NOTES
CHAPTER 1: THE DINNER PARTY
4 The role of master of ceremonies . . . pictures with as many as desired: Original White House program for the event (private collection of memorabilia), Col. and Mrs. Thomas “Jerry” Curtis.
4 Remembering the evening years later . . . a generally relaxed attitude: Stephen Bauer, At Ease in the White House: Social Life as Seen by a Presidential Military Aide (Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade, 2004), 77.
4–5 The menu was kept simple: Original menu card (private collection of memorabilia), Col. and Mrs. Curtis.
5 The returning POWs . . . brought them home: “He [Nixon] was a hero to us. He will always be revered by us as a group because he got us home.” Marine Capt. (Ret.) Orson Swindle, former Assist. Sec. of Commerce during the Reagan Administration (POW 1966–1973), Associated Press, “Nixon Library Hosts 40th Reunion for POWs,” May 23, 2013, http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/05/23/nixon-library-hosts-40th-reunion-for-vietnam-pows.html.
7–8 Faith Baptist Church in Kaiserslautern: Archives, Faith Baptist Church, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
10 took his life just nine days after the dinner party: ABC Nightly News Archives, ABC’s Wide World of Entertainment.
CHAPTER 2: NAKHON PHANOM
13 Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base . . . rescue and support missions: Wayne Mutza, Kaman H-43: An Illustrated History (Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1998), 64–82.
13 inadequate personnel, nonexistent doctrine, and ill-suited aircraft: Earl H. Tilford, Setup: What the Air Force Did in Vietnam and Why (Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Press, 1991).
14 The HH-43 had a top speed . . . could push the helicopter’s fuel capabilities to the limit: Mutza, Kaman H-43, 64–82.
CHAPTER 3: THE SECRET WAR IN LAOS
21–22 The CIA established the base . . . a natural ally for the United States: Emily Rauhala, “Fond Farewells: Vang Pao, Guerrilla Leader, 81,” Time, December 14, 2011, http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102136_2102247,00.html; Douglas Martin, “Gen. Vang Pao, Laotian Who Aided US, Dies at 81,” New York Times, January 8, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/world/asia/08vangpao.html.
30 Royal Lao regulars had been ambushed by Pathet Lao forces: Kenneth Conboy, The War in Laos (1960–1975) (London: Osprey, 1989).
CHAPTER 4: THE SHOOT-DOWN
38 They all thought . . . were following along behind them: Martin’s capture, and that of another downed pilot, Dieter Dengler, was the subject of a motion picture titled Rescue Dawn, director Werner Herzog, 2007. For a further account of Martin’s story, see Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 48–50, 280–82.
CHAPTER 5: HEARTBREAK HOTEL
45–46 The world knew this dungeon-like structure as Maison Centrale . . . entered its gates: William S. Logan, Hanoi: Biography of a City (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2000), 67–68.
51 a type of code used in previous POW situations: Robinson Risner, The Passing of the Night (Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 1973), 32.
52 scratched into the cell wall this soul-saving grid: Ibid.
52 required to memorize and use the tap code: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 101–106, 134.
52 “It is not good for man to be alone.” See Genesis 2:18.
CHAPTER 6: CHAIN OF COMMAND
68 old posters, film canisters, and damaged reels: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 128–30.
CHAPTER 8: BRIARPATCH HUMOR
87 Some POWs later described him . . . evoked alternately scorn and terror: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 212.
88 Many POWs began developing their own signature sneeze . . . “dismal as ever, but normal”: Ibid., 417.
93 One of the POWs began to sing . . . “Do they do this often?”: Ibid., 194–98.
94 One POW, Lee Ellis . . . “shackles of fear and worry”: Lee Ellis, Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton (Cumming, GA: FreedomStar Media, 2012), 74.
CHAPTER 9: BREAKING POINT
96 Code of Conduct contains six tenets: The Code of Conduct for Members of the United States Armed Forces:
I. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
II. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
III. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
IV. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
V. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
VI. I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
98 Risner himself, one of the staunchest of men . . . but within reason: Robinson Risner, The Passing of the Night (Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 1973), 31.
99 With his heart pounding and hands sweating . . . “paid for it with blood”: Admiral Jeremiah A. Denton, When Hell Was in Session (Los Angeles: World Net Daily, 1975), 95.
99 Admiral Denton would call the month of July 1966 perhaps the most torture-filled month of North Vietnam POW history: Ibid., 93.
100 “In terms of prolonged misery, no prisoners suffered more than the men confined at Briarpatch”: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 159.
125 “Almost all of the captives . . . crisis of the spirit at some juncture”: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 445.
125–126 “the melting experience”: Ibid.
127 the Power Plant . . . and other smaller facilities: Ibid., 319–23.
CHAPTER 12: TIES THAT BIND
139 an officer . . . whose “patience cannot be lost”: Claude D. Clower, CDR, USN, Official Military Evaluation of Thomas Curtis, 5 Nov. 1973.
140 One POW noted . . . “sounded like a cabinet factory”: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 294.
141 Howard “Howie” E. Rutledge . . . “we learned to communicate with anything and everything”: Howard and Phyllis Rutledge with Mel and Lyla White, In the Presence of Mine Enemies (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1973), 49.
CHAPTER 13: A WAR OF WORDS
161 And Jerry began the tedious task . . . opportunity to implement it: Later, after their release, then–Rear Admiral Stockdale had this to say about the young man who needed coaching during his first attempt at remembering BACK-US while washing dishes at an outdoor sink in Vegas: “This officer performed the duties of a highly classified nature in an extremely diligent and competent manner. The assignment, which was available only to volunteers who exhibited the highest level of intelligence and personal integrity and unswerving loyalty to country, was willingly performed at significant risk in an enemy controlled prison environment. His productive sustained performance of this demanding task required long hours of mental concentration and training over a prolonged period of time while under constant surveillance and harassment by the enemy.” James Stockdale, REAR ADM, USN, Official Military Evaluation of Thomas Curtis, 27 July 1973.
Another official evaluation said, “His high personal standards and unusual courage were displayed in his communications effort . . . he boldly ‘flagged’ building to building daily to complete the communications chain to the SRO.” Elmo Baker, LT COL, USAF, Official Military Evaluation of Thomas Curtis, 28 Sept. 1973.
Yet another senior officer later reported, “He was chosen for this job because of his excellent judgment, good ideas, leadership and dedication . . . his personal example helped keep the morale and resistance posture of the entire squadron at a high level. He spent hours communicating with POWs in other buildings in order to keep our command channel functioning and for morale and educational purposes even though it was a physically demanding job and subject to punishment if caught.” Carlyle S. Harris, COL, USAF, Official Military Evaluation of Thomas Curtis, 9 Oct. 1973.
CHAPTER 14: COMMITTED
176–77 Author John Gargus, in his book documenting the raid . . . “It just couldn’t be happening!”: John Gargus, The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten (College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press, 2007), 203.
177 the courageous rescue attempt . . . had been frantically moved back into downtown Hanoi: Years later, after his release, Jerry was able to meet many of the men who had participated in the daring rescue attempt and was able to thank them personally. In late 1973, H. Ross Perot flew all POWs and Special Ops personnel involved with the Son Tay Raid to California for an elaborate celebration in their honor.
An array of celebrities attended, including Clint Eastwood, who sat next to Jerry during dinner. It was a memorable evening. Jerry also learned the pilot who flew the HH-3 that landed in the compound that night was personal friend Major Herb Kalen, who was in flight school with him. Kalen’s helicopter, call sign Banana, had been rigged with pyrotechnics in order to blow it up afterward since officials knew the chopper’s blades would hit a tree in the middle of the compound during landing —one of many details learned from satellite photographs before the raid. Kalen and his crew plus all the other men involved had executed their mission perfectly.
“You may not have brought us home that night, but our spirits soared when we found out about it in prison,” Jerry told the Special Ops men who had come to Son Tay to rescue the POWs imprisoned there —he himself one of them. “You restored our hope that we hadn’t been forgotten by our country —nothing in Hoa Lo prison was the same after that. It gave all of us a real reason to stay committed.”
CHAPTER 15: THE HANOI HILTON “UNIVERSITY”
182–83 Among the languages offered . . . “the appetite for knowledge was great”: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 545–46.
191–92 they decided on a few favorites . . . chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians: James E. Ray, “The Secret of Our Survival,” The Guideposts Treasury of Hope (New York: Random House, 1996), 295–99.
CHAPTER 16: THE 4TH ALLIED POW WING
208 In his book . . . “the most decisive moment of the war.”: Admiral Jeremiah A. Denton, When Hell Was in Session (Los Angeles: World Net Daily, 1975), 236.
212 One POW recalled, “The thud of eight hundred rubber-tire sandals coming together smartly was awesome.”: Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), 572.
CHAPTER 19: A WALK IN LAFAYETTE PARK
259–60 While in captivity, Duane had met another downed pilot, Dieter Dengler. Together, the two men attempted a daring escape before Duane was tragically killed: A movie was made of their story: Rescue Dawn, director Werner Herzog, 2007.
264 “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”: Romans 8:38-39.
EPILOGUE: TEN YEARS LATER
269 Well, listen to a verse they made up . . . “to these cold hostile cells”: Written by Colonel Elmo Baker, USAF (Ret.) and Lieutenant Colonel Gene Smith, USAF (Ret.), in Hoa Lo Prison, Hanoi, North Vietnam.