James B. Souder

J.B. Souder entered Aviation Officer Candidate School in December 1962 and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on May 17, 1963. Ensign Souder finished half of Student Naval Aviator flight training before being terminated for defective visual acuity. He then served a nine-month tour of duty with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., before returning to NAS Pensacola and entering Naval Flight Officer training in January 1965. After completing NFO and Radar Intercept Officer training, Souder completed a course in Naval Law at the U.S. Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island, and then began indoctrination training in the F-4 Phantom II with Fighter Squadron 121 at NAS Miramar, California, in September 1965. Souder was next assigned to Fighter Squadron 143 from March 1966 to November 1967, where he flew 201 combat missions in Southeast Asia off the aircraft carriers USS Ranger (CV-61) and USS Constellation (CV-64). Lieutenant Souder was credited with the destruction of an enemy MiG-21 fighter in aerial combat on October 26, 1967. He next served as an instructor in the Radar Intercept Officer training course for a year before leaving the Navy in January 1969 and becoming a civilian pilot. Souder re-entered the Navy on July 1, 1970, and after completing refresher training in the F-4, he served with Fighter Squadron 51 as it transitioned from the F-8 Crusader to the F-4. Lieutenant Commander Souder deployed to the Western Pacific with VF-51 onboard USS Coral Sea (CV-43) in November 1971. He flew another 134 combat missions before being shot down by a MiG-21 on April 27, 1972. He was immediately captured and taken as a Prisoner of War by the North Vietnamese.