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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists Modern Era Pilot Signatures United States Surnames A to C Cordier, Ken

Col. Ken Cordier

Ken Cordier was born in 1937 in Canton, Ohio. He was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Akron on July 16, 1960, and was trained as a Minuteman Missile Launch Officer in 1961, later serving as an instructor in the course before entering Undergraduate Pilot Training in January 1963. Lt Cordier was awarded his pilot wings on December 19, 1964, and then completed F-4 Phantom II Combat Crew Training. He then flew F-4s with the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron at MacDill AFB, Florida, and then flying combat missions in Southeast Asia with the 45th TFS in January 1965 while deployed to Ubon RTAFB, Thailand. Cordier volunteered for another tour in June 1966, this time flying out of Cam Ranh Bay AB in the Republic of Vietnam. On December 2, 1966, while flying his 176th combat mission, Cordier was forced to eject over North Vietnam after his F-4 took a direct hit from a surface-to-air missile. He was immediately captured and spent the next 2,284 days as a Prisoner of War before being released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. After hospitalization, he attended the Armed Forces Staff College and then requalified to fly jet fighters. From 1979 to 1981, he directed the flying operations at Sembach AB in West Germany, and was then selected to command the reactivation of Wiesbaden AB, also in West Germany. Col Cordier served as Air Attache to the United Kingdom, based at the U.S. Embassy in London, from 1982 until his retirement from the Air Force on January 31, 1985. After his retirement, Ken represented British Aerospace in Washington, D.C., as Director of Military Aircraft. He is a past President of NAM-POWs and the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association. Col Cordier wears Command Pilot Wings as well as the Air Force Missile Badge, and accumulated over 2,000 flying hours in fighter aircraft during his Air Force career.

His Silver Star Citation reads:

Captain Kenneth W. Cordier distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as an F-4C Pilot in Southeast Asia on 11 November 1966. On that date, Captain Cordier was the Mission Commander leading a flight against a target in North Vietnam. His first pass in the target area drew heavy hostile reaction and his wingmen were downed on their initial passes. Completely disregarding his own personal safety, Captain Cordier immediately initiated rescue procedures and delivered his remaining ordnance on the nearby target. Captain Cordier then remained in the area to provide assistance to inbound rescue aircraft until his low fuel state dictated his departure from the area. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Captain Cordier has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Col. Ken Cordier - Signed Aviation Art

Reunion Over Hanoi by Philip West. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £170.00 - £210.00

Text for the above items :

Reunion Over Hanoi by Philip West. Col. Ken Cordier and Col. Bob Buckey were classmates in high school and college in Akron, Ohio. After college, they both became USAF fighter pilots, and although the two school chums never served together, their careers took separate yet parallel paths - until December 1966. On 2nd December 1966, then Cap. Ken Cordier and his back-seat pilot 1st Lt Mike Lane, were flying with the 559th TFS out of Cam Ranh Bay when they were shot down and captured 85 miles NW of Hanoi. They were to languish in North Vietnamese prisons for the next six years, first listed as MIA, then years later as POWs. Linebacker II was the code-name of the bombing offensive designed to force the North Vietnamese to agree to a ceasefire and peace accord. It was during the Linebacker II bombing campaign of December 1972 that then Maj. Bob Buckey and his back-seater, Capt Dan Tibbets, flew over Hanoi with the 555 TFS out of Udorn, Thailand. Their mission was to provide MIG-CAP for the B-52 bombers which were delivering punishing blows to the communist regimes capital city. On the ground, Ken was unaware that his old friend was a part of that campaign which would result in gaining his and the other POWs freedom after enduring long years of torture and deprivation. Bob, on the other hand, had known for years that Ken was a POW. So, every time he flew Downtown, Bob thought about Ken down there locked up in the infamous Hanoi Hilton and wondered when they would meet again. The bombing campaign had the desired effect and the North Vietnamese signed the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. Shortly thereafter, Operation Homecoming brought the POWs home to family, friends and freedom. Six months after his release, at a class reunion in Akron, Ken and Bob met and had a great time comparing war stories and resuming their old friendship. The image shows Maj. Bob Buckey as he pulls his F-4E Phantom II away from the Hanoi Hilton.