Day's actions from 26 August 1967 through 14 March 1973 were the last to earn the Medal of Honor prior to the end of U.S. involvement in the war on 30 April 1975, though some honorees (e.g. Williams J., Air Force, not named in previous public lists. Although its explosions lit the night sky and shook the walls of the camp, scaring some of the newer POWs,[30] most saw it as a forceful measure to compel North Vietnam to finally come to terms. James Howie, Marines, Ypsilanti, Mich. ANDERSON, Lieut. Individuals are permitted to take their own photographs or videos while touring the museum. [14], Beginning in October 1969, the torture regime suddenly abated to a great extent, and life for the prisoners became less severe and generally more tolerable. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. William J., Navy, New Manchester, W. Va. McKAMEY, Comdr. He was the first living recipient of the medal.Risner became an ace in the Korean War and commanded a squadron of F-105 Thunderchiefs in the first missions of Operation Rolling Thunder in 1965. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Hanoi Lists of P.O.W. At the end of the war, these soldiers were finally freed from their own personal hell, many of them including the late Arizona Senator John McCain going on to become prominent politicians and public figures. As a prisoner of war in the "Hanoi Hilton", navy pilot John McCain was known as uncompromising, frank and an avid reader who fiercely debated the war with his Vietnamese jailers. CRONIN, Lieut. The prison had no running water or electricity . Whats more, the museum displays a flight suit and parachute labeled as belonging to McCain, from when he was shot down over Hanoi except theyre fake. Elation, sadness, humor, sarcasm, excitement, depressionall came through.. [8], U.S. prisoners of war in North Vietnam were subjected to extreme torture and malnutrition during their captivity. The French called the prison "Maison Centrale" which was a common euphemism of prisons in France. HUTTON, Comdr. After the war, Risner wrote the book Passing of the Night detailing his seven years at the Hanoi Hilton. Some of the repatriated soldiers, including Borling and John McCain, did not retire from the military, but instead decided to further their careers in the armed forces.[6]. Locked and with nowhere to move or even to go to the bathroom vermin became their only company. Some played mind games to keep themselves sane, making mental lists or building imaginary houses, one nail at a time. [7], Overall, Operation Homecoming did little to satisfy the American public's need for closure on the war in Vietnam. 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. Porter A., Navy, Tucker, Ga., captured 1965. HENDERSON, Capt. The lists were turned over following the formal signing of the Vietnam ceasefire agreement. PIRIE, Comdr, James G., Navy, Lemoore, Calif. PLUMB, Lieut. BRUDNO, Capt. Accounted-For: This report includes the U.S. personnel whose remains have been recovered and identified since the end of the war. They asked Kissinger to select twenty more men to be released early as a sign of good will. "It's easy to die but hard to live," a prison guard told one new arrival, "and we'll show you just how hard it is to live." [9], In addition, the return of the nearly 600 POWs further polarized the sides of the American public and media. Joseph C., Navy, Prairie Village, Kan. POLFISR, Comdr. Theres even an old French guillotine. [23][24], The post-raid consolidation brought many prisoners who had spent years in isolation into large cells holding roughly 70 men each. Cmdr, William M., Navy, Virginia Reach, Va captured December 1965. Commander Stockdale was the senior naval officer held captive in Hanoi, North Vietnam. Leonard R., Jr., Malic esstot named in previous public 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. - Firearms* MARTIN, Comdr. Those listed as having died in captivity include the following: Gustav Hertz, Joseph Grainger, John S. Henry, Daniel L. Niehouse, Tanos E. Kalil, Henry F. Blood, and Betty Olsen. LESESNE, Lieut. Also shown is a toothbrush a POW received from a package from home, a towel that was issued to POWs, a sweater issued to Lt. Jack Butcher, a brick from the "Hanoi Hilton," a fan used during the hottest months and a folding fan. KROBOTH, First Lieut. ANZALDUA, Sgt. Cmdr, Robert D Navy, Garden City, Mo. He was finally released in 1973, although his war time injuries have caused permanent damage to his right arm. He mentions the last years of the prison, partly in fictional form, in Ha L/Hanoi Hilton Stories (2007). [10]:80, The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the U.S. Department of State each had liaison officers dedicated to prepare for the return of American POWs well in advance of their actual return. Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. GALANTT, Lieut. Senator John McCain tops our list. 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 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 . Peter R., Navy, Naples, Fla., captured October, 1967. ESTES, Comdr. HALL, Lieut. United States prisoners of war during the Vietnam War are most known for having used the tap code. [29] The old-time POWs cheered even more during the intense "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972,[29][30] when Hanoi was subjected for the first time to repeated B-52 Stratofortress raids. Paul telling his story to the crowd at the Freedom Museum. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (AP) Following are names of United States servicemen on a prisonerofwar list provided today by the North Vietnamese, It was compiled from Defense Department releases and reports of families who received confirmation their men were on the list from Pentagon officials. But McCain, for one, still came to terms with his time at the horrific Hanoi Hilton. [19] The North Vietnamese also maintained that their prisons were no worse than prisons for POWs and political prisoners in South Vietnam, such as the one on Cn Sn Island. MOORE, Lieut. John B Navy, Lemoore, Calif. METZGER, Lieut. One of the prerequisites for and provisions of the accords was the return of all U.S. prisoners of war (POWs). His right knee and arms were broken in the crash, but he was denied medical care until the North Vietnamese government discovered that his father was a U.S. Navy admiral. On January 27, 1973, Henry Kissinger (then assistant to President Richard Nixon for national security affairs) agreed to a ceasefire with representatives of North Vietnam that provided for the withdrawal of American military forces from South Vietnam. It would hang above you in the torture room like a sadistic tease you couldnt drag your gaze from it. Abel L., Marines, Denver, Colo., captured April, 1969. He had led aerial attacks from the carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. Operation Homecoming was the return of 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) held by North Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. (U.S. Air Force), Shortly after the war, ex-POW Mike McGrath annotated this detailed map of Hanoi to show the location of prisons. US Prisoners of War who returned alive from the Vietnam War Sorted by Name Military Service Country of Incident Name Date of Incident Date of Rank Return USAF N. Vietnam BEENS, LYNN RICHARD O3 1972/12/21 1973/03/29 USN N. Vietnam BELL, JAMES FRANKLIN O4 1965/10/16 1973/02/12 CIVILIAN S. Vietnam BENGE, MICHAEL 1968/01/28 1973/03/05 [6][7], Following the defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the 1954 Geneva Accords the French left Hanoi and the prison came under the authority of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Col, Edison WainWright, Marines, Tustin and Santa Ana, Calif.; Clinton, Iowa, shot down Oct. 13, 1967. Locations of POW camps in North Vietnam . During a routine torture session with the hook, the Vietnamese tied a prisoners hands and feet, then bound his hands to his ankles sometimes behind the back, sometimes in front. The list that the North Vietnamese turned over to American officials in Paris today named 27 American civilians as prisoners of the Vietcong, and listed seven other Americans as having died in captivity. The most immediate effect was to affirm to the POWs that their government was actively attempting to repatriate them, which significantly boosted their morale. The deal would come to be known as Operation Homecoming and began with three C-141 transports landing in Hanoi on February 12, 1973 to bring the first released prisoners home. - Alcohol "Vietnam War Accounting History". [17], For the book and documentary about American service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, see, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Museum of the United States Air Force, "Operation Homecoming for Vietnam POWs Marks 40 Years", "Operation Homecoming for Vietnam POWs marks 40 years", Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, "Vietnam era statistical report Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia", "See the Emotional Return of Vietnam Prisoners of War in 1973", "Operation Homecoming Part 2: Some History", "Vietnam War POWs Come Home 40th Anniversary", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Homecoming&oldid=1142559036, Repatriation of 591 American POWs held by the, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 02:59. Whitesides was killed, and Thompson was taken prisoner; he would ultimately spend just short of nine years in captivity, making him the longest-held POW in American history. 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 Michael G Navy, not named in previous lists. Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday at the age of 81, was tortured and held captive for five and a half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, an experience that shaped the rest of. Wikimedia CommonsThe Hanoi Hilton in 1970. Following the first release, twenty prisoners were then moved to a different section of the prison, but the men knew something was wrong as several POWs with longer tenures were left in their original cells. William J Navy, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc. NORRINGTON, Lieut. Richard D., Navy, La Jolla, Calif. NAKAGAWA, Comdr. While on a bombing mission during, James Bond Stockdale (December 23, 1923 July 5, 2005) was a United States Navy vice admiral and aviator awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, during which he was a prisoner of war for over seven years. Everett Alvarez Jr., Mexican American, US Navy pilot, the 2nd longest-held U.S. POW, enduring over 8 years of captivity. Verlyn W., Navy, Ness City, Kan., and Hayward, Calif. DENTON, Capt. 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. (U.S. Air Force photo) Operation Homecoming for Vietnam POWs marks 40 years But others were not so lucky. By the time the Americans sent combat forces into Vietnam in 1965, the Ha L Prison had been reclaimed by the Vietnamese. 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. It enabled prisoners to establish a command structure, keep a roster of captives, and pass information. Listen to these wonderful, courageous men tell small parts of their stories. : A Definitive History of the American Prisoner-of-War Experience in Vietnam, 19641973 (published 1976) and Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley's Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 19611973 (published 1999). Izvestia, a Soviet newspaper, accused The Pentagon of brainwashing the men involved in order to use them as propaganda, while some Americans claimed the POWs were collaborating with the communists or had not done enough to resist pressure to divulge information under torture. [We realize], over time, that we all fall short of what we aspire to be. Michael P., Navy, Berkeley, Calif. DAIGLE, Lieut. (U.S. Air Force photo). en-route to Hanoi. [12] One later described the internal code the POWs developed, and instructed new arrivals on, as: "Take physical torture until you are right at the edge of losing your ability to be rational. Tim Gerard Baker/Getty Images Nothing prepares you for how creepy Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, Vietnam can be. McCLEARY, Lieut. John McCain, leads a column of POWs released from the Hanoi Hilton, awaiting transportation to Gia Lam Airport. A large number of Americans viewed the recently freed POWs as heroes of the nation returning home, reminiscent of the celebrations following World War II. The name Hoa Lo refers to a potter's kiln, but loosely translated it means "hell's hole" or "fiery furnace." [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. The POWs held at the Hanoi Hilton were to deny early release because the communist government of North Vietnam could possibly use this tactic as propaganda or as a reward for military intelligence. [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. 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. Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. He served as President of the Naval War College from October 1977 until he retired from the Navy in 1979. They warmed you up and threatened you with death. On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, officially bringing to an end the American war in Vietnam. GOODERMOTE, Lieut. . [14]:500 The joy brought by the repatriation of the 591 Americans did not last for long due to other major news stories and events. Click here for frequently asked questions regarding items permitted inside the museum. BROWN, Capt. (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. [14]:503, Many worried that Homecoming hid the fact that people were still fighting and dying on the battlefields of Vietnam and caused the public to forget about the over 50,000 American lives the war had already cost. [5], During the Vietnam War, the first U.S. prisoner to be sent to Ha L was Lieutenant Junior Grade Everett Alvarez Jr., who was shot down on August 5, 1964. During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese did the same to American soldiers. WIDEMAN, Lieut. A considerable amount of literature emerged from released POWs after repatriation, depicting Ha L and the other prisons as places where such atrocities as murder, beatings, broken bones, teeth and eardrums, dislocated limbs, starvation, serving of food contaminated with human and animal feces, and medical neglect of infections and tropical disease occurred. After the war, Risner wrote the book Passing of the Night detailing his seven years at Ha L. Throughout the conflict period, the North Vietnamese had established at least thirteen prisons and prison camps (mostly located near Hanoi) to detain its American POWs, the most notoriously. Alan J., Marines, not named in previous lists. Kittinger served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, and he achieved an aerial kill of a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter and was later, James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (January 16, 1925 October 22, 2013) was a general and a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. 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. [37] Tran Trong Duyet, a jailer at Hoa Lo beginning in 1968 and its commandant for the last three years of the war, maintained in 2008 that no prisoners were tortured. In some cases, the names were not previously contained on lists of prisoners compiled from various sources. David A., Navy, St. Simons Island, Ga. GAITHER, Lieut, Comdr. - Camera bags ALVAREZ, Lieut. - Food and Soda Drinks Cmdr., Richard R., Navy, Aberdeen, S. D., cap. [5] Harris had remembered the code from prior training and taught it to his fellow prisoners. I had reached mine. The most prominent name on the civilian list was that of Philip W. Manhard of McLean, Va., a 52yearold career diplomat, who was taken prisoner in Hue, South Vietnam, when enemy forces seized the city in their 1968 Tet offensive. Topics included a wide range of inquiries about sadistic guards, secret communication codes among the prisoners, testimonials of faith, and debates over celebrities and controversial figures. GILLESPIE, Miramar, Capt. [4] The last POWs were turned over to allied hands on March 29, 1973 raising the total number of Americans returned to 591. Many of the future leading figures in Communist North Vietnam spent time in Maison Centrale during the 1930s and 1940s. 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. RATZLAFF, Lieut. On February 12, 1973, three C-141 transports flew to Hanoi, North Vietnam, and one C-9A aircraft was sent to Saigon, South Vietnam to pick up released prisoners of war. 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. WHEAT, Lieut. Of the POWs repatriated to the United States a total of 325 of them served in the United States Air Force, a majority of which were bomber pilots shot down over North Vietnam or VC controlled territory. Comdr. On February 12 the first of 591 U.S. military and civilian POWs were released in Hanoi and flown directly to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.

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