PRISONER IN VIETNAM. The story of Dewey Wayne Waddell, the F-105 Thunderchief and the Hanoi Hilton

Prisoner in Vietnam. Dewey Wayne Waddell's story of how he ended up a prisoner at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Dewey Wayne Waddell was taken prisoner after his F-105 Thunderchief was shot down by Vietnamese communist fighters in 1967, and he was released several years later in 1973.
North Vietnam's treatment of American airmen shot down and captured over North Vietnam was a subject of controversy and concern throughout the Vietnam War.

From the start of the war, North Vietnam's stated position was that American prisoners captured in North Vietnam were "war criminals" who had committed crimes against the North Vietnamese people during a war of unlawful aggression and that, therefore, the American prisoners were “war criminals”. is not entitled to the privileges and rights accorded to prisoners of war (POW) under the terms of the Geneva Convention.
The Vietnamese were accused of brutally torturing their captives – beating them with fists, batons and rifle butts, flaying them with rubber whips and stretching their joints with rope in an attempt to discover information about American military operations.
Americans were forced to record taped “confessions” about war crimes against the Vietnamese people and write letters urging Americans to end the war. Bad food and medical care were the norm.
Prisoners were often isolated to prevent any communication with each other, in addition to being denied any communication with their family members. American prisoners sometimes died in captivity, from injuries sustained in combat or at the hands of their captors.
In Paris, on January 27, 1973, American and Vietnamese representatives signed agreements for the cessation of hostilities and the repatriation of prisoners of war. Operation Homecoming began the following month and ended in April.
During this period, 591 American prisoners of war returned home. U.S. military officials debriefed the returnees to obtain information on the more than 2,000 Americans still missing.
According to the government, none of the POWs were able to provide accurate information about the remaining prisoners. The Nixon administration and the Vietnamese government concluded that all living POWs/MIAs had been repatriated.
Wayne Waddell was born in 1935 in Bremen, Georgia. He was commissioned into the Air Force ROTC program at Georgia Tech on June 9, 1956 and entered active duty beginning June 3, 1957. Lieutenant Waddell completed his undergraduate pilot training and received his pilot wings at Laredo AFB, Texas, in September 1958., then completed all-weather interceptor training on the F-86 Saber at Moody AFB, Georgia. He remained an instructor pilot at Moody AFB until December 1960, then served as an instructor at Craig AFB, Alabama, from January 1961 to June 1965. Capt. Waddell then received an assignment to the Air Force Institute of Technology for complete his master's degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology. University of Southern California from June 1965 to September 1966. After completing F-105 Thunderchief combat crew training, he was assigned to the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Base of Takhli, Thailand, in April 1967. Maj Waddell was forced to eject from North Vietnam and became a prisoner of war while flying his 47th combat mission on July 5, 1967. After spending 2,070 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973, and then attended the Air War College. at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Colonel Waddell then remained on the Air War College faculty until 1975, when he transferred to the Pentagon and worked on the Department of Defense Joint Services Committee on munitions standardization Air Force from 1975 to 1979. His last assignment was as director of the US Air Force. Contingency plans for the Eastern United States at Dobbins AFB, Georgia, from 1979 until his retirement from the Air Force on October 27, 1987. Colonel Waddell served as president of the NAM-POWs Corp, the organization of former Vietnam prisoners of war, from 1981 until 1984.

00:00:00Dewey Waddell
00:00:48 Growing up in Georgia
00:02:22 F-105 Thunderchief
00:03:24 Vietnam
00:05:18 The mission
00:06:57 Robin Olds
00:09:04 Mission: Railyard
00:12:17 July 5, 1967
00:17:39 Survival training
00:21:32 Prisoner
00:29:48 /"Hanoi Hilton/"
00:30:38 /"The Zoo/"
00:31:48 Raid Son Tav
00:34:30 Press the code
00:38:34 Name. Rank. Serial number
00:45:42 /"Today you are writing your autobiography./"
00:53:27 Eternal peace
00:55:53 Coming home
01:03:39 /"It was the shock of the Confirmation./"
01:07:43 /"I don't have a driver's license./"
01:09:58 /"Something that needed to be done./"