CORONADO, Calif. (KGTV) — An Air Force pilot who was killed in Vietnam was honored on Tuesday with an official U.S Air Force Memorial Flyover in Coronado.
His widow also honored for her years of work, fighting for prisoners of war and those missing in action to be acknowledged.
Colonel Arthur "Art" S. Mearns' plane was shot down in 1966, but for 11 years his wife and daughters didn't know if he had been taken as a POW or if he had been killed.
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During those 11 years of not knowing, his wife wrote letters and visited congressmen, reminding them of all the men who were still unaccounted for.
Today, Colonel Mearns' wife and daughters were on hand for the ceremony. They were presented with a painting of the little girls writing a prayer to God, asking them to bring back their father.
The painting was commissioned by the Pentagon and hung in a Louisiana congressman's office for years.
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Mearns' wife and daughters said the ceremony was special but also brought back a lot of sad memories of the man they love so much.
