A new exhibit at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, is giving attendees a rare glimpse into life for prisoners of war and bringing back a flood of memories for Vietnam veterans who spent years in those horrendous conditions.
On Sept. 19, the museum opened the Return with Honor exhibit with three POW veterans there to talk about the displays and share part of their own dark history in Vietnam prisons like Hoa Lo, commonly referred to as the “Hanoi Hilton.” But nothing was plush inside these prison walls. U.S. soldiers captured behind enemy lines were often subjected to months, even years, of brutal torture.
Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr., a retired Navy veteran, was the first U.S. soldier captured and sent to Hoa Lo in North Vietnam. When other captured Americans came, they quizzed Alvarez on how he was able to grab the best room in “Hanoi Hilton.”
“You had to come early to get the good room,” Alvarez would sarcastically reply.
Having survived almost six years as a POW, according to the Pensacola News Journal, Alvarez would thankfully return home and retire as a captain.
Alvarez’s plane was gunned down flying over North Vietnam on Aug. 5, 1964. He was the first American pilot captured during the war. Inside the prison, North Vietnamese soldiers tortured Alvarez and thousands of other POWs in the hope of getting classified information.
The exhibit honors those who survived and, more importantly, the soldiers who never made it home. It’s estimated that 684 POWs returned to the U.S. alive. However, more than 1,500 American soldiers have been reported as unaccounted for, although that number remains disputed.
Since Alvarez can’t be at the museum every day, the exhibit has set up an AI-enhancement that shows a seated Alvarez talking about his youth, military experience, and life after the service.
The exhibit also features a small replica of the “Hanoi Hilton,” along with a list of POWs who were held captive there. Memorabilia includes a flight helmet worn by Navy pilot John McCain, who also spent nearly six years in the prison, eventually becoming a U.S. senator from Arizona. There’s also part of a prison uniform and drinking cup used by John “Jack” Ensch, a Navy lieutenant, along with inspirational quotes, timelines of the war and other events that occurred around the globe when they were POWs, biographical information, and displays, including a model of each prisoner’s cell.
“I’m super excited about this ‘Return with Honor’ exhibit,” said retired Navy Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad, president of the National Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. “The 591 prisoners of war who returned represent something that we should all strive to be like. Their sense of duty, their enduring honor, their patriotism is something we really need to see again in our country.”
Ensch also recalled his terrifying experience of being shot down, captured, and tortured. Despite suffering an injury after his plane crashed, the North Vietnamese mostly ignored his ailments. He was transported to a hut, stripped to just his underwear, and shipped off to prison in the back of a truck.
“We drove to the Hanoi Hilton,” he said. “My room attendants were waiting for me.”
Three days of fierce interrogation followed, but Ensch remained tight-lipped, telling his captors only his name, serial number, rank, and date of birth. But he had shrapnel in his body, and the pain was overwhelming. Eventually, he answered a few questions just to receive medical care. The word “care” should be taken lightly. What Ensch received was a thumb amputation.
Ensch eventually left Vietnam and retired as a captain.
Michael McGrath, another retired Navy captain, said he also divulged bits of information to stop the painful onslaught. At the exhibit opening, McGrath said he and other prisoners felt extremely guilty for exposing sensitive information to the enemy but that U.S. commanders in the prison camp told them they “did the best in the worst of situations.”
McGrath, more than five decades removed from captivity, still remembers a tap code POWs used to communicate with each other through prison walls. He said any communication was valuable to give soldiers a sense of hope in a dire situation.
“The brutality of the interrogation, the lack of medical treatment, the physical cruelty,” McGrath said. “We all went through this brutal treatment.”
Story Continues
Read the full article here