Dissenting POWs: From Vietnam's Hoa Lo Prison to America Today
A fresh look at the resistance of US troops to the American war in Vietnam
Even if you don't know much about the war in Vietnam, you've probably heard of "The Hanoi Hilton," or Hoa Lo Prison, where captured U.S. soldiers were held. What they did there and whether they were treated well or badly by the Vietnamese became lasting controversies. As military personnel returned from captivity in 1973, Americans became riveted by POW coming-home stories. What had gone on behind these prison walls? Along with legends of lionized heroes who endured torture rather than reveal sensitive military information, there were news leaks suggesting that others had denounced the war in return for favorable treatment. What wasn't acknowledged, however, is that U.S. troop opposition to the war was vast and reached well into Hoa Loa Prison. Half a century after the fact, Dissenting POWs emerges to recover this history, and to discover what drove the factionalism in Hoa Lo.
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Become an affiliateTom Wilber investigates documentation regarding U.S. detainees in the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam from 1964 until 1973. His research is the source for the 2015 Hà Nội National Film Festival award-winning documentary, The Flower Pot Story, produced by Ngọc Dũng. A visiting lecturer at Hà Nội University in 2018, his opinion pieces have been published in Việt Nam News. Wilber represents a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that works on humanitarian projects with Vietnamese organizations. Jerry Lembcke (Author)
Jerry Lembcke grew up in Northwest Iowa. He was drafted in 1968 and served as a Chaplain's Assistant in Vietnam. He is the author of eight books including The Spitting Image, CNN's Tailwind Tail, and Hanoi Jane. His opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He is presently Associate Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, at Holy Cross College and Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.