Remembering Capt. Jerry Coffee

When I received word from that my great friend Capt. Jerry Coffee USN (Ret.) had passed away, I set about building a remembrance episode to the one person among all the thousands I've known and worked with that has made the greatest impact on my life. 

Captain Coffee flew low-level reconnaissance missions over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which provided photographic proof of Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles, turning the tide of the dangerous Soviet – U.S. standoff. During the Vietnam War, Jerry was flying a combat mission off the USS Kittyhawk when he was shot down by North Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns. Immediately captured, he was held prisoner for over 7 years in the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ communist prison where torture and solitary confinement were routine.

He was the living embodiment of forgiveness. Godspeed my friend.