A hero comes home: Remains of Vietnam veteran who left Dallas in 1967 and was waved off by his five-year-old boy are returned to the same airport in a plane flown by that same son who is now a pilot himself
- Air Force Col. Roy Knight Jr. was flown home to Love Field airport on Thursday
- Knight Jr. of Milsaps, Texas, died aged just 36 in northern Laos on May 19, 1967
- His remains were not found until earlier this year by investigators in the area
- Dental records were used to identify the dad-of-three and he was flown home
- The airport fell silent as the ‘entire terminal’ came to pay their respects
- Emotional footage from on board the flight showed Bryan Knight’s co-pilot explaining to passengers the story of Roy Knight Jr’s final journey home
- Southwest staff and airport workers were there to meet the plane as the coffin carrying his remains was carried from the plane, draped in an American flag
The remains of a Vietnam veteran who left Dallas in 1967 and was waved off by his five-year-old boy have been returned to the same airport he left from in a plane flown by his son who is now a pilot himself.
Air Force Col. Roy Knight Jr. of Milsaps, Texas, was flown home on a Southwest Airlines flight which landed at Love Field on Thursday morning 52 years after he left his young family.
The hero pilot died aged just 36 in northern Laos on May 19, 1967 after his jet was shot down but his body was not found until earlier this year by investigators looking at crash sites in the area.
Dental records were then used to identify father-of-three Knight Jr. who had been declared dead in 1974 by the air force.
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Air Force Col. Roy Knight Jr. of Milsaps, Texas, was flown home on a Southwest Airlines flight which landed at Love Field on Thursday morning and was piloted by his son Bryan
Southwest Airlines Captain Bryan Knight pictured with his wife Charis following the flight
Air Force Col. Roy Knight Jr. died aged 36 in northern Laos in 1967 after his jet was shot down
Reporter Jackson Proskow was returning home to Washington DC when he witnessed the touching ceremony. He said the airport fell silent as the ‘entire terminal’ came to pay their respects to the fallen hero.
Jackson wrote on Twitter: ‘As we wait at the gate, we’re told that Captain Knight is coming home to Dallas. When he left from this very airport to fight in Vietnam his 5 year old son came to the airfield and waved goodbye. It was the last time he would see his father alive.
‘Today the pilot of the plane bringing Capt. Knight back to Dallas is his son.
‘What a privilege it was to witness this moment. For those asking, they announced it over the intercom. The gate agent was very emotional as he told the story over the PA. They handed out American flags to everyone at the gate.’
Knight Jr was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and six Air Medals for his actions, according to his obituary
The family will hold a funeral service with full military honors on Saturday
Southwest staff and airport workers were there to meet the plane as the coffin carrying Knight Jr’s remains was carried from the plane draped in an American flag
Emotional footage from on board the flight showed Bryan Knight’s co-pilot explaining to passengers the story of Roy Knight Jr’s final journey home.
Southwest staff and airport workers were there to meet the plane as the coffin carrying Knight Jr’s remains was carried from the plane draped in an American flag.
He was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and six Air Medals for his actions, according to his obituary.
It reads: ‘He was well-liked and respected by the men with whom he served, particularly the enlisted airmen with whom he had a special connection having been one of them for several years.’
His wife, and mother to his three children, Patricia, passed away in 2008.
Emotional footage from on board the flight showed Bryan Knight’s co-pilot, right, explaining to passengers the story of Roy Knight Jr’s final journey home before the two embraced
Passengers cheers and appeared emotional as they were told Roy Knight Jr’s story
Another of Knight’s sons, Roy, wrote on Facebook: ‘A lot of wonderful people have had a hand in preparing for this final moment of Dad’s journey. It has been so uplifting to work with so many great folks!
‘As I have said before, we have been offered everything from a bed in someone’s home to a place of eternal rest there at Holder’s Chapel Cemetery. The love these people have shown our father and our family has just been overwhelming.
‘ I look forward to thanking each of them personally. Thank you all for sharing in this solemn yet joyous time for our family.’
He told The Weatherford Democrat: ‘It’s been 52 years since dad was shot down — I was 10 years old when he left.
‘What is perhaps unique in our experience and that of about 2,500 other families, and something you will never see again, is the missing in action aspect — this limbo life we lived for so many years. There was a chance he could be alive and there was a possibility he could be a prisoner of war.’
The family will hold a funeral service with full military honors on Saturday where Knight will be buried alongside family members in Cool.