45 Years Ago

Air Force pilot, Col. Leo "Sid" Boston came home yesterday. Its been 45 years.

Born in Canon City, Colo., Sid joined the Air Force right after college. He married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy. They had 3 children.

Sid was assigned to Air Defense Command. For the 'Nam war he was a A-1 pilot. His mission was to locate downed Air Force comrades, use bombs, rockets and gunfire to keep them safe till help arrived.

In 1966, this was the mission he was on when he went down in the dense jungle near Black River in Son La Province. He joined the MIA's.

By 1978, the gov't told his family he was presumed dead. They wept.

Dorothy spent years calling politicians and generals to bring her husband home. She fought till the day she died in 1988.

In the 1990s American military teams were allowed to return to North Vietnam to hunt for our MIA's. Villagers in Son La told them of a 1966 crash, remains were recovered but we did not have the technology to assess tiny amounts of DNA present in the remains.

This spring, new scientific methods were used and the Pentagon announced that Col. Leo "Sid" Boston had been found.

On Friday, a hearse carrying his remains drove past lines of saluting basic cadets before he was laid to rest, next to Dorothy, in the Air Force Academy cemetery that hold so many of our Air Force legends.

Sid's mother, granddaughter and great granddaughter were there. Sid's mother received the flag honoring her son.

Welcome home, Sid.