Commander George Coker was one of the “Alcatraz 11,” a group considered by the North Vietnamese to be the resistance leadership, even though he was a junior officer. The Alcatraz 11 were moved from Hao Lo to a separate facility “Alcatraz” in 1967. Among them were Jim Stockdale and Bob Shumaker. Like Shumaker, Coker was a key communications link in the command structure at Hao Lo and the other Hanoi prisons. He also has the
During the Vietnam War many United States soldiers were captured and held as prisoners of war (POW). Many soldiers reported being regularly tortured, and some were used for military propaganda. This segment from Iowa Public Television’s Iowans Remember Vietnam includes archival footage and interviews with Iowa veteran Harold Johnson. Johnson describes his role as a military jet pilot, his experience being captured, his days in captivity and his eventual release.
Hear from, and about the exciting life of, Lt. Col (Ret.) Barry B. Bridger, a six year survivor of Hoa Loa Prison, who was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over a North Vietnamese city in January of 1967. Ignoring international agreements on treatment of prisoners of war, the enemy resorted to mental and physical cruelties to obtain information, confessions and propaganda materials. Barry Bridger resisted their demands by calling upon his deepest inner strengths
Shot card: ROLL: R36F-439 -HANOI -FIRST FLIGHT-14 MARCH 1973 Reel 8 1) CUs of Vietnamese people watching release ceremony. 2) Sequence showing returnees debarking bus, lining up, and stepping forward as their names are called: Lt Col H. C. Copeland, USAF; Lt Charles Zuhoski, USN; Capt Wallace Newcomb, USAF; Capt Carl Chambers, USAF; Maj Glenn Wilson, USAF; Capt Lauren Lengyel, USAF; Maj Glenn Myers, USAF; Maj Thomas Norris, USAF; Maj Thomas Parrott, USAF; Comdr Leo
Shot down on a secret mission during the Vietnam War, Major George “Bud” Day was captured and resisted severe torture as a POW in the “Hanoi Hilton” from 1967 to 1973. Three years after his release, on March 6, 1976, Day was presented with the Medal of Honor along with fellow POW Admiral James Stockdale.
