Vietnam War veteran Rod Knutson talks about his experiences. Knutson served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines. He was born and raised in Billings, Montana, graduating from Billings Senior High in 1956. He was one of about 651 prisoners of war who returned to the United States alive. Reports peg the number who died in prison at around 114. He spent 2,673 days as a prisoner of war — more than seven years — in Hanoi.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords, which officially ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. One local man spent six and a half years in captivity, as a prisoner of war. Naval aviator George Coker returned to America as part of “Operation Homecoming” a half-century ago. He spoke about it today with Mike Gooding.
Captured and at the mercy of an increasingly cruel enemy, German-born US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler was left with no choice but to attempt a daring escape from the Pathet Lao prison camp in which he was being held during the Vietnam War. The fateful decision was made only after he and six other POWs had overheard plans to get rid of them as soon as the guards ran out of food. Dieter would choose
