Archives & Primary Sources
- U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam WarThis reference report provides an overview of the electronic data records in the custody of the National Archives that relate to U.S. military casualties, missing in action, and prisoners of war from the Vietnam War era. Full descriptions of the series and data files listed in this report are in the National Archives Catalog. Users can search the Catalog by title, National Archives Identifier, type of archival material, or keyword.
- Vietnam Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) DocumentsOn 13 July 1992, the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs levied a task on NSA/CSS to review SIGINT reporting for relevance to the Vietnam POW/MIA issue and possible correlation to individual POW/MIA cases. NSA/CSS provided the Committee with three Correlation Studies, produced in August 1992, September 1993, and September 1996. Most of the information mentioned in these studies is chronologically organized by Reference Number (RefNo), which is listed as case #, and includes the incident date. The Department of Defense assigned RefNos to each incident in which there was the potential loss of life or capture. There are some entries without a RefNo or case #, but do have the incident date. The earliest incident is dated 1951 and the last 1988.
Prisoners of War
During the course of the war, the NLF captured thousands of US soldiers, some of whom were never recovered. Their recovery was used as part of Nixon's justification for continuing the war.
Source: Kanopy
Vietnam War POW talks about his 7 years in Hanoi Hilton
Larry Spencer was born and raised in Earlham, Iowa. He joined the Navy in 1963 and became an F-4 Phantom pilot. He was over the Gulf of Tonkin on February 18, 1966 when his plane was shot down. Larry spent the next 7 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. This story explains how he endured the uncertainty of his situation by keeping a positive attitude and above all, his faith.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ64TIlDu3g
Perspectives
POW
A definitive history of the American prisoner-of-war experience in Vietnam, 1964-1973.
American Patriot
During the course of his military career, Bud Day won every available combat medal, escaped death on no less than seven occasions, and spent 67 months as a POW in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, along with John McCain. Despite sustained torture, Day would not break. He became a hero to POWs everywhere -- a man who fought without pause, not a prisoner of war, but a prisoner at war. Upon his return, passed over for promotion to Brigadier General, Day retired. But years later, with his children grown and a lifetime of service to his country behind him, he would engage in another battle, this one against an opponent he never had expected: his own country. On his side would be the hundreds of thousands of veterans who had fought for America only to be betrayed. And what would happen next would make Bud Day an even greater legend.
Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives
An exploration of the whereabouts of MIAs from the Vietnam War.
U.S. Veteran Describes Being Prisoner of War in Vietnam
During the Vietnam War many United States soldiers were captured and held as prisoners of war (POW). Many soldiers reported being regularly tortured, and some were used for military propaganda. This segment from Iowa Public Television's Iowans Remember Vietnam includes archival footage and interviews with Iowa veteran Harold Johnson. Johnson describes his role as a military jet pilot, his experience being captured, his days in captivity and his eventual release.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZ-B9mmAy0
Life At Hanoi Hilton | Navy Capt (ret) Mike McGrath
Navy Capt (ret) Mike McGrath shares his account of being a Prisoner of War during the Vietnam War and the resiliency it took to endure the 6 year imprisonment.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ET0J2GVVI