From the Corner of Veteran’s Drive and Patriot’s Way

THE LONGEST RESCUE

In recognition of National POW Month, it is an honor to pay respect to those who were former POW’s as well as those MIA. There are many stories and accounts that shape our perception of what it would have been like to be captured, held prisoner, maltreated to include daily torture, and resigning your fate when you hear “prepare to die for your country” coming from a cellmate. As a young boy I recall seeing black and white TV broadcasts of men in striped pajamas. Their heads bowed not out of respect, but out of fear and compliance. The whole production was just that, a rehearsed show to prove that our U.S. military men had been captured and were being held responsible for their actions against a peaceloving people. The people’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Those broadcasts were not meant to inform and my interest was piqued. During the 70’s the news reported bits and pieces of truth and the prescribed propaganda we, as a Nation, were supposed to accept. It was hard to really understand what it was all about, and questions lingered with me for years. Decades later, as a man with a twenty-two-year Air Force Career behind me, my questions were answered. And by a man who knew the truth. A subject matter expert. I met Capt. William “Billy” Robinson. The longest held enlisted POW of the Vietnam war. Being held captive for 7.5 years, 2,703 days to be exact, no enlisted man in American Military History has been held longer than him. I met Bill at a Veterans gathering a few years ago. The gathering was a workshop designed to offer resources to Veteran’s. There were the obligatory representatives from the VA, American Legion, VFW, and a host of other Veterans service organizations in attendance. All good stuff. And then the guest speaker, a big man favoring a leg, approached the lectern. He began by telling of his service in the Air Force; enlisted to break away from a predetermined life working in the cotton mills of Roanoke Rapids, NC. Such work had served his family well, but it wasn’t for him. And then he said it. His rough life as a child and an adolescent had helped to prepare him for captivity. Captivity?? In an instant

I was fixated on his every word and I don’t think I breathed for the next 30 minutes. Bill joined the Air Force in 1961 and became a helicopter crew chief. After attending basic training and the requisite technical schools that taught him his trade, he was off to his first duty station in Korea. As an E-2 he was transferred to Thailand to serve with the Air Rescue and Recovery unit. The predecessor to our current day Pararescue squadrons. That Others May Live. In September of 1965, his rescue crew, call sign “Dutchy 41”, was dispatched to save a downed F-105 pilot. His helicopter received heavy small arms fire and was shot down. There was no opportunity to escape or evade as the Vietcong quickly overcame the air crew. And so began his journey, his life, as a POW at the age of twentytwo. At the lectern, Bill confidently recalls his captivity, and he tells the personal stories of his fellow prisoners because they can’t or won’t. He is their collective voice. As all prisoners were assigned a number based on their shoot-down date, Bill believes he was around number twelve or so. He tells of his days at the prison camps. The Zoo, where the torture method of “the ropes” was perfected. Prisoners would have their legs and arms shackled and bound together from behind and their bodies were then lifted by an overhead rope so that their entire weight was only a few inches above their beds. The pain was excruciating, and Bill received this frequently, as did other prisoners. It was the favored interrogation technique. He also spent time in The Briarpatch, New Guy Village, Plantation, Skid Row, Dirty Bird, and the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He went on to mention when John McCain-USN, was captured and delivered to the cellblock for his introductory beating to set the tone of things to come- the dehumanization of captivity. And through all the horror one can imagine, starvation, sleep deprivation, torture and the relentless phycological brainwashing, the interrogation and indoctrination they all endured, he deems himself lucky. Lucky that he was captured by the NVA and sent to an organized camp. At the time there were rogue squads of militants, Laotians and the Pathet Lao, that captured American flyers and traded them for food, ammunition, and labor. These rogue units more often than not, executed their war prizes after their usefulness had expired, or died from disease, and those men became MIA’s. Their fate sealed to history. Their families never knowing, never having closure. In that regard, Bill was lucky. After the workshop had ended, I had an opportunity to speak with Bill and I told him about my youthful days watching men like him on TV. I told him that I had met Commander Richard Stratton-USN, a fellow POW, at a barbershop in Rhode Island in the mid 90’s. Bill chuckled and said we called him “Beak” because his nose was broken so many times. Commander Stratton, the first pilot to be captured in 1967, was used as a prop during a North Vietnamese press conference. Stratton, like many others, underwent immediate and prolonged torture. He endured cigarette burns, beatings, and countless applications of ‘the ropes’ before making a taped confession of his war crimes on National TV. After his release in 1973, Bill received a field promotion to the Rank of Captain and continued his service as a maintenance officer. Retiring in 1984, with a career of 23 years behind him, Bill spends his days as a guest speaker traveling across the United States. His book, The Longest Rescue, is a comprehensive biography of his life before and after his capture. Captain Robinson was the first enlisted man to receive The Air Force Cross. He was also awarded a Silver Star, Legion of Merit, the POW Medal, two Purple Hearts and seventeen other decorations. Salute to Captain Robinson and our former POW’s. And never forget our MIA’s. They still serve. Please visit GetMoreInfo@ ThunderRoadsTennessee.com to share your story or comment. Top