AuthorHouse™ 1663 Liberty Drive Bloomington, IN 47403 www.authorhouse.com Phone: 1-800-839-8640 © 2011 by Jon Couch. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. First published by AuthorHouse 11/18/2011 ISBN: 978-1-4670-6043-1 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-4670-6042-4 (hc) ISBN: 978-1-4670-6044-8 (ebk) Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918106 Printed in the United States of America Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only. Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. 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Ta b l e o f Co n T e n T s Acknowledgments ........................................................................ xi Diagrams ..................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 INTRODUCT I ON .............................................................1 PREPARATION FOR ISOLATION .......................................................3 STAGES OF CAPTIVITY .................................................................5 Chapter 2 AMER I C A N REVOLUT I ON ............................................12 CAPTURE AND MOVEMENT .........................................................17 PRISON SHIPS ...........................................................................20 CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS ............................................................26 SOUTHERN COLONIST NAVAL PRISONERS ......................................40 CORRESPONDENCE BY AND FOR PRISONERS .................................43 ESCAPE , RELEASE , OR REPATRIATION OF PRISONERS ......................44 Chapter 3 AMER I C A N CI V I L WA R ..............................................48 JOHN WORRELL NORTHROP ........................................................51 JOHN WESLEY MINNICH .............................................................62 ANDERSONVILLE VS . ROCK ISLAND PRISON ..................................72 DIX —HILL CARTEL AND ITS EFFECTS ON POWS ............................73 Chapter 4 WORLD WA R II ........................................................76 HARRY JEFFERIES AND OKLAHOMA ATKINSON ..............................78 JAPAN ’S SURRENDER AND AFTERMATH ........................................93 EUROPEAN THEATER PRISONERS OF WAR .....................................97 STANLEY EDWARDS ..................................................................98 GEORGE WATT ........................................................................106 JAPANESE VS . GERMAN CAPTIVITY ENVIRONMENTS .....................112 EPILOGUE ON WORLD WAR II PRISONERS ...................................113 Chapter 5 KORE A N WA R .........................................................115 ROBERT MACLEAN ..................................................................116 ROBERT COURY ......................................................................120 AKIRA CHIKAMI .....................................................................124 Chapter 6 SOUTHE as T Asia .....................................................140 EVERETT ALVAREZ ..................................................................145 FRED V. CHERRY , SR . ..............................................................168 JAMES N. ROWE .....................................................................182 DOUG HEGDAHL .....................................................................189 TOM HANTON .........................................................................192 BILL WILSON .........................................................................206 POW WIVES AND THE WAR .......................................................223 THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS .....................................................226 REFLECTIONS ON THE WAR ’S IMPACT ON POWS ..........................228 Chapter 7 DE S ERT SH I ELD AND DE S ERT STORM .......................231 CLIFFORD ACREE ....................................................................235 WILLIAM (BILL ) ANDREWS ......................................................255 Chapter 8 PO S T COLD WA R / AS YMMETR I C PR is ONER S , DET ai NEE S , AND HO S T A GE S .....................................................263 WARTIME DETENTION ENVIRONMENT ........................................271 GOVERNMENTAL DETENTION : ROBERT LEVINSON ........................272 GOVERNMENTAL DETENTION : HALEH ESFANDIARI .......................273 CIVILIAN HOSTAGE : THE SRS ....................................................277 CIVILIAN HOSTAGE : ROY HALLUMS ...........................................281 WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN ? ..................................................284 Chapter 9 AN AN A LY sis OF THE Cap T I V I TY ENV I RONMENT AND SURV I V A L ................................................................................290 HEALTH . ................................................................................290 ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................292 ARCHIVE . ..............................................................................294 LEADERSHIP . .........................................................................297 TRAINING ..............................................................................300 HUMOR . ................................................................................306 CAPTIVITY ’S EFFECTS ON THE POW ..........................................311 Appendix A (List of Cold War MIAs) .....................................321 Appendix B (List of Vietnam POWs) ......................................329 Appendix C (List of Iranian Hostages) ....................................347 Appendix D (DE S ERT STORM Cap T I VE S UN A CCOUNTED -FOR ) .....355 NOTES ........................................................................................357 Bibliography* .............................................................................421 Index ............................................................................................447 We asked for strength that we might achieve; God made us weak that we might obey. We asked for health that we might do great things; He gave us infirmity that we might do greater things. We asked for riches that we might be happy; We were given poverty that we might be wise. We asked for power that we might have the praise of men; We were given weakness that we might feel the need of God. We asked for all things that we might enjoy life; We were given life that we might enjoy all things. We received nothing that we asked for, but all that we hoped for. And our prayers were answered. We were most blessed. Found unsigned at Andersonville Prison compound following the American Civil War aC knowledgmen T s The purpose of this book is to provide the reader a history of Americans held against their will while participating in major engagements, contingency operations, or in a few select cases, simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. This book contains a snapshot of experiences starting with the American Revolution and continuing through present day conflicts. Understanding a little of what these great Americans endured is to look into the American soul because these Americans endured horrors that only love of country and of fellow man could allow them to endure. This book is not intended to be the all encompassing source of POWs taken throughout history, rather the hope is for the reader to gain an appreciation of these POWs’ experiences throughout our history and then for those that wish to conduct further research, an extensive bibliography is included. I would be remiss if I did not express my profound thanks to all those that fought for American freedom, held as prisoners or hostages and were never able to return home to a land they so loved. We all owe this special category of Americans a debt of gratitude we can never repay. Moreover, although this book mentions a relatively small number of American prisoners of war, the thousands prisoners of war taken throughout our history and their contribution to our nations freedom is no less significant. All of these men and women are genuine heroes—in the fullest sense of the word. xi Jon Couch I wish to thank my wife, Kristi for whom this book would not have been possible. Kristi long ago planted the seed of education in me and through our many years of marriage, has shown me that life is full of obstacles but with the right frame of reference and education, much is possible. In addition to my wife, special thanks goes out to all that have endured the horrors of being taken prisoner. Although I cannot name all those by name that have contributed in some way, I want to specifically thank some very special people that helped make this idea of a credible POW history into a reality. Many of these are former prisoners of war (or their spouse) that contributed their time and thoughts and in no small measure made this book possible. These include Colonel Fred V. Cherry, Sr. USAF (Ret), Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. USN (Ret.), Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.) (and his wife, Mrs. Cindy