Random Things That An American POW In Vietnam Blinking A Desperate Warning In Morse Code On TV (10 items)

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  (#1) Commander Jeremiah Denton Used His Knowledge Of Morse Code To Convey A Crucial Message

  Jeremiah Denton Jr., a United States Naval Aviator, was shot down over Vietnam on July 18, 1965. He was captured and kept as a prisoner of war for seven years and seven months - much of this time was spent in solitary confinement. Nearly a year into his imprisonment, Denton was forced to conduct a televised interview with his captors as propaganda.

  In this interview, Denton used his knowledge of Morse code to blink the word T-O-R-T-U-R-E, alerting the United States to the fact that American prisoners of war were being tortured by their North Vietnamese captors. Even under extreme duress, Denton was able to communicate vital information using just his eyes. 
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  (#2) Despite Imminent Torture, Denton Refused To Denounce His Country

  In the video, Jeremiah Denton bravely refused to speak out against the United States, despite knowing he would be tortured for doing so.

  When asked about his opinion of the United States's actions, Denton replied: “I don’t know what is happening, but whatever the position of my government is, I support it—fully. Whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it—yes sir. I’m a member of that government and it is my job to support it, and I will as long as I live.”
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  (#3) Denton Was Part Of What Was Known As The 'Alcatraz Gang'

  Denton was one of 11 prisoners of war to be held in solitary confinement for two years in Hanoi, Vietnam, because of their resistance to their captors. One of these men, Commander James Stockdale, nicknamed the special facility "Alcatraz." There, Denton and his fellow prisoners underwent special and constant torture because of their resistance. The men were often held down by heavy leg shackles and kept in miniscule, windowless cells, the lights turned on at all times. T

  hey were tortured this way for 25 months, when 10 of the men were moved to a different prison facility - the 11th, Ron Storz, died while in "Alcatraz."    
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  (#4) This Video Was Not The Only Propaganda Event Denton Took Part In

  On July 6, 1966, around the same time he brilliantly blinked using Morse code to convey a message home to the United States, Denton was forced to partake in a propaganda march called the Hanoi March. This march, propagated by the North Vietnamese army, was meant to both humiliate the American prisoners of war and boost anger on the part of North Vietnamese citizens.

  Over 50 prisoners were chained in pairs of two and marched in front of tens of thousands of Vietnamese citizens over a two-mile route. Over the course of the march, the Vietnamese citizens began to beat the prisoners of war, causing terrible injuries. 
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  (#5) Denton Dealt With Excruciating Torture During His Time As A POW

  In 1976, Denton wrote a biography, When Hell Was in Session, detailing his time in Vietnam.

  In the book, he graphically describes the torture he was put through:

  A special rig was devised for me in my cell... I was placed in a sitting position on a pallet, with my hands tightly cuffed behind my back and my feet flat against the wall. Shackles were put on my ankles, with open ends down, and an iron bar was pushed through the eyelets of the shackles.

  The iron bar was tied to the pallet and the shackles in such a way that when the rope was drawn over a pulley arrangement, the bar would cut into the backs of my legs, gradually turning them into a swollen, bloody mess. The pulley was used daily to increase the pressure, and the iron bar began to eat through the Achilles tendons on the backs of my ankles. For five more days and nights I remained in the rig.

  Of his captors, Denton recalls: "They were in a frenzy... alternating the treatment to increase the pain until I was unable to control myself. I began crying hysterically, blood and tears mingling and running down my cheeks... My only thought was a desire to be free of pain."
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  (#6) Denton Was A Leader, Even Under The Worst Of Circumstances - And He Devised Communication Systems Under The Noses Of The Vietnamese

  As one of the highest-ranking officers among his fellow prisoners, Denton felt a sense of duty to take charge, and he did so willingly and with force. In a 1973 interview with the New York Times, Denton said, "I put out the policy that they were not to succumb to threats, but must stand up and say no." He continued, "We forced them to be brutal to us."

  He also devised systems of communication that the North Vietnamese captors would not pick up on, such as coughs and sneezes; because the men were all in such poor health, the Vietnamese didn't pick up on the discreet communication.  
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  (#7) After The War, Denton Continued To Serve His Country

  Denton was promoted to Rear Admiral and served as such in the United States military until his retirement in 1977. In 1980, Denton ran for Senate and won. He ran on a platform of stronger national defense, and he was Alabama's first Republican Senator since the Reconstruction, as well as the first formal admiral to be elected to the position. Denton served from 1981-1987. 

  Denton passed on March 28, 2014, at the age of 89. He is remembered for his bravery, determination, and leadership throughout his life. 
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  (#8) Denton Was In Some Pretty Famous Company At The Hanoi Hilton

  The POW camp where Denton was held has been nicknamed, rather sardonically, the "Hanoi Hilton" by some of those who endured years of torture there. Another notable figure in US history and politics had a stay at the Hanoi Hilton - Republican Senator and once-presidential-hopeful John McCain. McCain spent six years as a POW at the Hilton, where he was tortured regularly and given more than two years in solitary confinement in an attempt to break him. He wasn't broken. 

  After his first year in the prison, McCain was abruptly offered unconditional release in 1968 but refused to accept it before other American prisoners were also let go.
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  (#9) While Her Husband Was Missing, Jane Denton Formed The National League Of POW/MIA

  After her husband went missing, Jane Denton helped to organize the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia.

  While her husband brought attention to the torture of prisoners of war in Vietnam, Jane worked to obtain humane treatment for, and, ultimately the release of, American prisoners of war in Vietnam. 
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  (#10) Not Every Soldier Who Spent Time In The Hanoi Hilton Came Home To The Kind Of Welcome And Success That Denton Experienced

  The 1973 photo that supposedly captures the unbridled joy that the families of returned POWs from Vietnam experienced, "Burst of Joy" (pictured above) by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Slava Veder, tells a very different story than Denton's return and rise to prominence in American politics.

  For Lt. Col. Robert Stirm, the POW in the photo, coming home meant returning to joyful children and a smiling wife - one who had just penned a letter with her intent to divorce him in it. To read more about the truth behind the photo, continue here.

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