LEWIS W. SHATTUCK (courtesy of SCOPES Systems POW Bio Page; listed below in the news post)
Lieutenant Colonel - United States Air Force
Shot Down: July 1, 1966
Released: February 12, 1973

A native of the state of Washington, Colonel Shattuck was educated there until his enlistment in the Air Force in 1952. He graduated from Aviation Cadet school in 1954 and served in both Japan and Italy as well as various posts in the U.S. He volunteered for duty in Southeast Asia and was accepted in February 1966.

Colonel Shattuck flew forty-two missions in North Vietnam and twenty-one in Laos. He was shot down on July 1, 1966, but made it to about seventeen miles out to sea to be rescued by an SA16 and then was shot down again. He made his adjustment to prison life and decided at once that he actually did want to live to return to the great and glorious country of America.

"I find that I have come home with an awareness that I never had before, an appreciation for life that had escaped me. It is fascinating for me these days just to walk outdoors and to look around and to be able to see the clouds, to see the moon, and the fabulous fruits of our natural life - flowers, grasses, mountains, trees.

"I believe I have gained an insight, not only into myself, but into my fellowman as well. I've seen people in periods of fear and terror and extreme pain, and I guess living in those tight quarters for so long I have begun to understand the actions of people. I am fascinated these days to meet with people and to talk with people.

"I've come home with a patience that I never had before. I find that even in the heavy pace of life today, I'm generally relaxed and do not feel the press of 'having' to be here or 'having' to be there. I am better able to pace myself, far better able to cope with life today.

"I have a great appreciation for color; we were so starved for all those years. Our lives were devoid of color, and the brightness of this country, is so fascinating and so beautiful. Just before I go to sleep at night, I thank God for the beautiful days He has chosen to afford me and for the life He helped me to keep.

I've found an awareness of God while I was over there that I had not had before.

"One more thought has come to me and that is the deep, deep love I have for this country, a love that grew out of the awareness that I've spoken about. I had time to sit and reflect about my life while in prison, to think about the future and about all the beautiful things in our country. Unfortunately, there are people who don't realize what is about them; they don't take the time to reflect on their lives as we were afforded the opportunity to do. They don't look back to see where they've been, they don't look forward to see where they are going. They are caught up with the press of the day ... we had to see where we were going.

"I gained a deep, deep appreciation for this country, for the beauty of it, for the beauty of our way of life, the beauty in our form of government - a real tribute to a small group of men who sat down and drew up a document that was SO flexible, so capable of growing for future generations.

"My country is a mosaic or a caleidoscope; in that mosaic I see tiles of the Kansas wheat fields, of the California sequoias, the Douglas firs of Oregon and Washington, the pines of the East coast. I see the character of the waters change that surround our horders. I see the different soldiers that we've had in our time, each in their battle garb, marching off to defend that country, sometimes not understanding what it was all about, but going anyway, on the faith in our way of life. I see our succession of Presidents, congressmen, and officials that run this country. I see the frontiersmen, the Indians who had their own frontiers; the Africans who were brought as slaves but are now becoming a part of society; I see the Spanish people through California, New Mexico, and Arizona; I see the modern people who cross their own frontiers, frontiers of space, and medicine and progress. And when I look at my whole mosaic, I see that it is a rectangle with red and white stripes and a blue field of fifty stars."