Norman L. Wells

Norman Wells enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on April 18, 1952, and entered the Aviation Cadet Program in September 1953. Wells was commissioned a second lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona, on December 3, 1954. After completing F-86 Sabre Combat Crew Training at Nellis AFB, Nevada, Lieutenant Wells served with the 45th Fighter Day Squadron at Sidi Slimane AB, Morocco, from September 1955 to December 1956. While at Sidi Slimane, he transitioned from the F-86 to the F-100 Super Sabre. He then flew with the 493rd Fighter Bomber Squadron at Chaumont AB, France, from December 1956 to March 1958. Wells transferred to the 309th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Turner AFB, Georgia, in March 1958, and then to the 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, in January 1959. His next assignment was with the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Bitburg AB, West Germany, where he served from May 1963 to March 1966, when he deployed to Southeast Asia. Captain Wells served with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from March 1966 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on August 29, 1966. He had also been shot down 8 days before, on August 21, but was rescued in the Gulf of Tonkin. Captain Wells was also credited with the destruction of an enemy MIG during a mission for which he would later be awarded the Air Force Cross on July 19, 1966.