Former Vietnam POW from SE Minn. dies in Calif. plane crash

LOS ANGELES (AP) He cheated death once, when his plane went down during the Vietnam War.

But a former prisoner of war from southeastern Minnesota was not so lucky this time.

Former Navy captain Cole Black and two others were killed Friday when their twin-engine plane crashed in an orange grove in California.

Black was 74. The native of Lake City was heading home to Escondido, California, after speaking to students in Oregon about his experience as a POW.

In 1966, Black was flying an F-8 Crusader when he was shot down in North Vietnam just a week before he was to return home. He survived the crash and eventually overcame seven years in prisoner of war camps.

Funeral services for Black are tentatively planned for Saturday at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego.

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