your CMS. As such, the North Vietnamese released the POWs they still held. Museum Robert E. Meyers during a burial service at Arlington National Cemetery on October 26, 2015. It would hang above you in the torture room like a sadistic teaseyou couldnt drag your gaze from it. Known as "Cable 243," the communique from President Kennedy's government to the U.S. ambassador in South Vietnam had an immediate impactDiem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were assassinated a few months later, leading to 12 successive military coups between 1963 and 1965. Gene Smith. have hearing loss, VA plans, budget, finances, and performance. All Rights Reserved. Part of the North's guerrilla and revolutionary warfare strategy, the trail would remain an important and continually growing pathway from North to South, though it often took more than one month to traverse. Even after the war ended, the potency of the POW issue was not diminished. If not a hero, I am, however, a proud American veteran. By the end of 1972, only 24,400 U.S. troops remained in Vietnam, having peaked at 536,100 in 1968. By the grace of God and the help of other men, we made it out. Originally published in the October 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. During the third congress of the Lao Dong, Ho Chi Minh ceded his position as party secretary-general to Le Duan. Thirty-three U.S. airmen were killed in the raids, and 15 B-52s were shot downdeaths that were seen domestically as largely in vain, as historians generally agree that North Vietnam had already decided to resume peace talks before the bombings. A person being tortured will simply say anything he thinks his tormenters want to hear in order to stop the pain. For a stark example of how the cancer of incremental compromise can rot and slowly eat away at a great institution, one has only to take a good look at what happened to the German army during the Third Reich. I was 35 years old, a husband and father of three small children. Search the Digital Collections representing our digitized holdings across a wide spectrum of materials include artifacts, prints, posters, maps and more. The defeat escalated negative public opinion of France's presence in Vietnam, led to the partition of the country, and the eventual complete withdrawal of French presenceto be replaced eventually by American intervention. Torture brought each man to his breaking point, and many prisoners were forced to write confessions or sign statements under atrocious coercion. But that begs a more fundamental question: Does it work? By noon, nothing had happened. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. The conditions at the prison were appalling, and prisoners were frequently tortured. My dad was really upset. The following story was written You may also like: 50 insights into the US military-industrial complex. McCain, who died Saturday at age 81, was held 5 years as a prisoner of war. In the aftermath, President Nixon withdrew troops from Cambodia but did not discontinue the deadly and indiscriminate bombing campaign. I tried to bury my M-16 in the creek bed but I think they got it.. The bodies of more than 2,800 people were discovered, and another 3,000 residents of Hue were missing. He led the way and showed us how to nurse and take care of men, and that became our goal to make people in their last hours and days as comfortable as possible it was our mission, and he was a big inspiration to us.. At the age of 20, when I was called to serve my country and defend freedom, I hadnt blinked an eye. The Nixon Administration would go on to argue that it did not derive its legal authority in conducting the Vietnam War from the Tonkin Resolution, but that the president already had the authority as commander in chief. A staunch anti-Communist, Nguyen retained American political backing until its eventual withdrawal from the conflict and was famously uncompromising with his North Vietnamese rivals. Members of the Army's Old Guard carry the casket U.S. Army Cpl. And let me tell you, those years of physical and mental torture, away from my family, were hell. Soon after, Linebacker II started. Closed Sunday & Monday. Thus began the First Indochina War, a conflict that would eventually morph and spiral into the Vietnam War. Over 3 million people perished in the conflict, and hundreds of American and Vietnamese citizens were held in prison camps as unofficial POWs. By the time he finally got back to Germany in 1947, he, along with literally hundreds of thousands of other German and Italian POWs, had learned a valuable and lasting lesson about America, its people and their valuesa lesson that did much to shape the rest of the worlds view of America for many years after World War II. Its about our values and our standards. That experience gave him a pretty strong clue that all the Nazi propaganda about the savage and barbaric Americans might not be quite accurate. As a POW in the Hanoi Hilton, I could recall nothing from military survival training that explained the use of a meat hook suspended from the ceiling. Rosaire Bushey is the public affairs officer at the Salem VA and an Air Force Veteran. He was over Hanoi, Vietnam, on Oct. 25, 1967. The symbol of the POW/MIA movement is the POW/MIA flag, the brainchild of Mary Hoff, whose husband, Navy Lt. Cmdr. A private airline flew me and my father back and the local TV station had sent a reporter who interviewed me all the way back. WebThe greatest war film every made. Would like to hug him and whisper "it's all good now brother, you can rest" . Feb 3, 1989, 11:00pm PDT. We strive for accuracy and fairness. But theyd have a guy with a lantern and theyre asking for information about your unit, its size, and I just kept repeating. Ongoing tensions between the United States and North Korea further impede the process. Additionally, some activists claimed that the Vietnamese still held live American prisoners, a claim that was advocated vocally for years. I know I have to kill him and do it silently, but his bayonet wont come out of the scabbard, and by that time my hand has come off his mouth and hes yelling bloody murder. Vietnam War pilot tells his story of being shot down over enemy territory and his time as a POW. It was not invented in response to 9/11. Experience shows that slow, methodical, long-term rapport-building interrogation tactics always produce better results. | Photo courtesy of Congressman Johnson's office. I had brothers who were married, and children had been born, but it was exciting coming home. The Paris Peace Accords marking the end of the Vietnam War were signed on January 27, 1973. In the end, we did not get anywhere near the reciprocity from the VC and North Vietnamese that we had hoped for; but as badly as American POWs were treated, it could have been much worse. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Tuesday Friday Still, the issue of MIAs remains a controversial one, with accusations of government cover-ups continuing to foster distrust among families of the missing, particularly surrounding repatriation efforts in Korea and Vietnam. Built by the French and used to imprison political dissidents, American prisoners were kept there from 1964 onward. Chicago, IL 60603 During a routine torture session with the hook, the Vietnamese tied a prisoners hands and feet, then bound his hands to his anklessometimes behind the back, sometimes in front. In 1991, a Wall Street Journal poll found that 69 percent of Americans believed there were living MIAs still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, some self-appointed experts still insist that torture produces valid, actionable intelligence. They served our country faithfully and with all their heart. B-52s bombed all night long after talks broke down. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Are There Still Pows In Vietnam 2020? - CLJ We must choose to keep a positive attitude. This created a unique situation in most previous American wars, the majority of prisoners were enlisted men captured by the enemy, often times in groups. We were separated from civilization in the middle of nowhere and we couldnt communicate; had no food, and no medical attention thats torture enough for an individual. In 1998, Congress mandated that the POW/MIA flag also be flown on holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. A newspaper clipping from the time shows support from his hometown. This form of protest would continue for much of 1963, and the impact it had on the Diem government gave it the label "the Buddhist Crisis.". I was doing my junior year at Virginia Tech and my grades were low, so I had to take a quarter off in 1967 and during that time, because I wasnt a full-time student, I had to let the government know. My parents found out that a couple of those who were released were at Fort Jackson, and so they went there and got onto base and met with them and heard from them that I was alive. A staunch Catholic nationalist, Ngo Dinh Diem's rule over South Vietnam gave rise to violent religious oppression, including the deadly suppression of protesting Buddhist monks. WebArmy Veteran recalls his time as POW during Vietnam - VA News On Dec. 8, 2020, U.S. Army Veteran David Harker will celebrate his 75th birthday. My father-in-law was a squad leader in the German armys Infanterie Lehr Regiment during World War II. Yet the POWs of Vietnam seem to occupy a special place in the narrative and legacy of the war. Army Pfc. Vietnam War veteran Bob Kakuk helped lead the fight to have government buildings fly the flag of prisoners of war and missing in action. The POWs returned after the Paris Peace Accords arrived from captivity under North Vietnam, the NLF, and other militant groups. And sometimes we have to make that choice many times throughout the day. But as American involvement in the war grew, U.S. advisers started getting captured. I didnt think about the possibility of being killed. I love the Veterans, too, and appreciate their service, and institutions like the VA are a great service to our country.. A group of school mates had gotten together and sold bumper stickers for a dollar each to buy me a car and they handed me the keys and a check for $1,100.. America would suspend the use of the involuntary draft in 1973, relying on voluntary enlistment from then on. The North Vietnamese maintained that the United States was committing an illegal war, one that disqualified them from receiving the rights guaranteed by the Geneva Convention. The majority of those on both lists are Vietnam veterans, and several of them have written for or been interviewed by Vietnam Magazine over the years. The U.S. agreed to withdraw all of its troops and dismantle American bases in exchange for the release all U.S. prisoners of war held by the North Vietnamese. The partition of Vietnam led 130,000 French-led troops to relocate from the North to South Vietnam, and between 50,000-90,000 Viet Minh to relocate to the North. By merging inclusion, diversity, equity and access with our core values, VA provides better care for Veterans, and better opportunity for employees. The planes the Pentagon fixed for us did have guns fitted to them, but the guns success rate was about 50 percent. But a few days later we got out. Human passion like Bridge over the River Kwai. Several American prisoners maintained their spirits and composure as best they could. In a memo to the secretary of war, Davis wrote, No modern state, which is a party to international law, can sanction, either expressly or by a silence which imports consent, a resort to torture with a view to obtain confessions, as an incident to its military operations.. The court-martial board acquitted Glenn, but the Judge Advocate General of the Army, Maj. Gen. George B. Davis, registered a fierce dissenting legal opinion of the verdict. For years, recovery efforts in Southeast Asia were hampered by lack of resources, governments wary of letting Americans back in and locals who remember the conflict all too well, says Sompatana Tommy Phisayavong, a research analyst at the Department of Defense who works with teams recovering remains from the C.I.A.s Secret War in Laos. McCain has generally opposed coercive and abusive interrogation techniques. But in February 2008, McCain inexplicably failed to back another bill that would have restricted the Central Intelligence Agency to using only those techniques specified in the Army field manual. Knowing your privacy rights and keeping your personal information safe is paramount. As a result, our names were blacklisted together as hardcore resistors. [emailprotected]. Roland Belcher, told the company while they were enjoying in-country R&R at brigade headquarters in Chu Lai, that he was proud of the work they were doing. For the families of MIAs, the flag and these memorials serve as places to remember. Ho remained North Vietnam's chief of state and continued to exert influence on the state's government until his death in 1969, but operated largely behind the scenes. Though sentenced to life in prison, he would serve only three years under house arrest and be released in 1974. Despite McCains inconsistency in applying the same standards to the CIA, many still support his general position that using torture to interrogate captured militants is unacceptable. In part, as a result of the U.S.-backed rise of Catholic nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, these elections were never held, and with Ho Chi Minh leading North Vietnam as a communist state, the two states moved toward conflict. They wouldnt let him practice medicine, Harker said of Kushner. What makes America different from its enemies? To publish, simply grab the HTML code or text to the left and paste into He shares stories from his experience as a prisoner of war and what it taught him about himself and others. We were under a 1-to-1 prisoner-to-guard ratio, and the guards would trade manioc and so we would put baskets on our backs and go back and forth over miles of mountain trails carrying 70-80 pounds of root. You may also like: Europe in photos before World War I. I remember that because he died in the rice paddies when we were ambushed.. Visit USA.gov, This will take you to the MyHealtheVet website, This will take you to the Suicide Prevention website, This will take you to the VA Find a Form page, This will take you to the VA Publications page, Same mission, new I-DEA: VA supports inclusion, diversity, equity, and access, Talk data to me: Know your privacy rights and keep your personal info safe, Call TTY if you Only 661 officially recognized prisoners returned from that war alive and about 100 of those have since died, according to Defense figures. There are a few guidelines and Many prisons used to hold American POWs were in close proximity to Hanoi, with a few of the more well known jails located directly in Hanoi. We had very little to eat so people died from starvation, infectious diseases malaria was rampant dysentery. I do not feel like a hero, and I do not call myself oneI reserve that title for my fellow veterans who fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. When you have a rifle and youre in front of the enemy, its different. In the ensuing years, the government instituted reeducation and relocation policies for former South Vietnamese citizens. After an extended period of ill health, Ho Chi Minh died of heart failure at his home in Hanoi. And as with McCain, their understanding of armed human conflict is deeply rooted in their personal experiences in the war in Southeast Asia. Work out fanatic, martial artist, student, MBA, and connoisseur of useless information. Or they thought it was, because before you know it, the doors are all slammed shut again.. An official website of theU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Looking for U.S. government information and services? Enemy shots caught our right engine on fire, and as the plane was going down, we ejected just before the aircraft crashed. Flipboard. Wed hear doors open and activity and they came and said, youre going, and youre going, and youre going dividing us up into groups that would be repatriated. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AMERICA I KNEW AS A POW?. You may also like: A history of US military aircraft. But nothing happened. They kept him alive until a collecting party recovered all three of them, and then he and the two Americans were evacuated to a field aid station, side by side in the same ambulance. I was called on to serve my country and thats what I was going to do.. You may also like: 50 best American war movies. Thats all the knew for five years. WebPOW Prisons in North Vietnam. While the North Vietnamese maintained several prisoner camps, the most famous was the Ha L Prison, which American servicemen named the Hanoi Hilton. I remember saluting an Air Force general who was sitting with a North Vietnamese officer, and when we saluted, we had been officially repatriated. Many arguments are advanced to justify enhanced interrogation techniques, a euphemism for torture that only a government bureaucrat in a safe and comfortable office could dream up. Free shipping for many products! A last and perhaps desperate attempt to materially and psychologically damage the North Vietnamese people through "shock and awe" tactics, Operation Linebacker resulted in the deaths of at least 1,600 Vietnamese civilians in densely populated regions. In the midst of parachuting, my back and right arm broke and my left arm was severely injured. That was a lesson I learned myself during the war in Vietnam. Bob Greene. Under the agreement, Vietnam remained divided into North and South at the 17th parallelthough North Vietnam swiftly resumed planning the takeover of South Vietnam. Of the many precipitating events that followed, few were as pivotal as the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in setting the stage for the outbreak of the Vietnam War. It ruins the subject, makes them useless for further interrogation. To subscribe, click here. Vietnam The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Congressman Sam Johnson. One of the most infamous domestic events of the Vietnam War, the protests at Kent State had arisen as news of the secret raids conducted in Cambodia had spread. In November 2018, it became mandatory to fly the flag at select federal sites year-round including the White House and memorials like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and WWII Memorial. John Doc Hofer B 5/46, 198th Bde, Americal. The planes we were flying, F-4 Phantom IIs, were really Navy aircraft designed for fleet defense. They got me, he said. What was it like to be an American POW in Vietnam? - Quora Released American POWs Wendell B. Rivers and James Bond Stockdale, being escorted by an officer on February 12, 1973. American POWs bore this suffering until the end of the war. Nobody wanted to talk about the veterans who had been ignored.. Action films like 1983s Uncommon Valor and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) fictionalized attempts at rescuing living soldiers from captivity in Vietnam. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. In the north they beat pilots and used a lot of torture techniques.. On the heels of the end of the Korean War (which saw Korea divided at the 38th parallel), negotiators at Geneva proposed a partition of Vietnam at the 17th parallel. This soldier remains in good spirits after being relieved from the dangerous operation a month prior. Lasting six days, Operation Starlite largely scattered the 1st NLF Regiment, though it would regroup and rebuild later. Whether that information is accurate or relevant is something almost impossible to determine at the time, and in the long run it almost always turns out to be bogus. He is among the finest American soldiers I have ever known. He may recognize the accomplishment while on his daily five mile walk, or by taking a drive in his 47-year-old car a 1973 Corvette hes owned since it was given to him by classmates when he returned from Vietnam after spending more than five years as a prisoner of war. The question of whether any U.S. military personnel were kept imprisoned after the war was and for some Americans, still is one of the chief legacies of the Vietnam War. Staging his protest in front of the Pentagon, Morrison was a Quaker and pacifist from Baltimore, and though his actions did not lead to any direct changes in policy from the U.S. government, he was lauded in Vietnam for his sacrifice. Open: Tues - Sat To give a sense of the conflict's scope and unfolding, Stacker compiled a timeline of the Vietnam War using a variety of news and government sources. In April 1970, Jerry also personally ordered and led a camp hunger strike, which was successful in obtaining my release from solitary confinement. Thats how horrific our living conditions were. He was later awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third highest military combat decoration for valor. Then there were the battles Americans lost that precluded the recording and burial of fallen American soldierslike the Battle of Chosin, where 1,200 Marines were lost. Stacker believes in making the worlds data more accessible through The Pentagon Papers, provided to the New York Times by Daniel Ellsberg, contained a full and often classified history of U.S. involvement in Indochina, including details of the lead-up to the Vietnam War that had not been revealed to the American public. With nearly 40,000 young men being drafted every month, disillusionment spreading in particular through universities, and news of battlefield casualties reaching the American population, antiwar protests began to gain in size. This resulted in the formation of the National Liberation Front, which had the explicit goal of overthrowing the government of Ngo Dinh Diem in the South. From Maryland, Harker went to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania where he went through medical treatment and rehabilitation, and he was reunited with his family. Admittedly, harsh interrogation techniques do produce answersfast answers. Aside from leg irons and leg stocksboth of which were used on me for months and years on endthe meat hook was a favorite instrument of torture at the Hanoi Hilton. A trail that was used to ferry both supplies and soldiers to South Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Trail snaked through the mountains and jungles of neighboring Cambodia and Laos. In accordance Eventually we were put on a train, in a box car, and taken to Hanoi, to Plantation Garden, an old French plantation with bars in the walls. After he returned from Vietnam, Harker took some time off, but eventually returned to Blacksburg and finished his business degree from Virginia Tech in 1976 and found his way to work as a probation and parole officer. And it damages our credibility around the world. I have served with General Soyster. He said it meant a lot to him that we were able to do that to make sure those people could go to the polls and not get hurt. After being taken, Harker was left with a soldier with a sidearm who walked in front of him, leading him away from the creek. Nearly 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, and more than a quarter century since the normalization of U.S.-Vietnam relations, Vietnam is emerging as a rising power at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region and an increasingly important U.S. partner. If your organization is interested in becoming a Stacker In spite of these conditions, there were many instances that I will never forget of my fellow POWs demonstrating profound patriotism. The Annapolis, Maryland, academy hosted this event. How POWs In Vietnam Mentally Battled Their Captors In 1977 he married Linda, his high school sweetheart whom he had dated since 1962. VIETNAM VETS RECALL THEIR HOMECOMINGS -- OFTEN PAINFULLY This country is what we love. Dan Bullock (December 21, 1953 June 7, 1969) was a United States Marine and the youngest U.S. serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War, dying at the age His own experience, however, provides perhaps one of the best illustrations of why a clear policy and practice forbidding torture or mistreatment of POWs is in the best interest of the United States. Author Robert F. ONeill reconsiders three overlooked 1863 cavalry clashes. Jessica Pearce Rotondi is the author ofWhat We Inherit: A Secret War and a Familys Search for Answers. Many experts swear that it does. Stacker distribution partners receive a license to all Stacker stories, South Vietnam had amassed nearly 1 million soldiers in its army by this point. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. In December 2005, 33 retired professional intelligence experts and interrogators also signed a similar letter to McCain. By March 29, 1973, 591 soldiers would be returned and President Richard Nixon announced, For the first time in 12 years, no American military forces are in A photo taken in 1967 shows US Navy Airforce Maj. John McCain being examined by a Vietnamese doctor following his capture. Sponsor: U.S. Finally, in March, the U.S. landed its first major deployment of ground troops at Da Nangwith the intended purpose of defending U.S. air bases. By Deseret News. Diminishing the courage and patriotism it takes to leave your family, face the enemy and evenGod forbidendure wartime torture has no place in a post-Vietnam America. Unfortunately, that was not out of the ordinary. The memorandum (NSAM 52) enabled "military, political, economic, psychological" actions to be taken in the regionwhich included helicopters and 400 Green Beret troops. We buried nine Americans there, Harker said. POW Prisons in North Vietnam | American Experience | PBS When victory in Korea did not materialize, access to these burial sites didnt, either. From 1991 to 1993, the U.S. Senate investigated these claims before ultimately ruling that there was no strong evidence to prove that any American military personnel remained imprisoned. His first-person account of that harrowing ordeal was published in U.S. News & World Report on in You may also like: 30 iconic posters from World War II. That February, Operation Homecoming aired on American television showing the release of American POWs from North Vietnamese prison camps. It was there that we spent 42 months in solitary confinement, with our legs either shackled in cuffs or put in leg stocks at the bottom of our bedslittle more than cement slabs. You may also like: A history of US submarines from the American Revolution to today. When my German father-in-law asked me that question for the first time right after the news broke about abuses in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, I didnt have a good answer for him.
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