First Place Essay

“Struggles Make Us Strong”

By Cadet Mitchell Johnson

Civil Air Patrol, Hawaii Wing, Maui Squadron 057

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Can my life get any worse? I cannot do this anymore, I want to quit.” We have all felt like that at times, but thankfully we have people with extraordinary examples of perseverance and resilience to learn from. My grandfather, Col. Harold E. Johnson, is such a person who has been through unimaginable life-threatening experiences.

A Captain at the time, Harold was an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) on the F-105F Thunderchief. He helped with operating the radar systems and told the pilot, Leo Thorsness, where the targets were based on deciphered sensor information. Harold also served as an extra pair of eyes to search for enemy aircraft. The plane was designed to fly supersonic at low altitudes to administer bombs onto its targets while being able to get away safely.

On April 19, 1967, Leo and Harold went on a mission with another F-105F to destroy SAM (Surface to Air Missile) sites and AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery). They successfully destroyed multiple SAM’s but enemy AAA fire shot down the accompanying F-105. To cover for the now vulnerable crew, Leo and Harold stayed behind to defend them and report the need for a rescue team. My grandfather, while watching for enemy aircraft, spotted a MiG-15 so Leo shot it down with their 20mm cannon and damaged two other MiGs. After they refueled at a tanker, they returned to protect the rescue team. Three MiGs were spotted by Harold, and Leo engaged them using the rest of their ammo in the process. Harold spotted four more MiG-15s behind them but without any ammo they could not fight the enemy MiGs so Leo activated their afterburners to get away. While returning to the tanker to refuel, another F-105 pilot reported that he was lost and had only a couple minutes of fuel left. With only a few moments to decide, Leo asked, “Should we give them the fuel?” Harold responded, “Let ‘em have it.” As they returned to the closest allied airfield, Udorn, Leo climbed to high altitude and idled the engine to save as much fuel as possible. Eventually they made it to the airfield with just enough fuel, and as the aircraft touched the tarmac the engines flamed out.

Two weeks later, on April 30, 1967, Leo and Harold were shot down by a MiG-21 over North Vietnam and landed in separate locations. Once on the ground, Harold ran through the forest for several hours trying not to be captured by the Vietnamese. He used the survival training he had learned before becoming an EWO at Stead Air Force Base while hoping to be retrieved. Unfortunately, Harold was captured as all but one of the retrieval helicopters and aircraft were damaged or destroyed and had to retreat. When the rescue team came back the next day, the Vietnamese had already captured Leo and Harold. My grandfather was dragged through the forest and beaten throughout the night. Eventually, he wasn’t able to walk anymore due to his injuries so he was tossed into a truck by the Vietnamese and thrown into Hanoi Hilton, a nickname for the prison Hỏa Lò. A section of the prison was called “Heart Break” by the prisoners, and was for recently captured Americans. Over the next couple of days, Harold withstood being chained to his bed, handcuffed in a small 7x7 foot room, and suffered brutal interrogations that were mind numbingly painful.

After an agony-filled couple of days at Heart Break, my Grandfather was transported to Skidrow Camp about six miles southwest, otherwise known as “The Zoo.” Originally a studio, Skidrow’s windows had been filled with bricks, the doors reinforced, padlocks put on them, and walls built around the camp to prevent the prisoners from escaping. This gave the prison an unnatural look as there were multiple smaller buildings instead of one large one. Harold stayed here for the next 3 years while being treated like

When he somewhat healed from the torture, Harold and other prisoners took the initiative to make a workout routine that involved pushups, situps, running in place, and any other exercises they could do to

“Keep ourselves in halfway decent shape.”

My Grandfather also showed mental strength by developing ways to keep himself and others sane during his time of imprisonment. He would run “simulations” inside his head to keep his mind busy. For example, he would imagine owning an entire chicken farm and managing everything about it, such as how many eggs he collected each day, when to change out the chickens that were too old, and when to feed them. Later on he got his hands on the Bible, but knowing that it would be taken away, he memorized several passages. My Grandfather, a fan of John Wayne, had also memorized some parts of movies that he starred in, and some other ones too, so when he was with multiple prisoners he would re-enact what happened in the movies and play the different roles for entertainment. Unfortunately, some of his fellow aviators did not mentally make it from the “roping” torture and beatings. When the Vietnamese realized that they were mentally gone, the prisoners were shoved into solitary confinement without any explanation. When the surviving prisoners were released, the Vietnamese said that they had expired years before even though Harold saw them just before being released.

The Vietnamese said that they treated their American prisoners “Humanely” in the prison camps. This was however not true, as the first 2 years they were tortured, given very little space, almost never given any time outside and were not given very much food and water. They were also required to bow down to the Vietnamese or were beaten. My grandfather explained they were only given a pot of water per person, and a bowl of rice and green soup twice a day. When he returned, scientists calculated that he ate about 1400 calories per day and lost quite a lot of weight from it. For reference, an average adult male should have 2500 calories per day. After the first 2 years, the Vietnamese started to treat the POWs slightly better by giving them more space and about 4 or 5 people per cell.

After he had been in “The Zoo” for three years the “Son Tay Raid”, a rescue mission by U.S Special Operations Forces, occurred. It was a mission to try and save POWs and recover them, but unfortunately the POWs had been moved only a week earlier. After a short time in the Hanoi Hilton, he was then moved to Loung Lang, nicknamed “Dogpatch” by the POWs. It was located 9 miles south of the Chinese border, and he was transported there in January of 1973. Around this time the Vietnamese started to treat the prisoners slightly better by putting them in groups of 20 and giving them a basketball court. Nearing the end of his imprisonment, Harold was transported back to Hỏa Lò in March and on March 4, 1973, after being a Prisoner of War for 2,135 days, he was released and transported back to America during Operation Homecoming.

Now that you know his story, it is easy to see how Colonel Harold E. Johnson’s strength, perseverance, and resilience is shown in his sacrifices. When he was in the moment of being shot down, it was not the crash that he feared, it was the prospect of what was going to happen next that was the most difficult. Although he struggled with the unknown of what would happen next each day, in his eyes there was only one option survival. He didn’t give himself the option of death, he would either survive or be killed by the Vietnamese. He would not quit. He would not give up. Harold kept going even though he didn’t know if he would be alive tomorrow and kept the hope that he would eventually be rescued.