“Ha Noi – Dien Bien Phu in the air” has become the silent moment of the war severity in the life of US pilots who participated in the 12-day-and-night strategic raid in Hanoi, Hai Phong and other places.
Hoa Lo Prison
The victory of “Hanoi – Dien Bien Phu in the air” is historic and has the profound significance in all times, contributing significantly to the success of War against the American Empire to Save the Nation. Together with the increase in the number of the US aircrafts shot down, the number of US pilots captured was increasing. From many localities in the North Vietnam, the US pilots, mainly who participated in the 12-day-and-night strategic raid in Hanoi, Haiphong and many places, such as Carl H. Jeffcoat, Robert G. Certain, Henry Ian, Robert M. Hudson, William W. Conlee, Louis H. Bernasconi, Jack R. Trimble, Alfred Howard Agnew, John Weslay Anderson, Brian H. Ward…, were transferred to the Hoa Lo Prison. The fact that the number of US pilots captured and detained was increasing during Operation Linebacker II put the higher negotiation pressure on the US government.
“Hanoi Hilton” and “guests” across the ocean
Due to its architectural solidity, in 1964, the Hoa Lo Prison (T141) was selected as one of the locations in Hanoi to detain the US pilots. In this period, the US pilots called Hoa Lo ironically as “Hanoi Hilton Hotel” or “Broken-heart Hotel”. During the detention of US pilots, Hoa Lo Prison was managed by the Vietnamese Army. The organizational structure of the prison consisted of Head, Vice Head (who could speak English) of the Prison, Politicians, Advisory Unit (who could speak English) as the managers of the jailer teams, in charge of propagandizing the policy of the State of Vietnam through the loudspeaker system of the Prison, questioning the newly arrested pilots, checking the pilots’ letters to their families…
Each jailer team consisted of 8 to 10 people, including its leader, deputy leader and jailers responsible for directly managing pilots and organizing them to comply with the regulations of the Prison and helping them to be properly aware of the Vietnamese government’s humanitarian policy for US pilots. In addition to, there were Logistics – Kitchen Duty Squad including two separate units to serve the soldiers of the Prison and the captured US pilots; the guard team in charge of checking effectives, opening and closing the prison’s gate; and protection team in charge of all-day watching inside and outside the Prison. As required by the work, the officers and soldiers in charge of managing US pilots had to keep secrets of their work with their beloved. Under the conditions of war, the life of people was still difficult and the most of the goods had to be distributed based on budget subsidies, but the Vietnamese Government still applied the humanitarian policies to create the best conditions for the life of US pilots. They were treated under the special standards even higher than these for Vietnamese officers.
US pilots were entitled to the food allowance of VND1.6 per day while the allowance for Vietnamese officers and soldiers was only VND 0.68 per day. They often had breakfast with bread served with milk or sugar (as the luxuries which was, at that time in Vietnam, only used for the ill people). In lunch and dinner, the egg fried breads and bowls of casserole soup with potatoes or vegetables were included. The US smokers received three silver-bag Tam Dao cigarettes (a rare kind produced by the North Vietnam at that time). In the prison, the recreation activities were regularly organized for US pilots. Every day, they went to play volleyball and basketball, read books, listened to news read by the staffs of the Prison or the US pilots with good voice.
The health care for the US pilots was guaranteed. In addition to curing the injuries of landing by parachutes after the aircrafts were shot down, they were periodically examined and treated by the doctors of Military Hospitals 108, 103 and 354. Therefore, after the initial shock of being arrested, most US pilots became mentally stable. Many pilots were aware of training, adapting to their new life conditions and maintaining health to wait for the day of returning to their country.
“I did not face any problems. I knew that your country was poor … At one time, Vietnamese jailers talked to me and I asked them if they could add some spices to my soup and I felt great when they followed. I was very surprised when they gave us 3 cigarettes a day. Every morning, 4 Vietnamese people came to give us cigarettes… I often told people I knew in the Prison to do exercise and I also did exercise every day”, commented Marine Lieutenant Colonel Edison W. Miller. In the Prison, there were no more B-52 flights, but only the silent moments for the US pilot to look back upon the past. Not until the pilots were captured did they know that they were still alive. In the shelters, the US bombing pilots were afraid they would be in danger from bombs dropped into Vietnam by their crewmembers. “On the night of December 26, 1972, in the shelters of the Vietnamese Army, I closed my ears so that I did not hear the B-52 aircrafts’ explosion. I wondered how my life would be. Yet, I myself had flown on these houses and dropped bombs. I wondered whether I was killed by the bombs dropped by my crewmembers tonight?”, recalled Major John Harry Yuill (as a pilot of B52 aircrafts, captured on December 22, 1972)
Witnessing the deaths, injuries and ruins caused by bombs, the pilots who participated in the Operation Linebacker II made their confessions. When taken to Bach Mai hospital and witnessing the ruins after bomb dropping, “That was clear. We were cheated. It could be that way. They told us to bomb a military target. The order of continuously bombing into a large hospital four times with dozens of bombs could not be called a mistake,” said Major Carl H. Jeffcoat (captured on December 27, 1972). In Hoa Lo, “We sincerely hoped that the leaders of the United States stop these bombings. They had to do everything to make the war stop, so that we could come back to our families as soon as possible”, expressed Carl H. Jeffcoat.
“In the training school of combat aircraft operators of Strategic Air Command in California, we were taught that B-52 aircrafts were used to bomb the huge targets and military complex with tens of square miles. There were no such targets in Vietnam. I understood that using B-52s to bomb the densely populated areas were to cause the serious damages and put pressure”, said Navigator Louis H. Bernasconi (Lieutenant Colonel B-52) who was conscious of the truth of the Hanoi bombing orders of the US president.
“We came to see a long street and a large hospital. We were very surprised and very embarrassed. We were cheated by our superiors. Yes. That was a lie. They said it was a military target, but a densely populated area in fact. The bombing location was marked carefully on the map, which could not be confused”, admitted William W. Conlee (Electronic control major on B-52 aircraft).
William W. Conlee was also obsessed in all days of detention in Hoa Lo. “I kept remembering about the bomb craters in Hanoi. A large board marked with these red and black words “Eternally and forever remember the crimes of US invaders” always obsessed me. I knew that when Vietnamese people arrested me, even if they hit and tore me limb from limb, I also had to accept. But you did not treat me like the way I thought. Here, all our thoughts were upside down. I only wanted to keep my former thoughts, but the reality was different. Our country experienced a bad and very bad period”, said he.
Returning US pilots under the Paris Agreement
Before the US Army conducted the strategic 12-day-and-night raid in Hanoi, Hai Phong and other places on September 25, 1972, to express Vietnam’s goodwill and desire for peace, The Vietnamese government had released some US pilots such as: pilot Markham Ligon Gartley (operating F4B aircraft, captured on August 17, 1968); Marine Lieutenant Norris Alfonso Charles (operating F4B aircraft, captured on December 30, 1971); Major Edward Knight Elias (operating RF-4C aircraft, captured on April 20, 1972). However, for reversal of the situation by breaches of the promises, the US Empire continued to carry out the cruel acts of sabotage unprecedented in the North Vietnam. Only after US’s defeats on January 27, 1973, US were forced to sign the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam.
The news of the Paris Agreement was publicly disclosed to US pilots in Hoa Lo prison. They eagerly waited for the return day. During this time, the pilots were free to play sports and participate in cooking as they like. Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, all US pilots detained in Hoa Lo Prison and other places were returned to the US Government by the Vietnamese Government. Before returning home, they were provided fully with their personal effects and also with items such as clothing, shoes, handbags…by the Vietnamese Government. The pilots also received the gifts such as rubber sandals, Poem hats, plows, paintings…
Among the many gifts that the Vietnamese government prepared for the US pilots before returning home, Second Lieutenant Robert P. Chenoweth proposed the prison officers to give him a Vietnamese flag to keep as a souvenir, because according to him “The flag became the special symbol for all I learned during the detention. It also reminded me of the long-term struggle of Vietnam to protect the independence”. “My time in Hoa Lo was very short, but fell on the nights of the B-52 bombing. Everyone had the fear of being hit by bombs. In such dangerous period, the jailer reassured, encouraged and protected us against bombs”, said he when recalling the last days of December 1972.
Nostalgically before returning home, pilot Alfonso Ray Riate (Vietnamese name: Tran Van Te) wrote a letter and gave Mr. Tran Trong Duyet – the Commander of the Prison a tobacco pipe made from toothpaste tube in order to wish Mr. Tran Trong Duyet to smoke healthy and remember him. Some pilots also noted their names and home addresses for the jailers and hoped that someday in America, they would meet and welcome those who had taken care of them during their days in Vietnam. From Hoa Lo Prison, they were taken to Gia Lam airport, outside of Hanoi, by military vehicles. The phases of returning pilots in February and March 1973 were supervised by the Four-Party Joint Military Commission. After the representatives of the Vietnamese Government and representatives of the US Government completed the procedures, the pilots got in the US Air Force Lockheed C-141 Starlifter aircrafts, which were landed at Gia Lam airport. These repatriation aircrafts were also called by many US historians as “Hanoi Taxi”. After returning home, due to the rumors of which US prisoners in Vietnam were beaten, tortured and treated cruelly, some pilots such as Major Walter Eugene Wilber was interviewed by the National Television of America but they refuted the rumors, “We were not beaten or treated as cruelly as we imagined before”. Walter Eugene Wilber’s conversations with the efforts of others contributed to changing the minds of American people about the Vietnam War. The anti-war movement of the American people continued to rise and achieve much success.
Jointly healing the wounds of war and building friendship
Since 1973, the Vietnamese Government has actively sought and returned the remains of US soldiers missing in the war. In 1989, the United States Government co-ordinated with Vietnam in the searching activities. These “returns” are not full but somewhat relieve the sadness of war. Since 1995, the relationship between Vietnam and the United States has been growing, making great progress in the areas of politics, security, defense, economic cooperation, trade and investment…. Today, many US pilots return to Vietnam to meet their “rivals” in the past, also to visit Hoa Lo as it has become a part of their memories. These activities have contributed to building the long-lasting cooperation and tightening the friendship between Vietnam and the United States. Almost every visits to Vietnam, Senator John Sidney McCain, Chairman of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee spent time visiting the Hoa Lo Prison relic. “I am very grateful to the Government and people of Vietnam for your great kindness to me who participated in the war in Vietnam”, said he. As the “famous” people of Hoa Lo Prison in the past, now John Sidney McCain becomes the leader, actively supporting and promoting the relationship between Vietnam and the United States. Returning to visit Hoa Lo Prison, “I left Hoa Lo 34 years ago, and spent six and a half years of being arrested as a war prisoner in Vietnam. I am also very happy to contribute to the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the United States. After the war, I was the first US ambassador in Vietnam. And finally, my wish has come true: Vietnam and the United States have become friends and international partners”, said Mr. Douglas B. Peteson (Air Force Captain captured and detained in 1966 – 1973). In pursuit of his father’s endeavor, US Navy Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Eugene Wilber donated many precious materials and objects twice to the Management Board of Hoa Lo Prison Relic. After receiving the materials and objects, the Board supplemented to the content of “Life of the US pilots in Hoa Lo prison” exhibition. Touched with the thoughtful and sincere treatment of officers and staffs in the Board, until now, Thomas has become a “powerful collaborator” to help the Board contact the former US pilots to collect materials and objects.
When telling stories of the place where he was detained, the humanitarian policy of the Vietnamese government applied to US pilots and the resilience of Hanoians in the war, Second Lieutenant Robert P. Chenoweth moved to tears. All has made him appreciate and comprehend the good values of life. On November 29, 2017, he donated the Board with the souvenirs as his treasures that he carried during his stay in Hoa Lo Prison: bowls and chopsticks used in daily meals, tarnished pants and shirts, and items provided by the Vietnamese Government before he returned home: shirts, bags, shoes, towels… and especially a Vietnamese flag. During the working trips in Hanoi, many high-level delegations of the US Government have always selected Hoa Lo Prison as an indispensable sight, such as: Governor of the Utal State, US Marine Corps, Commanding General of the United States Army in the Pacific region … and recently, the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and General Commander of Pacific – US Air Force have paid visits on November 11, 2017 and December 15, 2017, respectively. It is expected that the Vietnamese Government’s humanitarian policy for US pilots in the detention cells in the North Vietnam and “Hanoi Hilton” (1964 – 1973) will be disseminated to the people in the world. With enthusiasm and effort, in recent years, the Board has stepped up the collection of related materials and objects, interviewed and recorded the videos of officers and soldiers who worked in Hoa Lo Prison in the past to serve the edition, in order to transfer the objective, true, multi-dimensional historical messages of the US pilots’ life in 1964 – 1973. The war is over, but the memories of the victory joy still remains forever. “Hanoi – Dien Bien Phu in the air” is not only the memory of the ruins in Kham Thien, Bach Mai Hospital or Hanoi Railway Station, but also the occasion for the US pilots to remember the silent moments of their lives, for everyone to understand the war severity and contribute to building the World of Peace, as the words of the first US ambassador in Vietnam Douglas B. Peteson: “Hoa Lo Prison relic reminds us of war memories. But now we are working together towards the future of peace”.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy
Head of Management Board of Hoa Lo Prison Relic
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