Texas veteran shot down in Vietnam on 7 years as POW at ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison camp: ‘You keep faith’ (James Lamar)

Five decades ago, Col. James Lamar was playing poker against fellow prisoners of war with cards made of toilet paper and chips made of matchsticks at the “Hanoi Hilton” in North Vietnam on the tail end of his nearly 7-year stint at the notorious prison camp. 

Today, 94-year-old Lamar enjoys playing Texas Hold ’em against a rotating cast of college students, tech bros, retirees and fellow veterans who frequent Texas Card House in the state capital of Austin. 

Lamar detailed the day he got shot down in Vietnam and his experience as a prisoner of war in an interview with Fox News Digital at the card house. 

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

1,903 Days as a POW (Daniel Pitzer, Rowe, Versace)

In the early morning hours of 29 October 1963, at Tan Phu village in southernmost Vietnam, then-First Lieutenant (1LT) James N. ‘Nick’ Rowe, the Assistant Detachment Commander, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 23, prepared for a ‘routine’ combat patrol. Rowe, Senior Special Forces (SF) Medic Master Sergeant Daniel L. Pitzer,

Read More »

LIVING LEGENDS OF ALEXANDRIA (Eugene McDaniel)

The word “hero” is used far too often. So is the word “courage.” In the case of Capt. Eugene “Red” McDaniel, neither word accurately describes the horrors he endured as one of the most brutalized prisoners of war in Vietnam. When his A-6 Intruder aircraft was shot down over North

Read More »