the world, Karen Black said. He rose to petty officer first class in less than four years, and the Navy selected him to attend Officer Candidate School. He graduated in 1955 and earned his wings two years later.
He retired from the Navy in 1986, the same year he and Karen moved to Escondido. He attended National University and earned a master's in business and a real estate broker's license. He worked for High Point Realty in Escondido.
Black returned to Vietnam for a visit in 1994 after Karen bought tickets for a cruise. "It was the best vacation we ever had," she said.
They arrived at the "Hanoi Hilton" the day workers were tearing it down. The couple collected pieces of brick as mementos.
Black served for four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; sons Rick Black of La Mesa, Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway; brother, Marlin Black, and sister, Vonne Oliver, both of Lake City, Minn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 32
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
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In late 2002, Karen authored "CODE OF CONDUCT" a novel, based on her own and her husbands experiences as a Vietnam, former Prisoner of War.
It is available at www.code-of-conduct.com.
---------------
LAKE CITY -- The death Friday of her brother, Cole Black, a retired Navy captain who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1966 to 1973, hit Vonne Oliver with deja vu. Black, 74, of Escondido, Calif., and a Lake City native, was a passenger on a twin-engine plane when it crashed near Delano, Calif. Also killed were Bruce Klein, a restaurant owner, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired school teacher. Learning that the plane had gone down reminded Oliver of the moment decades ago when she found out her brother, then a Navy pilot, was shot down during a mission over Vietnam. "This is like it's happening all over again," said Oliver, of Lake City. Black, Oliver and their younger brother, Marlin Black, grew up in the Lake City area during the Great Depression but weathered the hardships "with very, very good parents that helped us," Oliver said. After high school, Cole Black enlisted in the Navy and earned his wings in 1957. He was flying a combat mission June 21, 1966, when his aircraft was shot down north of Hanoi. Her brother believed his upbringing helped him survive after being captured as a prisoner of war, Oliver said. "It made him tough," she said. Black was released in 1973 but was "never bitter at all" toward the Vietnamese, Oliver said. "He said that when they got on the plane and they were leaving Vietnam to go to Hawaii when they were first released, he looked back and he felt so sorry for the people because their country had just been blown to bits," she said. "He was a very compassionate man. He was our hero."Black's wife of 31 years, Karen Black, described the time her husband spent as a POW as a painful experience that "he wouldn't give a plugged nickel to do over again.""He said it's pretty hard when you go from being a studly fighter pilot to having nothing, having no control over your life, not knowing whether you're going to live or die, eating out of a bowl, being tortured," Karen Black said in a telephone interview. Cole Black, whose highly decorated military career spanned 37 years, didn't hesitate to talk about those years, especially with high school students. On Friday, he was returning home from speaking with students in Oregon when the plane crashed. "I'm getting through this because he loved what he was doing and it was so good for him to work with our younger generation," Oliver said. Cole and Karen Black last visited Lake City in October, when he was inducted into the Lake City Schools Hall of Fame with three other graduates of Lincoln High School. Karen Black said her husband was a humble man who didn't necessarily understand why he deserved such recognition. "He was very appreciative," she said. "He was totally honored to have received that."In addition to his wife, sister and brother, Black is survived by two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A funeral service is tentatively planned for Saturday at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, Calif.
Cole Black was born on November 28, 1932, in Lake City, Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 25, 1950, and served as an aviation electronics technician and made Petty Officer First Class before receiving his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1955. He next went through flight training and became a Naval Aviator in February 1957. He spent four years as an aerial reconnaissance pilot before flying the F-8 Crusader. Capt Black began flying combat missions in the F-8 in 1966 and he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. He spent the next 2,428 days as a Prisoner of War of the North Vietnamese before being released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. After his return, Capt Black served as Executive Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1973 to October 1974, Commanding Officer of VF-126 at NAS Miramar from October 1974 to October 1975, Executive Officer of the USS New Orleans, LPH-11, from January 1976 to July 1978, Executive Officer at NAS Miramar from July 1978 to June 1981, he attended Attache Training in Washington, D.C., and language training at Roslyn from July 1981 until July 1982, and he served as Naval Attache to Mexico in Mexico City flying the Embassy Beech King Air from July 1982 until June 1985. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1986. Cole served as President of NAM-POWs from June 2003 until May 2006. Cole Black was killed in an airplane crash on November 9, 2007, and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
His 2nd Silver Star Citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. In October 1967, his captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting intering attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.
Gravesite Details
Remains moved to Miramar National Cemetery
Family Members
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