3 P.O.W.’S ADMIT TALKING TO FOE (Coker, Mehl, McLeary)

Three Navy airmen told yesterday of having given information under torture to the North Vietnamese. But each said he had been able to offer some, resistance and none seemed in any way apologetic.

“I would say I did not break,” said Capt. James P. Mehl of Hauppauge, L. I., a squadron executive officer who was shot down on May 30, 1967. Although he had back and leg injuries, he said, he was tortured with “ropes, nylon straps, jumbo bars on the ankles and wrist locks.” He said he had never lost his will to resist, but then added:

“I didn’t resist completely., I gave in on certain propaganda statements.”

Lieut. Comdr. Read B. Mecleary of Old Greenwich, Conn., who was shot down four days before Captain Mehl, said he had been tied with nylon straps “to the point of extreme pain” and left that way

Read more

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

OPERATION HOMECOMING: THE STORY OF LTC (RET.) RAYMOND SCHRUMP

During the Vietnam War, there were 725 U.S. Prisoners of War (POWs). Operation Homecoming was a series of diplomatic negotiations that made the return of 591 American prisoners of war held by North Vietnam possible in 1973. The operation was divided into three phases; the first phase required the initial reception of prisoners

Read More »

Maine Gives P.O.W. Warm Welcome (Mark Gartley)

Walking next to his father near a lake he fished as a boy, Navy Lieut. Markham Gartley looked up at the clear, blue sky and filled his lungs with crisp autumn air. The 28‐year‐old pilot noted the colors of the northern Maine woods—the McIntosh reds of the sugar maples, the

Read More »