Joe Kernan

Right now, the former governor and South Bend mayor Joe Kernan is on a plane to Vietnam. Almost 38 years ago, his plane was shot down, and he was held as a prisoner of war for 11 months. This is Joe’s first trip back to Vietnam, and WSBT is traveling with him. Kirk Mason is on the plane with the Kernans. They sat down for an interview before they left. “The only shower I've taken since 1972 where I've not finished with cold water was at Clarke Air Force Base in the Philippines,” said Joe. Clarke Air Force Base was Joe’s first stop after 11 months as a prisoner in Vietnam.

SOUTH BEND -- The Silver Hawks baseball team appears to be headed to new ownership -- and the buyers are as committed to South Bend as the sellers. Andrew T. Berlin, chairman and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Berlin Packaging and a limited partner in the Chicago White Sox, is prepared to pay an undisclosed amount of cash to purchase the Silver Hawks from Joe Kernan and a group of some 50 individual investors. The deal is still subject to approval from the Midwest League and various other entities.

He’s South Bend’s former mayor and Indiana’s former governor. He is also a former prisoner of war held both at the Hanoi Hilton and The Zoo during the Vietnam War. For Joe Kernan it has been 37 years since the war ended, but to him it’s like yesterday. Kernan is about to make the trip of a lifetime. He’s going back to Vietnam ‒ back to the prison that held him and the village where he was captured after his plane was shot down. Kernan recently sat down with WSBT's Kirk Mason to discuss his past experience in Vietnam, and his return.

SOUTH BEND - The South Bend Silver Hawks and South Bend leaders will hold a joint news conference Wednesday afternoon. Silver Hawks President Joe Kernan, South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke and others will speak at 2:00 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce to make, according to a news release, an "important announcement". Kernan held a news conference just two weeks ago to deny rumors the team is being sold and moving to another city. Stay with WSBT and WSBT.com throughout the day for the latest.

Joe Kernan is South Bend’s former mayor and Indiana’s former governor. He is also a former prisoner of war held both at the Hanoi Hilton and The Zoo during the Vietnam War. It has been 37 years since the war ended, and now Kernan is returning to Vietnam. WSBT News Anchor Kirk Mason is traveling with him. Blog entries are for Eastern Standard Time (South Bend time). Vietnam is 12 hours ahead. Tuesday, February 23, 5 p.m. EST We've now left Vietnam. I'm back sitting in the internet Cafe at the Seoul airport with WSBT photographer Demarco Brown.

Former Indiana Governor Otis "Doc" Bowen, a man with strong ties to our area, has passed away. He was 95 years old. Indiana's current Governor Mike Pence made the announcement Sunday afternoon. And since that time, we've been working the phones, talking with people who knew this icon within in our community and within  the state of Indiana. Here's what we know right now: Governor Pence says Bowen passed away Saturday night at the Catherine Kasper Life Center. That's in Donaldson, near Bowen's hometown of Bremen.

SOUTH BEND - The College Football Hall of Fame in downtown South Bend is closed for for good, but it continues to be a financial burden on the city. Visitors walked through the Hall for the last time on Sunday. The Hall of Fame cut admission prices to $2 over the weekend to give people extra incentive to visit. The attraction never lived up to expectations. When the city first announced the Hall would be coming to South Bend in 1992, then Mayor Joe Kernan said it would draw 200,000 people a year.

In the age of I-Pods, laptops and 3-D television, it's rare to see kids who have a passion for reading. When is the last time you sat down with a good novel? Girl Scout Troop 220 welcomed local celebrities Muffet McGraw and Joe Kernan out to Prairie Vista Elementary School for some good old-fashioned story time. Tonight’s family reading event focused on teaching kids the power of picking up a good book. "My favorite book is princesses," said her 6-year-old Kennedy Chester.

SOUTH BEND — Former mayor Joe Kernan was held a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 11 months. Nearly 38 years later, he's visiting the site. Like Vietnam, the Iraq war has been controversial. Some support it, others are against it, but sentiment against the war has not come down on those troops serving. Scenes of joyous celebration are what we now expect to see when soldiers return home. These are not the scenes many soldiers returning from Vietnam witnessed. The decision to send Americans thousands of miles away to fight communism in Southeast Asia led to one of the most turbulent times in American history.