list of hanoi hilton prisoners

On November 21, 1970, U.S. Special Forces launched Operation Ivory Coast in an attempt to rescue 61 POWs believed to be held at the Sn Ty prison camp 23 miles (37km) west of Hanoi. Prisoners were forced to sit in their own excrement. Correspondingly, Richard Nixon and his administration began to focus on salvaging his presidency. [11] Such POW statements would be viewed as a propaganda victory in the battle to sway world and U.S. domestic opinion against the U.S. war effort. 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. ESTES, Comdr. They also were responsible for debriefing POWs to discern relevant intelligence about MIAs and to discern the existence of war crimes committed against them. GILLESPIE, Miramar, Capt. Wayne K., Navy, Berlin, N. Y., captured. Congratulations, men, we just left North Vietnam,' former POW David Gray recalled his pilot saying. Allen C., Navy, Virginia Beach, Va. CHRISTIAN, Cmdr., Michael D., Na Virginia Beach, Va. COSKEY, Cmdr., Kenneth L., Navy, Virginia Beach, Ve. [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 treatment and ultimate fate of U.S. prisoners of war in Vietnam became a subject of widespread concern in the United States, and hundreds of thousands of Americans wore POW bracelets with the name and capture date of imprisoned U.S. service members.[1]. [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. After the implementation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, neither the United States nor its allies ever formally charged North Vietnam with the war crimes revealed to have been committed there. [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]. RIVERS, Capt. Weapons are not permitted including pocket knives and firearms, to include conceal carry and other dangerous weapons. Operation Homecoming has been largely forgotten by the American public, yet ceremonies commemorating the 40th anniversary were held at United States military bases and other locations throughout Asia and the United States. After reading about the gruesome conditions that awaited American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton, read about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which first sparked the Vietnam War. The prison was demolished in the 90s and is now the site of a historical museum. KAVANAUGH, Sgt. dell, Marines, Newport, N. C. MILLER, Lieut. It would hang above you in the torture room like a sadistic tease you couldnt drag your gaze from it. [10]:79 No matter the opinion of the public, the media became infatuated with the men returned in Operation Homecoming who were bombarded with questions concerning life in the VC and PAVN prison camps. Who was the most famous prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton? Dismiss. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for president of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama. Gareth L., Navy, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Everett Alvarez Jr., Mexican American, US Navy pilot, the 2nd longest-held U.S. POW, enduring over 8 years of captivity. [22], Despite several escape attempts, no U.S. POW successfully escaped from a North Vietnamese prison, although James N. Rowe successfully escaped from North Vietnamese captivity. 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. Meanwhile, Paul was taken prisoner, tortured, placed in solitary confinement in what became known as the "Hanoi Hilton" and fed a diet that was later determined to be about 700 calories a day, which caused him to drop to about 100 pounds. 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. Hoa Lo's 20-foot walls, topped with barbed wire and broken glass, made escape nearly impossible. On his next deployment, while Commander of Carrier Air Wing Sixteen aboard the carrier USS Oriskany (CV-34), his A-4 Skyhawk jet was shot down in North Vietnam on September 9, 1965. Comdr, Earl G., Jr., Navy, San Diego. Now he says when he hears Marie Osmond . [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. Comdr. This, of course, earned him additional torture. I thought perhaps I was going to die, said John McCain in this 1999 interview on his time at the Hanoi Hilton. 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. [3] During the early part of Operation Homecoming, groups of POWs released were selected on the basis of longest length of time in prison. - Coolers Located about 35 miles west of Hanoi, this prison was opened in the late summer of 1965 to accommodate the overcrowding at Hoa Lo ("Hanoi Hilton"). 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. Unaccounted-For: This report includes the U.S. personnel who are still unaccounted for. It was also located near the Hanoi French Quarter. ARCHER, Capt. One of the prerequisites for and provisions of the accords was the return of all U.S. prisoners of war (POWs). Paul Gordon, Marines, Newton, Mass. American POWs gave them nicknames: Alcatraz, Briarpatch, Dirty Bird, the Hanoi Hilton, the Zoo. "[14] Only a small number of exceptionally resilient prisoners, such as John A. Dramesi, survived captivity without ever cooperating with the enemy; others who refused to cooperate under any circumstances, such as Edwin Atterbury, were tortured to death. tured March 1966. Last edited on 25 December 2022, at 21:17, U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War, Learn how and when to remove this template message, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: 19651973 A Prisoner of War, "Former Vietnam POW recalls ordeal, fellowship", "He was a POW in Hanoi Hilton: How Mississippi man's 'tap code' helped them survive", "F-100 Pilot Hayden Lockhart The First USAF Vietnam POW", "Hoa Lo Prison Museum | Hanoi, Vietnam Attractions", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ha_L_Prison&oldid=1129517630, This page was last edited on 25 December 2022, at 21:17. Elation, sadness, humor, sarcasm, excitement, depressionall came through.. Prohibited Items: From February 12 to April 4, there were 54 C-141 missions flying out of Hanoi, bringing the former POWs home. - Box cutters Ha L Prison (Vietnamese:[hwa l], Nh t Ha L; French: Prison Ha L) was a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. A handful of U.S. civilians were also held captive during the war. Cmdr., Richard R., Navy, Aberdeen, S. D., cap. 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. They were finally free to put their enemies behind its bars, and American soldiers became their prime targets. [16] Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949,[16] which demanded "decent and humane treatment" of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement. 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. Glenn H., Navy, Napoleonville, La. (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. Peter R., Navy, Naples, Fla., captured October, 1967. He was kept there for five and a half years. William Kerr, Marines, not named in previous public lists. [14][24] At this time, the prisoners formally organized themselves under the 4th Allied POW Wing, whose name acknowledged earlier periods of overseas captivity among American military personnel in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Rio Helmi/LightRocket/Getty ImagesDuring the French colonial period, Vietnamese prisoners were detained and tortured at the Ha L prison. In the 2000s, the Vietnamese government has held the position that claims that prisoners were tortured during the war are fabricated, but that Vietnam wants to move past the issue as part of establishing better relations with the U.S.[35] Bi Tn, a North Vietnamese Army colonel-later turned dissident and exile, who believed that the cause behind the war had been just but that the country's political system had lost its way after reunification,[36] maintained in 2000 that no torture had occurred in the POW camps. In 1967, McCain joined the prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton after his plane was shot down. In the North Vietnamese city of Hanoi, hundreds of American soldiers were captured and kept prisoner in the Ha L prison, which the Americans ironically dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton." Click here for frequently asked questions regarding items permitted inside the museum. [27], Only part of the prison exists today as a museum. Unaware of the code agreed upon by the POWs, Kissinger ignored their shot down dates and circled twenty names at random. (U.S. Air Force), Shortly after the war, ex-POW Mike McGrath annotated this detailed map of Hanoi to show the location of prisons. American POWs gave them nicknames: Alcatraz, Briarpatch, Dirty Bird, the Hanoi Hilton, the Zoo. [9], In addition, the return of the nearly 600 POWs further polarized the sides of the American public and media. Tim Gerard Baker/Getty Images Nothing prepares you for how creepy Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, Vietnam can be. Cmdr. Multiple POWs contracted beriberi at the camp due to severe malnutrition. 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. One escape, which was planned to take place from the Hanoi Hilton, involved SR-71 Blackbirds flying overhead and Navy SEALs waiting at the mouth of the Red . Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War, National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, the resumed bombing of North Vietnam starting in April 1972, "Vets, Flyers discuss ideology, time in POW camps", "John Dramesi's unflattering memories of his fellow POW John McCain", "Unshakable Will to Survive Sustained P. O. W.'s Over the Years", "Joseph Kernan, Vietnam P.O.W. A majority of the prisoners were held at camps in North Vietnam, however some POWs were held in at various locations throughout Southeast Asia. Made for smaller wrists and ankles, these locks were so tight that they cut into the mens skin, turning their hands black. 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. CRAYTON, Cmdr. By Bernard Gwertzman Special to The New York Times. "Vietnam War Accounting History". 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. It was located near Hanoi's French Quarter. 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. [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. Built in the late 19th century, Ha L originally held up to 600 Vietnamese prisoners. David Hume Kennerly/Getty ImagesAmerican POW soldiers line up at the Hanoi Hilton prior to their release. 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 . The code was simple and easy to learn and could be taught without verbal instructions. Frank A. Sieverts, the State Department official charged with prisoner affairs, said that Hanoi apparently did not inelude any information on Americans captured or missing in Laos or Cambodia, despite the provision in the ceasefire agreement to account for all Americans throughout Indochina. Also, a badly beaten and weakened POW who had been released that summer disclosed to the world press the conditions to which they were being subjected,[14] and the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia heightened awareness of the POWs' plight. The POWs made extensive use of a tap code to communicate, which was introduced in June 1965 by four POWs held in the Ha L: Captain Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Lieutenant Phillip Butler, Lieutenant Robert Peel and Lieutenant Commander Robert Shumaker. FREEAdmission & Parking, Prison locations in North Vietnam. Joseph C., Navy, Prairie Village, Kan. POLFISR, Comdr. : 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). He did it so he would not forget where the camps were. . If you get note, scratch balls as you are coming back.. Many former prisoners of war have suffered the hell of torture. The Alcatraz Gang was a group of eleven POWs who were held separately because of their particular resistance to their captors. He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon, and the first man to fully witness the curvature of the earth. March 29, 1973. Wikimedia CommonsJohn McCains alleged flight suit and parachute, on the display at the former Hanoi Hilton. [14] en-route to Hanoi. 's Are Made Public by U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/28/archives/hanoi-lists-of-pows-are-made-public-by-us-2-diplomats-listed.html, Bernard Gwertzman Special to The New York Times.

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