Captured: Shot Down In Vietnam Prisoner, Part Three of Four

In the camps, the POWs were subject to torture, held in isolation, denied proper medical care, given starvation rations, and subjected to constant abuse by their captors. The cells were small, poorly ventilated – if at all – and the camps were overrun with rats, roaches, mosquitoes, and other vermin.

Among the 13 prison camps that housed American prisoners of war in North Vietnam, the Hanoi Hilton was the most notorious. It was built in stages from 1886 to 1901 by the French during their long colonial rule. Its name in Vietnamese is Hỏa Lò, which translates to “fiery furnace” or “Hell’s Hole.” The POWs imprisoned there would come to call it the Hanoi Hilton, in a supreme bit of irony.

The conditions in the Hanoi Hilton were brutal. The cells were small, poorly ventilated, and  barely furnished. A single bare lightbulb burned 24 hours a day. The toilet was a rusty bucket. The bed was a hard slab of concrete. The cells were hot and humid in the summer and cold and dank in the winter.

The North Vietnamese refused to grant permission to fly to Hanoi. Instead, they said they would only accept the cargo if it was delivered through the Soviet Union. The Soviets, however, refused to allow the jet to land in Moscow. None of the gifts and supplies would reach the POWs.  Nevertheless, Perot’s Christmas delivery raised awareness about the plight of the POWs and, according to a senior Pentagon official, gave “hope and support to the families when they badly needed it.”

Every American prisoner of war and every warrior missing in action had family and friends back home in the United States who were deeply worried about them. A small group of Navy POW wives decided to organize, and in October 1967, they established the League of Wives of American Vietnam Prisoners of War.

Among the many grassroots efforts to raise awareness about the plight of the American POWs in Vietnam was the “Write Hanoi” letter-writing campaign. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people wrote to the North Vietnamese government urging them to follow the Geneva Conventions.