list of hanoi hilton prisoners

Significant numbers of Americans were also captured during Operation Linebacker between May and October 1972 and Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, also known as the "Christmas Bombings". Dennis A., Marines, not named in previous lists. GILLESPIE, Miramar, Capt. Taken before TV cameras in order to film antiwar propaganda for the North Vietnamese, Denton blinked the work torture in Morse code the first evidence that life at the Hanoi Hilton was not what the enemy forces made it seem. Comdr. In addition, Ha L was depicted in the 1987 Hollywood movie The Hanoi Hilton. [9][16][17] When prisoners of war began to be released from this and other North Vietnamese prisons during the Johnson administration, their testimonies revealed widespread and systematic abuse of prisoners of war. Ron Storz. BATLEY, Lieut. Bob Shumaker noticed a fellow inmate regularly dumping his slop bucket outside. The film focuses on the experiences of American POWs who were held in the infamous Hoa Lo Prison during the 1960s and 1970s and the story is told from their perspectives. forces. Collins H., Navy, San Diego. EASTMAN, Comdr. They exercised as best they could. [3] During the early part of Operation Homecoming, groups of POWs released were selected on the basis of longest length of time in prison. When a few captured servicemen began to be released from North Vietnamese prisons during the Johnson administration, their testimonies revealed widespread and systematic abuse of prisoners of war. FRIESE, Capt. The most immediate effect was to affirm to the POWs that their government was actively attempting to repatriate them, which significantly boosted their morale. ARCHER, Capt. Between 12th and 14th Streets March 29, 1973. All visitors may be screened with a metal detector upon entry. Elation, sadness, humor, sarcasm, excitement, depressionall came through.. KAVANAUGH, Sgt. - Camera bags Edward, Air Force, Harrison, N. Y., Quincy, Mass., captured Oct. 1965. Hoa Lo's 20-foot walls, topped with barbed wire and broken glass, made escape nearly impossible. After an early release, he was able to provide the names and personal information of about 256 fellow POWs, as well as reveal the conditions of the prisoner-of . The first round of POWs to be released in February 1973 mostly included injured soldiers in need of medical attention. The museum is a fantastic publicity enterprise with so little link to the horrors that . After visiting the Ha L Prison ("Hanoi Hilton") in Vietnam just last month, it is truly awe-inspiring to see the challenges these men had to overcome. [21] This created the "Camp Unity" communal living area at Ha L, which greatly reduced the isolation of the POWs and improved their morale.[14][21]. Everett Alvarez Jr., Mexican American, US Navy pilot, the 2nd longest-held U.S. POW, enduring over 8 years of captivity. Wikimedia CommonsJohn McCains alleged flight suit and parachute, on the display at the former Hanoi Hilton. BROWN, Capt. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27The State Department tonight released the list of American civilians acknowledged by North Vietnam as having been captured in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. The French called the prison Maison Centrale,[1] 'Central House', which is still the designation of prisons for dangerous or long sentence detainees in France. After Operation Homecoming, the U.S. still listed about 1,350 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action and sought the return of roughly 1,200 Americans reported killed in action and body not recovered. The ultimate example of Ha L Prison resistance was performed by Denton. James Stockdale, fearing that he might reveal details of the Gulf of Tonkin incident if tortured, attempted suicide, but survived; he never revealed this information to the enemy. Home. Comdr. [11][14], During one such event in 1966, then-Commander Jeremiah Denton, a captured Navy pilot, was forced to appear at a televised press conference, where he famously blinked the word "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" with his eyes in Morse code, confirming to U.S. intelligence that U.S. prisoners were being harshly treated. Paul telling his story to the crowd at the Freedom Museum. These details are revealed in accounts by McCain (Faith of My Fathers), Denton, Alvarez, Day, Risner, Stockdale and dozens of others. Henry D., Navy, identified on previous lists only as Carolina native, captured July 1972. As Cmdr. Page, Benjamin H. Purcell, Douglas K. Ramsey, Donald J. [25], Nevertheless, by 1971, some 3050percent of the POWs had become disillusioned about the war, both because of the apparent lack of military progress and what they heard of the growing anti-war movement in the U.S. and some of them were less reluctant to make propaganda statements for the North Vietnamese. Then, bowed or bent in half, the prisoner was hoisted up onto the hook to hang by ropes. BUDD, Sgt. - Water bottles (clear, sealed bottle, up to 20 oz.) As of 2016, he is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. The Hanoi Hilton is the nickname that American prisoners gave the Ha L Prison. Claude D., Navy, San Diego, Calif. JENKINS, Capt. David J Navy, San Diego, Calif. RUSSELL, Comdr, Kay, Navy, San Diego, captured in May, 1967. MONTAGUE, Maj. Paul J., Marines, not named in previous lists. Hanoi's list of Americans in captivity is as follows: Clodeon Adkins, Michael D. Benge, Norman J. Brookens, Frank E. Cins, Gary L. Davos, John J. Fritz Jr., Theodore W. Gosta, William H. Hardy, Alexander Henderson, Mihcael H. Kjome, Philip W. Manhard, Lewis E. Mayer, James A. Newingham, Robert F. Olsen, Russell J. SWINDLE, Mai, Orson G., Marines, captured November, 1966. [15], In the end, North Vietnamese torture was sufficiently brutal and prolonged that nearly every American POW so subjected made a statement of some kind at some time. They would have the shortest stays in captivity. [16], Operation Homecoming's return of American POWs from Vietnam (aka "Egress Recap") was the subject of David O. Strickland's novel, "The First Man Off The Plane" (Penny-a-Page Press, 2012). American POWs in Vietnam struggled to survive horrid conditions, physical pain, and psychological deprivation, often for years on end. Robert H. Navy Wilmington, Del., and Montclair, N. J., captured August, 1965. I had reached mine. James Eldon, Air Force, Forest Grove, Oregon, date of capture unknown. It was presumed, however, Mr, Sieverts said, that any Americans believed to be missing in South Vietnam, and not on the list, were probably dead. Together, these 11 men were the most unbreakable prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton. Senator John McCain tops our list. [10]:845 The former prisoners were slowly reintroduced, issued their back pay and attempted to catch up on social and cultural events that were now history. In addition to allowing communication between walls, the prisoners used the code when sitting next to each other but forbidden from speaking by tapping on one another's bodies. Clarence R., Navy, not named in previous lists. Listen to how deeply they came to understand themselves, how terrible was the weight of that hell on them in both their bodies and their minds. The culture of the POWs held at the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison was on full display with the story that would come to be known as the "Kissinger Twenty". - Box cutters This Pentagon . Notorious Hanoi prison held both Vietnamese and American prisoners By Michael Aquino Updated on 02/21/21 Prisoner diorama at Hoa Lo Prison ("Hanoi Hilton") in Vietnam. Dennis A., Navy, Scottsdale, Ariz. MOORE, Capt, Ernest M., Jr., Navy Lemoore, Calif. MULLEN, Comdr. Initially, this information was downplayed by American authorities for fear that conditions might worsen for those remaining in North Vietnamese custody. [citation needed] Mistreatment of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese prisoners and South Vietnamese dissidents in South Vietnam's prisons was indeed frequent, as was North Vietnamese abuse of South Vietnamese prisoners and their own dissidents. An official website of the United States government, National Museum of the United States Air Force. Newly freed prisoners of war celebrate as their C-141A aircraft lifts off from Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Feb. 12, 1973, during Operation Homecoming. After President Lyndon Johnson initiated a bombing pause in 1968, the number of new captures dropped significantly, only to pick up again after his successor, President Richard Nixon, resumed bombing in 1969. [15] The Hanoi Taxi was officially retired at Wright Patterson Air Force Base on May 6, 2006, just a year after it was used to evacuate the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. ddd hoa lo prison historic site hell on earth background: in the last decades of the 19 th century, hanoi had dramatically transformed the situation due to the Everett, Jr. Navy, Santa Clara, Calif., captured August, 1964. - Knives [2] It was nevertheless often overcrowded, holding some 730 prisoners on a given day in 1916, a figure which rose to 895 in 1922 and 1,430 in 1933. Two months later, in what became known as the Hanoi March, 52 American prisoners of war were paraded through the streets of Hanoi before thousands of North Vietnamese civilians. It was directed by Lionel Chetwynd, and stars Michael Moriarty, Ken Wright and Paul Le Mat.Music was done by Jimmy Webb.. Among those acknowledged as prisoners in South Vietnam were Michael D. Ebge, Norman T. Brookens, and Richard W. Utecht, who worked for the Agency for International Development and were captured during the Tet offensive of 1968. [25], Most of the prison was demolished in the mid-1990s and the site now contains two high-rise buildings, one of them the 25-story Somerset Grand Hanoi serviced apartment building. The prison had no running water or electricity . The first flight of 40 U.S. prisoners of war left Hanoi in a C-141A, which later became known as the "Hanoi Taxi" and is now in a museum. RATZLAFF, Lieut. WHEAT, Lieut. Dismiss. As of 26 July 2019 the Department of Defense's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency listed 1,587 Americans as missing in the war of which 1,009 were classified as further pursuit, 90 deferred and 488 non-recoverable. Col. Harlan P., Marines, Fremont, Calif. HELLE, Sgt. The United States, in Paris, provided a list of 26,000 Communist prisoners held by South Vietnam in exchange. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. The Hanoi Hilton was used by the North Vietnam to hold prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. Navy Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. spent over eight years as a POW, making him the longest resident of the Hanoi Hilton and the second longest held POW in American history. Leo T., Navy, Palo Alto, Calif. PURRINGTON, Lieut. This, of course, earned him additional torture. Duluth, Minn. WOODS, Lieut. Cmdr., Robert J., Navy, Sheldon, Iowa, captured May 1967. [35] However, eyewitness accounts by American servicemen present a different account of their captivity. - Coolers Open9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Leonard C., Navy, Bemardson, Mass. Cmdr, William M., Navy, Virginia Reach, Va captured December 1965. [10] The prison complex was sarcastically nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs, in reference to the well-known Hilton Hotel chain. [26] Others were not among them; there were defiant church services[27] and an effort to write letters home that only portrayed the camp in a negative light. While the raid failed to free any POWs and was considered a significant intelligence failure, it had several positive implications for American prisoners. Leonard R., Jr., Malic esstot named in previous public lists. George K., Jr., Army, Foxboro, Mass., captured April, 1972. They drew strength from one another, secretly communicating via notes scratched with sooty matches on toilet paper, subtle hand gestures, or code tapped out on their cell walls. Aubrey A., Navy, listed previously as Texan. [16] As John McCain later wrote of finally being forced to make an anti-American statement: "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. Joseph C., Navy, Prairie Village, Kan. POLFISR, Comdr. Many of the future leading figures in Communist North Vietnam spent time in Maison Centrale during the 1930s and 1940s. The remaining 266 consisted of 138 United States Naval personnel, 77 soldiers serving in the United States Army, 26 United States Marines and 25 civilian employees of American government agencies. HUTTON, Comdr. In 1967, McCain joined the prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton after his plane was shot down. BALLARD, Lieut. [26] Other parts have been converted into a commercial complex retaining the original French colonial walls. Constitution Avenue, NW - Diaper bags In addition to extended solitary confinement, prisoners were regularly strapped down with iron stocks leftover from the French colonial era. They also were responsible for debriefing POWs to discern relevant intelligence about MIAs and to discern the existence of war crimes committed against them. I thought perhaps I was going to die, said John McCain in this 1999 interview on his time at the Hanoi Hilton. Please note the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is not responsible for items left in vehicles. Glenn H., Navy, Napoleonville, La. [15], The Ha L was one site used by the North Vietnamese Army to house, torture and interrogate captured servicemen, mostly American pilots shot down during bombing raids. The French called the prison "Maison Centrale" which was a common euphemism of prisons in France. These liaison officers worked behind the scenes traveling around the United States assuring the returnees' well being. (U.S. Air Force photo), DAYTON, Ohio - Recreated POW cells in the Return with Honor: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia exhibit in the Southeast Asia War Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

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