WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE Last Vietnam POW flying for U.S. is grounded under age restriction

The major general called his forced retirement a 'parade.'
DAYTON (AP) -- With the exception of six years as a POW during the Vietnam War, Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier has flown Air Force fighter jets and other military aircraft for the past 44 years.
Now, he's facing a life without flying planes.
On Wednesday, the last Vietnam POW flying for the U.S. military called it a career and folded up his wings -- reluctantly.
Mechenbier, who reached the Air Force's mandatory retirement age for his rank at 62, was honored at a ceremony at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
"If we didn't have an age-limit law, General Mechenbier would not step down," said Gregory Martin, commander of Air Force Materiel Command.
Mechenbier agreed, and drew laughs from the several hundred people attending the ceremony when he poked fun at his predicament.
His 'parade'
"When you're getting run out of town on a rail, get in front and make it look like a parade. Welcome to my parade," he said.
Letters of congratulations from President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were read during the ceremony. Mechenbier's voice broke with emotion as he ended his speech with a reference to the Star-Spangled Banner.
"Flying will be the greatest void to fill," he said.
Mechenbier made his final flight three weeks ago when he returned to Hanoi to fly home remains thought to be those of two fallen comrades, occupants of an Army helicopter and Air Force plane lost in 1968.
Mechenbier called it the high point of his career.
"That is probably the single most emotional, memorable thing I've done in 44 years," he said. "And I felt good about it."
Born in Morgantown, W.Va., as the oldest of eight children, Mechenbier grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and Dayton before being accepted at the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1960, losing a $5 bet to his father who wagered his son would get in.
In 1966, Mechenbier was assigned to a fighter jet squadron in South Vietnam and was shot down in his F-4 on his 113th mission.
Target for enemy
As he floated to earth, Mechenbier watched helplessly as about 100 enemy soldiers fired at him from the ground below.
"The good news is they hit the parachute, but they missed me," he recalled.
Mechenbier's back was broken in the fall, and then he was sent to Hoa Lo prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton." He was tortured -- his shoulders dislocated -- and for the next six years endured life as a POW before being released in 1973 and resuming his duties with the Air Force.
For a year, Mechenbier was in a cell at the Hanoi Hilton 15 feet away from now-Sen. John McCain. The two communicated with each other by writing on the bottoms of porcelain plates with lead spoons.
Mechenbier later developed a series of hand signals to communicate with fellow POWs. He would stand on the shoulders of his cellmate for hours flashing signals through the prison's air vents.
Mechenbier said his ordeal taught him not to take anything for granted.
"For six years, there was no hot water. There was no water unless you put a bucket down in a well to get it," he said. "There was no electricity."
In 1991, Mechenbier transferred to the Air Force Reserve and maintained his flying status. He plans to continue working for Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor specializing in information technology.