Charles G . Boyd Charles Graham Boyd ( born April 13 , 1938 ) is a retired four - star general of the United States Air Force . Boyd is a highly decorated combat pilot who served in Vietnam ; and is the only Vietnam War prisoner of war ( 1966 – 1973 ) to reach the four - star rank ( 1992 ) . His final Air Force assignment was as deputy commander in chief , U . S . European Command , Stuttgart - Vaihingen , Germany . He retired from the Air Force in 1995 and has remained active in the national security realm , including as a program director of the Council on Foreign Relations and as president of Business Executives for National Security . He is a member of the guiding coalition of the Project on National Security Reform . Biography . Charles Graham Boyd was born on April 13 , 1938 near Rockwell City , Iowa . He entered the United States Air Force in April 1959 . Education . Boyd received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1975 , and earned his Master of Arts degree from the same in 1976 . His military education included attending the Air War College , Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama in 1977 . In 1986 , he participated in the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University . Air Force career . Boyd was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the aviation cadet program in July 1960 and served served in a variety of assignments in Europe , the Pacific , and the Continental United States . A command pilot , with over 2 , 400 flight hours , he flew F - 100s and F - 105s in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . He was shot down on April 22 , 1966 while on his 105th mission . From 1966 to 1973 ( 2 , 488 days ) , he was a prisoner of war , interned in various prisons in North Vietnam . He was released on February 12 , 1973 as a part of Operation Homecoming . Boyd was vice commander of Strategic Air Command ' s 8th Air Force , director of plans at Headquarters U . S . Air Force , Washington , D . C . , and commander of Air University , with headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama , before becoming deputy commander in chief , U . S . European Command , Stuttgart - Vaihingen , Germany , which was his final assignment . His Air Force assignments include : His promotions and dates of rank are : Military awards and decorations . General Boyd ' s major military awards and decorations include : Post - military career . Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1995 , Boyd served as strategy consultant to Speaker of the United States House of Representatives , Newt Gingrich . From July 1998 he was executive director of the U . S . Commission on National Security for the 21st Century , whose final report in January 2001 predicted a growing threat to the United States from terrorism . He has also served as senior vice president and Washington program director of the Council on Foreign Relations . From May 1 , 2002 until December 31 , 2009 , he was the president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security ( BENS ) , a national security public interest group . From December 14 – 17 , 2009 , Boyd led a delegation from BENS to Pyongyang , North Korea , to discuss economic issues with officials from the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea government . Boyd remains involved with BENS as a member of the Board of Directors . He is a member of the board of directors at defense electronics firm , DRS Technologies ; graphics software firm , Forterra Systems ; and venture capitalists In - Q - Tel , who support the work of the Central Intelligence Agency . Family . His wife is Jessica Tuchman Mathews , president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace . General Boyd is a widower — his first wife , Millicent Sample Boyd ( April 23 , 1938 – April 11 , 1994 ) is buried in Arlington National Cemetery .