Lt Col (Ret) John H. Yuill
18 Sep 2009
On September 18, 2009, Air Force Sergeants Association Chapter 951 hosted several events honoring POW/MIA day at Ellsworth AFB. Events included began with Revilee, a Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the base flag pole every 30 minutes, a 5-K run, a motorcycle ride to the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery and concluded with a Retreat ceremony at the base flag pole. The hightlight was hearing guest speaker Lt Col (Ret) John H Yuill, a former POW from Vietnam who spoke to a packed crowd during a lucheon.
Born and raised in Boswell, IN, John Yuill was the oldest of six children. After graduating high school at Boswell, he acquired a junior accounting degree from Indiana Business College in Lafayette, IN. He then enlisted in the Air Force in February 1954, where he completed navigator training, and became commissioned in April 1955. John was a navigator in the 1708 Ferrying Group at McClellan AFB,CA from April 1955 until February 1958. Following this assignment, he pursued pilot training and graduated in June 1959.
After completing pilot training, John was assigned to Perrin AFB, TX where he flew the F-86. Following that assignment, he was sent to Altus AFB, OK where he flew B-52's from July 1960 until December 1966. His job titles during this assignment were co-pilot, pilot and instructor pilot. After his assignment to Altus, John was sent back to Perrin to fly the F-102 for a short amount of time before being assigned to Grissom AFB, IN to fly the B-58 "Hustler“ as a pilot and C.C.T.S. Instructor pilot. This “enjoy able” assignment lasted from March 1967 until February 1970. John was next assigned to C.C.K., Taiwan for a tour with C-130's as a pilot and instructor pilot from May 1970 to July 1971. Most of his time there was spent flying out of Saigon, South Vietnam.
The assignment that followed was to Carswell AFB, TX where he flew B-52's once again. During his time at Carswell, John went TDY to Guam and Thailand in April 1972. There he flew missions over Vietnam in support of Linebacker II. John and his entire crew were shot down on 22 Dec 1972. They were held captive and interrogated until their release on 29 March 1973.
John met his wife Rose in 1955. She was a Canadian R.N. working in Sacramento, CA. They were married in April 1956 and have seven children: Suzi, Kathy, Ricky, Mike, Denise, Dianne, Stefani. Lt Col Yuill retired from the United States Air Force in April 1979. He and wife Rose currently live in Texas.
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