ICE arrests at Philadelphia International evoke time when airport police helped military catch AWOL Vietnam War soldiers in 1960s
A local historian combed through a 1967 collection of police incident reports from Philadelphia’s airport police that included detentions of soldiers and veterans.
In 2026, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency bolstered its presence at numerous American airports, including Philadelphia International Airport. The aim was to fulfill the Trump administration's objective of apprehending 1,100 individuals daily. ICE works in tandem with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to achieve this goal.
However, prior to the existence of the TSA, local police played a similar role in assisting the military in apprehending soldiers who had gone AWOL (absent without leave). A historian specializing in race and policing in Philadelphia after the Civil Rights Movement recently examined 1967 police incident reports from the 77th district, or the airport police, which patrolled Philadelphia International Airport.
The records revealed that the airport police occasionally detained drafted soldiers who refused to fulfill their military obligations. In one instance, a soldier named Fred Batchelder, president of Ridley Park's Veterans for Peace in Vietnam, was questioned for distributing anti-war pamphlets to servicemen without obtaining authorization from the Division of Aviation. Batchelder was subsequently released but remained under investigation by the Philadelphia Civil Disobedience Squad and the FBI.
Meanwhile, AWOL soldiers exploited the airport's high foot traffic to evade military authorities. For instance, a sailor named D. Green, who was already under disciplinary action, fled the terminal while a shore patrolman pursued him. Airport police joined the chase, leading to his capture. Another soldier, Pvt. T.J. Kee, escaped the custody of military police escorting him to Baltimore but was later apprehended in Wilmington after nearly five months on the run.
Servicemen also utilized medical emergencies to avoid active duty. Navy officer P. Nahmens, who claimed severe chest pains and an upset stomach, asked airport police for assistance. He later admitted to being reluctant to report to his superiors, which raised suspicions among the police. Pvt. Wishler had a seizure in the airport's baggage room, leading to his transport to the Naval Hospital.
Despite initial concerns over his condition, Wishler was eventually cleared by the hospital, as he had a history of seizures due to a prior accident.
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