Vietnam War POWs gather, remember at Nixon Library reunion (Plumb, Ward, McGrath)

“I came here to get a friend’ (Thomas Davis)

Nearly 25 years ago, when the war was raging in Vietnam, a 20-year-old private from Alabama said a prayer and buried his Marine buddy in a Viet Cong prisoner of war camp where both were held. Thomas Davis survived five years in POW camps and has returned to Vietnam for

Former prisoner of war celebrates 30 years of freedom (Robert Sponeybarger)

Retired fighter pilot Robert Sponeybarger doesn’t suffer flashbacks and isn’t jarred awake in a cold sweat from nightmares of being held captive by the North Vietnamese. Never was a problem for him, he says. And he says he rarely thinks of ejecting from his crippled plane, threats of execution or

The story of a small, handmade American flag that gave hope to POWs at the “Hanoi Hilton” during Vietnam War (Dramesi)

Freedom has a taste to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know.” –A POW saying left on a wall in the Hoa-Lo Prison known to Westerners as the “Hanoi Hilton.” A small American flag on display at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum was a

Strength from Service – Gary Guggenberger

Staff Sergeant Gary John Guggenberger, United States Army, was held as a Prisoner of War in South Vietnam and Cambodia from January 14, 1969 until his release on February 12, 1973. Gary was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, The Purple Heart, and two Bronze Stars. After his release in

“Long-Term Non-Specific Optimism”: Surviving The Hanoi Hilton (Porter Halyburton)

Porter Halyburton was born in 1941 and grew up in Davidson, North Carolina, with his grandparents because his parents divorced when he was young. His grandfather taught at Davidson, and Porter later attended that university. He enjoyed sports and being outdoors, often roaming the area around Davidson with a .22