New Lance Sijan Video Biography – “Unbroken Will”
Happy Veterans Day Week to the brave military men and women who currently serve or have served our nation.
We are honored to announce the release of this new video clip from USAF PACE Profession of Arms Center of Excellence memorializing Captain Lance P. Sijan. In this clip, PACE shares the story of Lance’s shoot-down, capture, and last days as he fought for his life in the jungles of Vietnam.
Ejected from his fighter jet over Laos in 1967, Capt. Lance P. Sijan spent 46 days and nights evading capture from the Viet Cong. When captured he was 80 pounds and close to death. But he was a million miles away from giving up. Lance believed in freedom and his fellow Airmen. He died January 22, 1968 and was the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. He lived the code of conduct to his last breath and left a legacy of love and leadership for Airmen today to follow.
Here’s the new clip:
Lee Ellis and Lance Sijan became good friends during their pre-Vietnam War pilot training and even better friends during their missions. In his book, Leading with Honor, Lee shares about those moments after their shoot-down and capture –
“Before my deployment to Southeast Asia, Air Force 1st Lt Lance Sijan and I had been dormmates and golfing buddies. At Son Tay camp, I learned that his plane had gone down one day after mine. Badly
injured, he survived in the jungles of Laos for forty-six days before being captured. His remarkable story was not a surprise. Throughout our training he was always keen about his professional development. Lance stood out in survival school because he appeared to be the most highly motivated learner, both in the classroom and on the mountain trek.
As Ron Mastin (1st Lt, USAF) flashed Lance’s painful story across the camp to our building, I put the pieces together. I remembered our first winter of captivity, when my cellmates and I had listened help-lessly as someone in a cell down the hall deliriously cried out for help. I summoned the officer in charge, and a few minutes later Fat in the Fire opened the peephole in our door. “Please, will you help this man?”
I pleaded. With a serious look on his face he replied, “He has bad head injury. Been in jungle too long. Has one foot in grave.” He slammed the peephole shut and left.
Of course, in the isolated cells of Thunderbird, we had no way of knowing who was dying. Two years later, I realized that we had been audible witnesses to Lance’s last valiant struggle to survive. After the war, we learned more details of Lance’s heroic actions to evade, escape, and endure. His courageous efforts to resist, survive, escape, and return with honor were so notable that he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (posthumously). One of the Air Force’s most prestigious annual awards for leadership is named the Sijan Award.”
Please share your comments and tributes in the comments section below.
Links:
Lance Sijan – Written Biography
Lance Sijan – U.S. Air Force Academy
Lance Sijan – Personal Website
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