027: The Captain Charles Plumb: On Packing Your Mental Parachute, Forgiving the Enemy and Enjoying Solitude in Life
Known as The Captain, Charles Plumb piloted an F-4 Phantom and flew 74 successful combat missions against Vietnamese forces and became a top gun pilot. Listen to his stories of being a prisoner of war for six years and coming home as a war hero. Learn how he packed his mental parachute to survive the wars of his life.
We've got Charles Plumb, otherwise known as The Captain. The Captain is an original. He went to the Naval Academy in Indianapolis back in the day, and then went on and literally became the first Top Gun pilot and essentially helped start that program for them. He was the original Mav from the movie Top Gun, and ultimately went off into the Vietnam War. After 75 missions, he was shot down. As he was stumbling to Earth in his parachute, people were shooting at him. He was captured and ends up as a POW in what they call the Hanoi Hilton for just under six years; shackled, tortured, and the way that they communicated inside the jail cells. He's very open. He's very honest. He's straightforward. It was just an absolute joy for me to drive up to Santa Inés and go into his hangar to see his little plane inside and visit his man cave. He's got decorations and memorials, and just everything you can possibly think of from his long career. He's still out there making it happen. He public speaks throughout the country, throughout the world. It was really an absolute joy to listen to this guy tell his tale of what happened to him over the course of his life.
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