On Oct. 17, 1967, Chico native Tony Andrews was a 27-year-old Air Force pilot, flying F-105 fighter bombers over Vietnam.
Before that day was over his life would change forever, and he would attain a status he happily would have turned down.
On Oct. 17, 1967, Chico native Tony Andrews was a 27-year-old Air Force pilot, flying F-105 fighter bombers over Vietnam.
Before that day was over his life would change forever, and he would attain a status he happily would have turned down.

The food at the Hanoi Hilton was worse than just bad. As a prisoner of war, Ted Sienicki found the bread full of insects. Many of the POWs ate the rations anyway — with predictable results. One prisoner removed something from his body — just what isn’t clear — that


On this day in 2005, retired Navy Vice Admiral William “Bill” Lawrence passes away. Decades earlier, Lawrence had been a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton. He was one of the highest-ranking members of our military to be held in that infamous prison. Trouble began in June 1967. Lawrence

In 1967, there was a “unit” of approximately 300 Americans fighting the Vietnam War from within a Hanoi prison. The unit—later named the 4th Allied POW Wing—was located in the drab North Vietnamese capital. Within this unit, every man had the same job: prisoner of war. All—except three enlisted airmen—were

For weeks the returned P.O.W.s had been stepping from “freedom birds” onto the television screens—most of them saluting crisply, walking smartly, looking physically fit and acting mentally alert. As the nation’s early apprehensions faded, a new idea set in: perhaps the P.O.W.s had been humanely treated after all. That illusion