Richard E. Bolstad

Dick Bolstad enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on December 14, 1948, and went on active duty beginning August 19, 1950. Corporal Bolstad served in combat in Korea with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division from September 1950 until he returned to the United States in April 1951, and then served at MCS Quantico, Virginia, until leaving active duty on March 31, 1952. He received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on April 1, 1953, and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on July 14, 1953. After serving in aircraft maintenance, Airman Bolstad entered the Aviation Cadet Program on June 20, 1955, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and awarded his pilot wings on September 28, 1956. After completing F-86A Sabre training at Williams AFB, Arizona, and F-100A Super Sabre training at Nellis AFB, Nevada, Lieutenant Bolstad served as an F-100C pilot with the 32nd Fighter-Day Squadron at Soesterberg AB in the Netherlands from June 1957 to June 1961, followed by service as an F-100 pilot with the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina, from June 1961 to September 1964. Captain Bolstad then completed A-1 Skyraider training, and then served as an A-1 pilot with the 602nd Fighter Squadron at Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, from March 1965 until he was forced to bail out over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on November 6, 1965.