Raymond W. "Ray" Vissotzky

Ray Vissotzky enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Reserve on August 23, 1951, and entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force on May 26, 1952. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Laredo AFB, Texas, on June 16, 1953, and then completed Advanced Flying School in October 1953. Lieutenant Vissotzky held various flying assignments between October 1953, and serving as an F-89J Scorpion pilot with the 449th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Ladd AFB, Alaska, from September 1957 to June 1959. He attended Instructor Pilot training at Moody AFB, Georgia, from June to December 1959, and then served as an Instructor Pilot with the 3552nd Flying Training Squadron at Moody AFB, Georgia, from December 1959 to January 1961. Captain Vissotzky's next assignment was as an Instructor Pilot and Academic Instructor with the 3501st Pilot Training Squadron at Reese AFB, Texas, from January 1961 to July 1963, followed by service as Assistant Physiological Training Officer and then Chief of Physiological Training with the 3640th Air Force Hospital at Laredo AFB, Texas, from July 1963 to November 1966. Major Vissotzky attended F-105 Thunderchief Combat Crew Training at McConnell AFB, Kansas, from November 1966 to June 1967, and then served as an F-105 pilot with the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from August 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on November 19, 1967.