150 AFA grads died 135 Navy 135/39 POW’s, & 337 from USMA
No Army POW’s as all tortured then killed in the field
In all Vietnam: POW's total: 735. Of which 73 tortured to death, of the 73, 28 were for refusing to give any other info o/t name, rank, & serial #.
662 survived 151 Navy, 38 Marines, 140 Army, & 333 AF POW's. Of the 662 survivors, 500 were air crew.
4 POW's held in China: 2 POW's held for 20 yrs., in solitary; another 2 A-6 pilots POW's held 6 yrs. (all released with our Vietnam POW's)
FUN FACTS:
Admiral Stockdale broken by Hanoi rope trick 29 times (pic below); they broke his leg also.
All torture ended with Ho's death in September, 1969
Capt. MCGrath shot down on 179th mission; suffered broken shoulder, back & leg; same injures as McCain (they flew the same plane) except McCain had 2 broken shoulders, along with back & leg+ he was bayoneted thru scrotum into stomach
Credits SERE Training for survival
After 100 missions AF pilots sent home; no limit for Navy missions. Some Naval Aviators had 500-550 missions in Vietnam.
Cuba sent torturers Hanoi Hilton & were more brutal then Vietnamese.
Ever wonder why military has Tricare for life? It's due to lawsuit from POW Robbie Risner, also a lawyer & MOH awardee (& WWII & Korea vet) who won all court cases up to Supreme Court before military gave in. Guess they didn't want a former POW presenting to the court wearing his MOH! Today we call that a"bad optic."
Longest POW held in N. Vietnam was 9 years.
Capt. McGrath never sat in a chair, only on floor for 6 years only wearing his underwear. Didn't brush teeth for 6 years.
POW wives couldn't buy a home or get a credit card since their husband's signature was required. AF & Navy lawyers brought suit & won eliminating this discriminatory practice against women. This was in 1967!
After release, some POW's wanted the traitorous POW's court marshaled.
When 8.5 yr POW Admn. Denton (he was the one blinked out the word 'torture' on TV) was asked to say a few words to the country, he said, "Thank you to our president & our nation for this day. We are proud to have had the opportunity to have served our country in these difficult times. God bless America!" 3 sentences.
About 2 months after I graduated from USNA, I was invited to a party at the home of the Commander of Naval Station Annapolis to provide a young counterpart for the boss's daughter to sit with at dinner. The host and the 10 or so other male guests were all Vietnam ex-POWs and I was indeed privileged to be in the company of true heroes. Very interesting (and wild) night.
150 AFA grads died 135 Navy 135/39 POW’s, & 337 from USMA
No Army POW’s as all tortured then killed in the field
In all Vietnam: POW's total: 735. Of which 73 tortured to death, of the 73, 28 were for refusing to give any other info o/t name, rank, & serial #.
662 survived 151 Navy, 38 Marines, 140 Army, & 333 AF POW's. Of the 662 survivors, 500 were air crew.
4 POW's held in China: 2 POW's held for 20 yrs., in solitary; another 2 A-6 pilots POW's held 6 yrs. (all released with our Vietnam POW's)
FUN FACTS:
Admiral Stockdale broken by Hanoi rope trick 29 times (pic below); they broke his leg also.
All torture ended with Ho's death in September, 1969
Capt. MCGrath shot down on 179th mission; suffered broken shoulder, back & leg; same injures as McCain (they flew the same plane) except McCain had 2 broken shoulders, along with back & leg+ he was bayoneted thru scrotum into stomach
Credits SERE Training for survival
After 100 missions AF pilots sent home; no limit for Navy missions. Some Naval Aviators had 500-550 missions in Vietnam.
Cuba sent torturers Hanoi Hilton & were more brutal then Vietnamese.
Ever wonder why military has Tricare for life? It's due to lawsuit from POW Robbie Risner, also a lawyer & MOH awardee (& WWII & Korea vet) who won all court cases up to Supreme Court before military gave in. Guess they didn't want a former POW presenting to the court wearing his MOH! Today we call that a"bad optic."
Longest POW held in N. Vietnam was 9 years.
Capt. McGrath never sat in a chair, only on floor for 6 years only wearing his underwear. Didn't brush teeth for 6 years.
POW wives couldn't buy a home or get a credit card since their husband's signature was required. AF & Navy lawyers brought suit & won eliminating this discriminatory practice against women. This was in 1967!
After release, some POW's wanted the traitorous POW's court marshaled.
When 8.5 yr POW Admn. Denton (he was the one blinked out the word 'torture' on TV) was asked to say a few words to the country, he said, "Thank you to our president & our nation for this day. We are proud to have had the opportunity to have served our country in these difficult times. God bless America!" 3 sentences.
Although not Hanoi Hilton, some Army POW's survived.
James "Nick" Rowe, an Army Special Forces officer, survived five years of Viet Cong captivity. For the entire five years, Rowe had maintained to the Viet Cong that he was just an Engineer officer, but anti-war activists in the US released his true identity. He was being led away to be executed when an American airstrike gave him a chance to escape and he was picked up by a flight of UH-1's. They were about to shoot him when a pilot noticed his beard and realized he was not Viet Cong. If I remember correctly the pilot who picked him up was a classmate of his from West Point.
He wrote a book about his captivity, "Five Years to Freedom". Should be required reading for officers.
He went on to found the Special Forces SERE school at Camp MacKall. Not a fun school. I went through in the winter with SEALs, SF and Rangers. No one enjoyed it.
Colonel Rowe was assassinated in 1989 by communist guerillas in Manilla. The Special Forces SERE school was renamed in his honor.
