Vietnam Prisoners of War recall their experiences and the inspirational story of how they not only survived their imprisonment, but found growth and gratitude afterwards. Their stories are juxtaposed with those of recent Naval Academy Midshipmen who are facing the COVID pandemic and applying those same foundational values to their own experiences.
Interview with Rick Bates, former US Air Force F-4 pilot, and Vietnam War POW. Rick talks about his experience in the Air Force and as a POW in Hanoi, North Vietnam.
On July 18, 1965, U.S. Navy Commander Jeremiah Denton took off from the aircraft carrier USS Independence leading a 28-plane mission over the city of Thanh Hoa in North Vietnam. Denton’s plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the attack, and for the next eight long years, he would battle the North Vietnamese as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. As the senior American officer at the prison, Denton was forced by
