Home

U.S. Air Force, retired, Col. Jack Van Loan, fighter pilot and Vietnam War prisoner of war, was honored with a Missing Man flyover during his funeral held at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery, October 26, 2019. He passed away in Columbia, South Carolina, on October 14, 2019, and received full military honors during the funeral for his nearly 30 years of service, including his 2,116 days spent in the North Vietnamese prison, nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton. The South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing provided the formation flyover during the funeral with a four-ship of F-16 fighter jets.

His Silver Star Citation reads:

For the period May 1967: This officer distinguished himself by gallantry and intrepidity in action in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force during the above period while a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. Ignoring international agreements on the treatment of prisoners of war, the enemy resorted to mental and physical cruelties to obtain information, confessions, and propaganda materials. This individual resisted their demands by calling upon his deepest inner strengths in a manner that reflected his devotion to duty and great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.