European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday september 15, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 9over Hereen pow recalls 9 months in crude cell National pow Mia Day pays tribute to prisoners of War Matt a a in be used it As a positive step. Any time i think things Are hard i think Back a Well things have been a lot a a it. Col. Thomas Hanton by Ron Jensen staff writer Wiesbaden West Germany a capt. Thomas Hanton a interrogation had been going on for Days. He knew the procedure. But this time the North vietnamese officer asking the questions did no to ignore the pistol near him on the table. A the picked it up and stuck it to my head one Day a Hanton said. A a a no one knows you Are Here a or something to that effect. He was exactly no longer is Hanton a pow experience a secret. He and other former american pos along with those still missing in action Are being honoured today by the third annual National pow Mia Day. The peace accords ending the Vietnam War were signed on Jan. 27, 1973. In the following weeks 591 prisoners were released. Including those who escaped had died in Captivity and whose remains were returned and those previously released the total of american prisoners of War during the Vietnam War was More than 2,400. In addition the Vietnam War left More than 2,300 mias in its Wake. There were 4,439 prisoners returned to . Control from the korean War 116,129 from world War ii and 3,973 from world War i. Hanton was three Miles above the Jungles and Rice paddies of North Vietnam and deep into what already was a very Long Day when he was blasted from the sky by a Man Euver As old As Aerial combat. The Mig-21 charged Hanton a f-4e fighter Jet from below delivering a Blindside blow with a heat seeking missile. Hanton the weapons systems operator and the Pilot capt. Lynn Aikman suddenly were hurtling earthward out of control. When the altimeter reached 10,000 feet Hanton punched out following the procedure that says the Guy in the Back seat goes first. One hour after hitting the ground Hanton was in the hands of the North vietnamese. It was june 27, 1972. Lunchtime. Hanton had been awake since 3 . And flying since 6 ., having made three returns for fuel. A it had been a Long Day a he said. On March 27 of the following year with the War at an end Hanton was released. He is now a lieutenant colonel and Deputy commander for operations of the 65th air div at Lindsey air station in Wiesbaden. Hanton a descent onto the Edge of a Rice Paddy had interrupted the daily toil of three North vietnamese Farmers. One of them belonged to a paramilitary organization. They stopped their work to Chase this unexpected intruder. Hanton slipped into nearby Woods to elude them. He was trying to Contact a Rescue Crew on his radio when a Rifle butt smashed into the Back of his head. A it just Wasny to my Day a he said. If he had gone a couple of Miles farther he would have landed in the mountains. There he would have had a better Chance of being rescued. In fact that a what happened to Aikman who ejected seconds after Hanton and came Down in a terrain of Rock Cliffs and Steep slopes. A helicopter team heard his radio Call for help and pulled him out under fire. Aikman suffered broken legs and a broken . During the Rescue a Bullet struck him in the knee. A the spent almost As much time in the Hospital As i spent As a pow a said Hanton who was a captive for nine months. Aikman now a colonel is assigned in Japan. Hanton a captors took his boots. They blindfolded him and marched him two Days to Hanoi and the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison where he spent the next month in solitary confinement. Prisoners of the North vietnamese taken before 1969 were often beaten starved and tortured. North Vietnam had acceded to the Geneva convention of 1949 which declares that prisoners of War Are a victims of events and Are to be Given a decent and humane but the North vietnamese often accused their captives of a crimes against humanity a referring to the bombings of North Vietnam. Those who eventually got out have said that the treatment changed following the death of to Chi Minh in the fall of 1969. Hanton said he was rarely physically abused. But his living conditions were far from luxurious. A i slept on the floor in the Corner a he said. A nothing on the floor. They had a table for interrogation like a big school desk. There was a Stool i was supposed to sit on. There was a covered bucket in the Corner. That was the bathroom. A i did no to get out of the room for a week. They used to come in All hours of the Day and night and interrogate me. There were a couple of professionals but a couple of Guys 1 could Tell were in his questioners wanted among other things information about technical equipment. Hanton talked on and on about such innocuous things As the Workings of a Compass while the North vietnamese took notes. Hanton knew they would spend hours researching his answers for accuracy. It was during one of these sessions that the pistol was placed against his head. A that was the Only time 1 feared for my life a he said. Hanton went into prison As a slender 145-Pounder. A diet heavy with seasonal vegetables thin soups and Little meat dropped 20 pounds from his Frame. A after the peace accords we got better food a Hanton said. A we got three Good meals a Day. They wanted to give us bulk before the release a after six weeks at the Hanoi Hilton Hanton was transferred to a nearby prison called the zoo where he shared a room with three to five other prisoners. In the ceiling was a speaker that often released the propaganda of radio Hanoi. Sometimes it broadcast music. Sometimes it was worse. A when Jane Fonda was Over there we heard her for months a Hanton said. Fonda toured North Vietnam in a much publicized visit remembered for a photo of her posing at an anti aircraft gun that protected Hanoi. Hanton remembers her radio message. A the Gist of it was that we were a big country and we be trying to take on this Small country and do damage to their Economy a he said. It was too much for Hanton. He scaled the Wall of the cell and yanked the wires from the speaker silencing the actress activist. The pow experience has left Hanton with a deep appreciation for the simple act of communication. During his Captivity his captors tried to control the communication Between prisoners by keeping them separated. But they were Able to spread messages by tapping on Walls leaving notes in toilets or using sign language. A a that a Why Freedom of speech is such an important thing in the american mind set a he said. A if you can control their communication and what they think and what they know you can make them do even though he disliked Fonda a message he said he favors her right to say it. It was Why he was in Vietnam to fight and Why he ended up in a cell for nine months. A a that a one of the reasons we have a great country a we have that Hanton never doubted that one Day he would be freed. He never considered an alternative to survival. Part of that was his training. Part of that was because of his fellow prisoners. A some of them had been there six years. I figured if they can be Here six years i can be Here another Day and another Day and another when Hanton a confinement ended it was of course a major Relief. But the experience was hard to shake from his mind. A it was somewhat in the forefront for about three years a he said. A a in be used it As a positive step. Any time i think things Are hard i think Back a Well things have been a lot a but mostly he said it is a rare Day when the experience creeps into his thoughts. And then its usually when someone asks about it
