Pete Peterson | |
---|---|
Ambassador of the United States of America to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam | |
In office April 11, 1997 –July 15, 2001 | |
President | Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
Succeeded by | Raymond Burghardt |
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives from Florida's 2nd district | |
In office January 3,1991 –January 3,1997 | |
Preceded by | Bill Grant |
Succeeded by | Allen Boyd |
Personal details | |
Born | Douglas Brian Peterson June 26,1935 Omaha,Nebraska,U.S. |
Citizenship | Australian (since 2002) [1] |
Political party | Democratic |
Nickname | "Pete" |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Air Force |
Years of service | 1954–1980 |
Rank | Colonel |
Unit | 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War (WIA) |
Awards | Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Medal (3) Purple Heart |
Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26,1935) is an American politician and diplomat. He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane was shot down. He returned to Hanoi when he became the first United States Ambassador to Vietnam in 1997. He was an ambassador until July 2001,after which he devoted himself to philanthropic work.
Peterson grew up in Milton,Iowa,and attended college at the University of Tampa. He joined the United States Air Force and served in the Vietnam War,where his F-4 Phantom II fighter was shot down on September 10,1966. He spent six years in prison,a period he described as "hours and hours of boredom,spliced with moments of stark terror." [1] He was released on March 4,1973.
After the Vietnam War,Peterson remained in the Air Force and retired in 1981 as a colonel with 26 years of service. After retirement he established a general contracting firm in Tampa,Florida and later a small computer company in Marianna,Florida called CRT Computers. He served for 5 years on the faculty of Florida State University in Tallahassee,Florida.
In 1990,Peterson ran as a Democrat for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 2nd congressional district. He defeated James W. Grant,a politician who grew unpopular after switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the middle of his second term. He declined to run for a fourth term (he was succeeded by Allen Boyd) and in 1997 was asked by President Bill Clinton to become the United States's first post-war ambassador to Vietnam. [1] One of his goals was securing an account of those still listed as missing in action from the war and so helping to resolve the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.
On November 17,2000,he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton.
Since retiring as ambassador,Peterson founded The Alliance for Safe Children,TASC,which aims to lower preventable injuries to children worldwide,and focuses specifically on such issues as drowning in Asia. [2] [3] With his wife he started a company whose aim it is to promote American business in Southeast Asia. [4]
Peterson is a senior advisor for Albright Stonebridge Group,an international strategic consulting firm.
Peterson's first wife died in 1995. Two weeks after his installation in Hanoi,he met Vi Le,Australia's senior trade commissioner,born in Vietnam,whom he married. In 2002,he moved to Melbourne,Australia,so they could be closer to her family. [1]
In 2009,Peterson acquired Australian citizenship. [1]
Hỏa Lò Prison was a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the "Hanoi Hilton". The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although the gatehouse remains as a museum.
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Brigadier General James Robinson "Robbie" Risner was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force, and a senior leader among U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.
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Hanoi Taxi is a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter strategic airlift aircraft that was in service with the United States Air Force and became famous for bringing back the first returned prisoners of war in Operation Homecoming. This aircraft, which was delivered to the Air Force in 1967, was the last C-141 to be withdrawn from service after a career of 43 years.
George Everette "Bud" Day was a United States Air Force officer, aviator, and veteran of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. He was also a prisoner of war, and recipient of the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. As of 2016, he is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. He was posthumously advanced to the rank of brigadier general effective March 27, 2018, as directed by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.
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