Leatherneck Publishing Military Advisory Board Member - Our Hero

Capt. Cole Black, USN (Ret.) 74, a native of Lake City, Minnesota and former Navy jet pilot who spent seven years as a POW in North Vietnam, died Friday, November 9, when the private aircraft in which he was a passenger, a six-passenger twin-engine turboprop Piper AeroStar 602P, developed mechanical problems and crashed in an orange grove near Delano, CA just before noon.

Two additional people also died in the accident – Bruce Klein of Winchester, OR, the owner of seven Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizza places, who was piloting the plane, and Sally S. Wilson, a retired schoolteacher and noted female pilot. As pilots, both Klein and Wilson had a passion for the Maj. Gen. Marion E. Carl Foundation, whose mission is to inspire schoolchildren with the tales of successful aviators and astronauts with the hopes of encouraging them to stay in school. On this trip, the foundation had sponsored Cole Black to speak to nearly 5,000 Douglas County Oregon students.

The plane was in-route from Roseburg, Oregon returning to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, CA to drop off Cole after this extremely successful speaking engagement.

In September, the school district in his southeastern Minnesota hometown, Lake City, inducted Cole into its hall of fame, honoring him with a lifetime achievement award celebrating a man who grew up on a farm during the Depression, became a war hero and went on to share his experiences in an attempt to teach and inspire others.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17, where he became committed to flying where he spent most of the next 37 years of his career. On June 21, 1966, Cole was on a mission over North Vietnam when his F8E Crusader attack jet was downed by a North Vietnamese  MiG fighter. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home. "If I had turned right instead of left, I wouldn't have gotten shot down. Everybody goes through life at one time or another criticizing themselves and saying, “I shouldn't have done that.” The penalty isn't too bad in some cases but it was pretty bad in this case." He no sooner landed with his parachute when he was abducted by armed North Vietnamese farmers. He later told an interviewer he knew he was in trouble when the first person to greet him spoke only two words of English: "Hands up."

Vought  F8E Crusader Attack Jet

Cole spent much of the next seven years of his life in a 7-foot by 7-foot cell in Hoa Lo prisoner-of-war camp, euphemistically known as the "Hanoi Hilton," until winning release in February 1973.

That experience made him stronger, said his sister, Yvonne Oliver of Lake City. "When he came out, he appreciated everything he had before and after," she said. "He was my hero."

Cole's younger brother, Marlin Black of Lake City, said he was sometimes a tough act to follow. "Everything came easy for him. ... I wanted to follow in his footsteps, but I couldn't," he said, referring to how Cole was captain of his high school football team two years in a row and placed second in a wrestling tournament.

Marlin Black said his brother's work ethic and positive attitude led to his joining the military. "He was happy-go-lucky and never said a bad word about anybody," he said.

After his return from captivity, Cole remained in the military and became executive officer of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, then a Naval Attaché for Mexico and Central America.

Seven years as a POW tends to put horrendous strains on home life and marriages of the former prisoners and Cole’s first marriage was no exception, falling victim to the pressures.

 A few years after the divorce, Cole met Karen Black, his second wife-to-be Nov. 27, 1973, at Bully's East restaurant in Clairemont. Each had arrived separately with friends to have a few drinks. Karen said they ended up talking for six hours, which she found was something very unusual in men.

She said her husband and many of his fellow POWs had come home to broken marriages. Their "untold stories," along with excerpts from 12 hours of Cole's debriefing tapes after his 1973 release, made it into her self-published 2002 novel "Code of Conduct."

Karen is a successful Attorney with her practice in Escondido, CA specializing in Elder Law

In addition to his wife Karen, he is survived by daughters Christie Lambert of Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Stacy Edwards of Escondido; sons Rick Black of La Mesa, Doug Edwards of Tucson, Ariz., and Brad Edwards of Poway; brother, Marlin Black, and sister, Yvonne Oliver, both of Lake City, Minn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Cole was to celebrate his 75th birthday Nov. 27, and his friends had been raising thousands of dollars to have his name painted on a plane he had flown in and is now displayed at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego. Cole was aware of this honor but will never see it. "It would have been a nice tribute," said Karen.

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Cole's Picture Courtesy
Karen Black

F8E Photo Courtesy of

TAPS Courtesy of