MS native, ex-POW passes away

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - U.S. Navy pilot Byron Fuller, who later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral before retiring, spent about six years as a prisoner of war (POW) in North Vietnam. Upon release from the Hoa Lo prison camp (Hanoi Hilton) in 1973, he strode across the tarmac at NAS Jacksonville with his wife and four children. He briefly addressed the crowd: "America, America, how beautiful you are ... Tonight my cup runneth over." Among his POW captees to return with him in 1973 was Rear Adm./Senator John McCann; and Gulf Coast notables Rear Adm./Senator Jeremiah Denton of Alabama; AF Brig. Gen. Bud Day, a recipient of both the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross, of Shalimar, Fla., and former CO of NAS Pensacola, Fla. Capt. J.B. McKamey – all of whom have passed away. Fuller, 91, died Oct. 4 at Fleet Landing in Atlantic Beach, Fla., with his family around him. Fuller was born in 1927 in Quitman, Miss., about 25 miles south of Meridian. (Source: Florida Times Union 10/09/19) https://www.stripes.com/news/us/byron-fuller-naval-aviator-who-survived-six-years-in-hanoi-hilton-and-rose-to-rear-admiral-dies-at-91-1.602447