TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Vietnam veteran from Sabetha, Kansas is being remembered for his incredible display of communication and wit after being stranded behind enemy lines.
During the Vietnam War, Air Force Colonel, Roger Locher shot down multiple enemy planes. However, he was also shot down over North Vietnam. His co-pilot died in the crash, leaving Locher to hide and survive in the Asian jungle all by himself.
"Unfortunately, a MIG-19 got on their back and they were shot down," Paul Frantz with the Combat Air Museum said. "It was a rather daring rescue, but again he spent 23 days."
He crashed less than 65 miles from Hanoi, the capital city of communist Vietnam at the time, he disguised himself in bushes and leaves to evade the heavy North Vietnamese presence.
"When they're shot down, they're given code words for rescue," Frantz said. "Someone needed another way of proving that he was an actual, and not a trap set up by the North Vietnamese."
Knowing Locher was a Kansas native, the Americans used code, that only a Kansan would understand.
"They asked him about Kite's, what Kite's was," Frantz said. "He said 'It's a bar in Manhattan, Kansas. So, they thought, 'yeah, that's our man and we're going to go in and get him.'"
Locally, you can find his display and other memorabilia at the Combat Air Museum, and at Kite's Bar and Grill in Manhattan.
"When you've got a Kansas guy, we're obviously so close to Fort Riley, and we're so linked with the military, it's just a really cool story for us to be able to share," Kite's owner Scott Sieben said.
You can find Locher's display, as well as decades of other photos relevant to Manhattan.
"It's so much more to so many people, and how many people have came through here throughout the years," Sieben said. "Kite's will be 70 years old this year. So, There's a lot of great stories like that, and this is just one of the ones we're able to put on the walls and really share with everybody."
Locher still lives in Sabetha with his wife.
