Illinois Valley Times

Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Woodhull) recently invited constituents to honor the memory of 1st. Lt. William M Price (USMC).

"On Saturday we will honor 1Lt Price as we acknowledge the 50th year since he was shot down over Vietnam where he served as co-pilot of a Grumman A6 Intruder," Swanson posted for the Oct. 8 event held at the Kewanee American Legion post.

According to POW Network, Price, of Kewanee, was lost on Oct. 12, 1972, when his plane was shot down in North Vietnam. Price and his co-pilot, Capt. John Peacock, "were assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam. When the aircraft failed to return to base as scheduled, the two were listed Missing in Action. Their last known location was about 15 miles west of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam."

In 2012, the Star Courier wrote about a tribute to Price. That year, Steve Halverson returned to Hog Days with a mission: to honor Price, whose name was inscribed on a POW/MIA bracelet that Halverson fished out of a tub of bracelets at a military program to honor veterans. The bracelet had this inscription: “1LT William M. Price — USMC — 12-OCT-72 — NVN.”

According to a Star Courier story from 1977, Halverson was 27 when his plane was shot down. He was 11 when his family moved to Kewanee. He grew up there and attended Northern Illinois University and while working on his master’s degree he enlisted in the Marine Corps, requesting assignment to the air wing.