Texas service held for Vietnam War pilot, killed in 1967

COOL, Texas (AP) — U.S. flags and patriotic songs helped honor an Air Force pilot from Texas whose plane was shot down in 1967 during the Vietnam War and his remains identified earlier this year.

Col. Roy Knight Jr. was remembered Saturday during services in the town of Cool, near Weatherford, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Dallas.

Knight was shot down over Laos in May 1967. His remains were flown Thursday to Dallas Love Field on a commercial jet piloted by his son, Southwest Airlines Capt. Bryan Knight.

A military portrait of Knight was displayed beside his coffin. The Abilene Reporter-News reports some mourners left coins on Knight’s headstone to show respect for the fallen pilot and his family.

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The service included a number of Knight’s relatives born decades after his death.