Air Force pilot Captain Carlyle “Smitty” Harris was shot down over Vietnam on April 4, 1965 and taken to the infamous Hoa Lo prison–nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton.” For the next eight years, Smitty and hundreds of other American POWs–including John McCain and George “Bud” Day–suffered torture, solitary confinement, and unimaginable
“In addition to the co-authors’ combined qualifications, including meticulous research and writing in a lucid, easy-to-grasp narrative style, Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton is a tome, the forerunner of future research into the nature of unyielding courage and its application to strategic leadership principles.” ― Leatherneck Why were the American POWs imprisoned at
This book may well be the most unusual document to come out of the Viet Nam war. It is the moving story of nine American soldiers and pilots who were captured and held prisoner for five years. It could only be told in their own words; and so the author
Unsure whether they would be greeted as traitors or heroes, POWs returning from Vietnam responded by holding tight to their chosen motto, “Return with Honor.” “We’re giving the American people what they want and badly need–heroes,” said a Vietnam jungle POW. “I feel it’s our responsibility, our duty to help