Honor Bound : The History of American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973

by Rochester, Stuart I.

• ISBN13: 9781557506948
• ISBN10: 1557506949
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr

Summary

With this book, two respected scholars in the field offer a comprehensive, balanced, and authoritative account of what happened to the nearly eight hundred Americans captured in Southeast Asia. The authors were granted unprecedented access to previously unreleased materials and interviewed more than one hundred former POWs, enabling them to meticulously reconstruct the captivity record as well as produce an evocative narrative of a once sketchy and misunderstood yet key chapter of the war.
Giving due praise but never shirking from criticism, the authors describe in detail dozens of cases of individual courage and resistance, from celebrated heroes like Jim Stockdale, Robinson Risner, Jeremiah Denton, Bud Day, and Nick Rowe to lesser-known legends like Ray Schrump and Medal of Honor recipient Donald Cook.

Author Biography

Stuart I. Rochester has been deputy historian of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Historical Office since 1987.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
The Historical Setting	p. 1
PWs of the Viet Minh, 1946-1954	p. 14
Laos: Prisoners of the Shadow War	p. 28
South Vietnam: Prisoners of the Viet Cong, 1961-1964	p. 58
First Arrivals at the Hanoi Hilton	p. 86
Establishing Communication: The Tap Code and Other Channels	p. 101
Adjustments, Relocation, and an Emerging Leadership	p. 121
Tightening the Screws: The Beginnings of the Torture Era in the North	p. 141
Indoctrination: Torturing the Mind	p. 166
The Hanoi March and the Issue of War Crimes Trials	p. 188
"Make Your Choice": Another Round of Terror	p. 208
The Middle Years in the South: Nick Rowe's Group in the Delta	p. 228
PWs in South Vietnam's Heartland, 1965-1967	p. 243
PWs in the Northern Provinces of the South, 1965-1967	p. 263
Laos in the Middle Years: Live and Vanished PWs	p. 277
Higher Stakes: Little Vegas at the Hilton	p. 292
Dirty Bird and Alcatraz: Special Arrangements for Hostages and Hardliners	p. 316
Plantation: Exhibitions and Early Releases	p. 340
The Zoo, 1967-1969: The Cuban Program and Other Atrocities	p. 380
Coping: The Daily Grind	p. 410
PWs in the South, 1968-1971: Bondage and Vagabondage	p. 446
1969: A Watershed Year in the North	p. 479
The "Good Guy Era": The Northern Prisons, 1970	p. 497
Unity, Chaos, and the "Fourth Allied POW Wing"	p. 522
Detours: Dissension and Dispersion	p. 548
Homeward Unbound	p. 571
Afterword	p. 593
American Prisoners of War in Major U.S. Interventions Since World War I	p. 597
Prisoner of War Camps in North Vietnam	p. 598
U.S. Personnel Captured in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973 (and Selected Foreign Nationals)	p. 600
Notes	p. 621
Selected Bibliography	p. 675
Index	p. 687
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.