Captain Charlie Plumb Never Quit

Whispers & Bricks

Charlie Plumb always wanted to fly planes. As a little boy growing up on a farm in Kansas, he wasn't sure how he would be able to. The United States Naval Academy provided him with the opportunity. He reported to Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego where he flew the first adversarial flights in the development of what would be called The Navy Fighter Weapons School, currently known as “TOP GUN.” The next year, Plumb’s squadron the Aardvarks launched on the Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk with Fighter Squadron 114 to fly the Navy’s hottest airplane, the F-4 Phantom Jet. Code named “Plumber,” Charlie Plumb flew 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam and made over 100 carrier landings.

On his 75th mission, just five days before the end of his tour, Plumb was shot down over Hanoi, taken prisoner, tortured, and spent the next 2,103 days in North Vietnamese Prisoner of War camps. He served for 31 years in the Navy he now shares his story with many different groups. His story reminds us that no matter what we are going through we can overcome it. No matter our circumstances we must never quit.