Lee Ellis was in Vietnam prison with John McCain

Metro Atlanta

Lee Ellis was in Vietnam prison with John McCain

Photos: Cumming resident Lee Ellis was a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War along with John McCain.

Lee Ellis, an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, was shot down a few days before John McCain and was dragged into the same Hanoi prison. Both men spent five years there. Ellis retired from the Air Force as a colonel and lives in Cumming. Behind Ellis is a photograph of the F4, the type of plane he flew.

Lee Ellis (left) in a bomb shelter with fellow pilot Doug Condit prior to being captured. Doug Condit was later killed.

Ellis was a 23-year-old fighter pilot in 1967. He'd gone from plowing mules on the family farm in North Georgia to flying supersonic jets in about six years when he arrived in DaNang as part of a squadron of F-4 pilots.

Pilots had to fly 100 missions into North Vietnam to earn their ticket home. On his 54th, on Nov. 7, 1967, Ellis went down near the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin after a bombing raid along the MuGia Pass.

Hoa Lo, the notorious North Vietnamese prison, became known as the Hanoi Hilton. This photo of it was taken 1971. Ellis shared his cell with three other Americans, including his own co-pilot. Beatings and physical abuse were common.

After the Paris Peace Accords, the prisoners were informed they would be released. This Department of Defense photo shows them on their return to the U.S. At the front left is John McCain, Lee Ellis is the fourth person behind him.

Lee Ellis at Maxwell Air Force Base on his return from Vietnam.

A homecoming parade in March 1973 in Commerce, Ga.

Lee Ellis was welcomed home in 1973.

Homecoming parade in Commerce.

Ellis, 64, is now senior vice president at RightPath Resources in Suwanee, a leadership-development firm. Ellis has done interviews and spoke on John McCain's behalf at a recent Veterans for McCain event. Come September, he will be part of McCain's inner circle as the Arizona Republican officially becomes the GOP nominee in Minneapolis.

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Lee Ellis, an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, was shot down a few days before John McCain and was dragged into the same Hanoi prison. Both men spent five years there. Ellis retired from the Air Force as a colonel and lives in Cumming. Behind Ellis is a photograph of the F4, the type of plane he flew.

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