‘We made it:’ Local Vietnam veteran shares his POW story (Wayne Smith)

1,882 days; five and a half years. That’s how long Vietnam veteran Wayne Smith was a prisoner of war.

“We were in pretty bad shape, we certainly were,” said Smith.

He shared his story with us and dozens of people at Punta Gorda’s Military Heritage Museum.

The Air Force captain’s aircraft got shot down in 1968, just hours after this photo.

Now, he’s detailing his time in solitary confinement when communication was rare, but crucial.

“We used to break our knuckles by tapping on the walls and someone found out that actually, you could put the cup up against the wall, yell through it, and the other guy could listen to the other side,” said Smith.

Captured one warehouse over: prisoner of war survivor, Senator John McCain.

Read more

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

108 more POWs are flown to freedom (Dave Winn, Profilet)

One hundred and eight former American prisoners of war landed here Wednesday, and the first man to debark told a cheering crowd, “Thank God, the United States of America, and all you wonderful, good-looking people.” The first of three C141 Starlifters that brought the returnees from Gia Lam Airport outside

Read More »

To Capt. Butcher ‘From A Grateful City’

Air Force Capt. Jack M. Butcher who a few years ago was playing “Hail To The Victors” as a member of the University of Michigan Marching Band, heard that fight song played in his honor Saturday afternoon. Ann Arbor’s first prisoner of war to return from Vietnam was welcomed home

Read More »

Returned to sender, 40+ years later (Richard Dutton)

A special delivery of long-forgotten letters and photos came from Vietnam to an Air Force widow. The United States and Vietnam are working together to return personal belongings of prisoners of war to their rightful owners; and, a package was delivered today to the family of retired Col. Richard Dutton.

Read More »