Gen. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner was part of that legendary group who served in three wars, built an Air Force, and gave us an enduring example of courage and mission success... Today's Airmen know we stand on the shoulders of giants.

[4] Risner worked numerous part-time jobs in his youth to help the family, including newspaper delivery, errand boy and soda jerk for a drug store,[3] for the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce at age 16, as a welder, and for his father polishing cars.

[3] Risner enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in April 1943 and attended flight training at Williams Field, Arizona, where he was awarded his pilot wings and a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in May 1944.

When the squadron was relocated to Howard Field in the Panama Canal Zone in January 1945 to transition to P-38 Lightning fighters, its pilots were soon banned from the Officers Club for rowdiness and vandalism.

Forced to land on a dry lakebed, he found that he was in Mexico and encountered bandits, but successfully flew his Mustang to Brownsville after the storm had passed.

He received an unofficial rebuke from the American embassy for flying an armed fighter into the sovereign territory of a foreign nation, but for diplomatic reasons, the flight was officially ignored.

In June, when the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, also at Kimpo, sought experienced pilots, he arranged a transfer to 4th Fighter Wing through the intervention of a former OKANG associate.

Fighting one MiG at nearly supersonic speeds at ground level, Risner pursued it down a dry riverbed and across low hills to an airfield 35 miles (56 km) inside China.

[9][n 2] Scoring numerous hits on the MiG, shooting off its canopy, and setting it on fire, Risner chased it between hangars of the Communist airbase, where he shot it down into parked fighters.

The object of the maneuver was to push Logan's aircraft to the island of Cho Do off the North Korean coast, where the Air Force maintained a helicopter rescue detachment.

[16] During his tour of duty at George Air Force Base, Risner was selected to fly the Charles A. Lindbergh Commemoration Flight from New York to Paris.

Ferrying a two-seat F-100F Super Sabre nicknamed Spirit of St. Louis II to Europe on the same route as Lindbergh, he set a transatlantic speed record, covering the distance in 6 hours and 37 minutes.

[n 5] Risner's squadron led the first Rolling Thunder strike on March 2, bombing an ammunition dump at Xom Biang approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of the Demilitarized Zone.

The strike force consisted of more than 100 F-105, F-100 and B-57 aircraft, and in the congested airspace, heavy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire seriously disrupted its coordination and radio communications.

[19] After the last strike had been delivered, Risner and the two surviving members of his flight remained in the area, directing the search and rescue mission for Baird until their fuel ran low.

[20][n 6] On March 22, 1965, while leading two flights of F-105s attacking a radar site near Vinh, North Vietnam, Risner was hit by ground fire when he circled back over the target.

The missions saw the first interception of U.S. aircraft by North Vietnamese MiG-17 fighters, resulting in the loss of two F-105s and pilots of the last flight, struck by a hit-and-run attack while waiting for their run at the target.

[24] Risner's exploits earned him the award of the Air Force Cross and resulted in his being featured as the cover portrait of the April 23, 1965 issue of Time magazine.

However, after two weeks he was moved to Cu Loc Prison, known as "The Zoo", where he was confronted during interrogations with his Time magazine cover and told that his capture had been highly coveted by the North Vietnamese.

Returned to Hỏa Lò Prison as punishment for disseminating behavior guidelines to the POWs under his nominal command, Risner was severely tortured for 32 days, culminating in his coerced signing of an apologetic confession for war crimes.

It was largely thanks to the leadership of Risner and his Navy counterpart, Commander (later Vice Admiral) James Stockdale, that the POWs organized themselves to present maximum resistance.

In his words he describes how he survived a torture session in July 1967, handcuffed and in stocks after destroying two pictures of his family to prevent them from being used as propaganda by an East German film crew: To make it, I prayed by the hour.

The meeting, described as "stilted",[36] resulted in an unflattering portrait of McCarthy in Risner's book, primarily because she failed to note scars and other evidence of torture he wrote that he had made plain to her.

In July 1973 USAF assigned him to the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, where he became combat ready in the F-4 Phantom II.

In 1976, he met his second wife, Dorothy Marie ("Dot") Williams, widow of a fighter pilot missing-in-action in 1967, and subsequently married her after her missing husband was declared dead.

An identical casting, measuring four feet and weighing 300 pounds, was installed in the foyer of the USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in October 1984.

On the initial attack, while exposing himself to heavy ground fire, with complete disregard for his personal safety, Colonel Risner's aircraft sustained a direct hit in the left forward bomb-bay area, filling the cockpit with smoke and fumes.

Colonel Risner's actions not only deprived the communist force of its vital supply route and much needed equipment but further served to emphasize the high degree of U.S. determination in Southeast Asia.

Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship and aggressiveness, Colonel Risner reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Through his extraordinary heroism, leadership, and aggressiveness in the face of the enemy, General Risner reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force