vietnamese officers in us navy in vietnam war

Then he recalled a tap code developed by American POWs in Korea, one he’d learned in Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School.

How could they keep communicating? Morse code was no good - even the North Vietnamese understood that. He’d managed to leave a reply: He was Ron Storz, captain USAF.Īs more American POWs arrived, Shu realized that the Vietnamese would soon isolate them.

“If you get note, scratch balls as you’re coming back.” Shu then smuggled the note into a crack in a wall near the latrine, and just a few minutes later, his fellow American walked through the courtyard, furiously scratching his crotch. James Stockdale’s homecoming after years in captivity. Shu had seen another American regularly dumping his slop bucket outside and managed to scratch out a note on a piece of toilet paper. In that time, Shumaker - known as “Shu” - made contact with one other POW. He was taken to the Hanoi Hilton and held in isolation for four months before he was even allowed to write home. Bob Shumaker became the second US pilot shot down over Vietnam. Their plan: By isolating them from the other POWs - and each other - they would finally maintain some control over these most insolent American soldiers. Together, these men were regarded by the Vietnamese as the most dangerous, subversive and indestructible Americans they had ever encountered. Twenty-five months later, Stockdale - who, as CAG (Commander of the Air Group) was the highest-ranking naval officer in captivity - would be moved, along with 10 other American POWs, to an even more remote prison site they called Alcatraz. Stockdale was quickly discovered by villagers, who beat him and dragged him through the streets until he was delivered to his ultimate destination: the Hoa Lo prison, or, as it was derisively known among the American POWs held there, the Hanoi Hilton.

Forced to eject with seconds to spare, he landed with severe injuries: his left leg bent sideways by 60 degrees and his kneecap smashed his left shoulder dislocated, rendering his arm useless his back, he thought, likely was broken. James Bond Stockdale was flying his A-4 Skyhawk on a mission over North Vietnam, just days after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when his plane took fire and hurtled down.

Vietnamese officers in us navy in vietnam war