Today for #PhantomPhriday let's talk about Lt Col Tony Marshall, an F-4 Phantom WSO who flew over 265 missions during the Vietnam War before becoming a POW, eventually earning 5 DFCs

Originally from Washington D.C., Marshall went to the Air Force Academy in 1964 (one year after the first African Americans graduated). He graduated in 1968

Marshall was soon assigned to the 13th TFS at Udorn as an F-4 Phantom WSO. Marshall called the 13th a "Sierra Hotel Squadron."

After finishing his tour he asked for a 6-month extension. On July 3, 1972. His 266th mission was a FAC mission over North Vietnam. While diving to mark a target, his centerline fuel tank collapsed and the plane went out of control, and he and the pilot ejected.

After landing, Marshall recalled: "The next thing I remember is this out-of-body experience where I’m watching an idiot stand there with a radio in his hand. Obviously, it’s me."

Marshall was a POW (what he called "graduate-level survival school) for 9 months before being released in 1973.

Marshall stayed in the Air Force for 17 years after the war, upgrading to F-4 pilot and eventually a Wild Weasel instructor and ops officer.

Although he was often one of the few or only African American airmen serving around him, race mattered less in combat.
"When you get in combat and your life depends on the person next to you, do you care what his or her religion is? What color they are? No."