Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard “Dog” Brenneman, pilot and Vietnam POW, shares his experience of being captured, kept prisoner and released from the Hanoi Hilton. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Gonge, commander and pilot, shares how the 22d Air Force executed Operation Homecoming in 1973. Kathy Freeberg, daughter of retired U.S. Air Force Col. Alan Leslie Brunstrom, pilot and Vietnam POW, shares stories of her father and his return. Operation Homecoming went from Feb. 12, 1973 to April 4, 1973 and saw to the repatriation of 600 POWs from Hanoi, Vietnam.
U.S. Veteran Describes Being Prisoner of War in Vietnam
During the Vietnam War many United States soldiers were captured and held as prisoners of war (POW). Many soldiers reported being regularly tortured, and some were used for military propaganda. This segment from Iowa Public Television’s Iowans Remember Vietnam includes archival footage and interviews with Iowa veteran Harold Johnson. Johnson describes his role as a military jet pilot, his experience being captured, his days in captivity and his eventual release.