On August 5, 1964, the aircraft carriers Constellation (CVA 64) and Ticonderoga (CVA 14) launched the first air strikes against North Vietnam. Among the pilots participating in the mission was Lieutenant (junior grade) Everett Alvarez, whose A-4 Skyhawk was hit, forcing him to eject. Captured by the enemy, he became the first Naval Aviator taken prisoner in North Vietnam. As the air war intensified, more airmen became prisoners. No longer able to fight the enemy with bombs and missiles, these men were instead forced to wage war on other fronts. They endured miserable living conditions and resisted sadistic torture employed against them by the North Vietnamese in attempts to gain confessions of war crimes or break their spirit.
The American POW experience in Southeast Asia lasted until 1973, when 591 individuals returned home as part of Operation Homecoming. Using photographs and rare artifacts, this exhibit tells the story of that harrowing time, portraying both the hardships of captivity and the joyous return home. Its centerpiece is a recreation of a cell in the infamous Hoa Lo prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by those held captive there. Flanking the cell is a vivid collection of personal items, including the shell of the flight helmet U.S. Senator John S. McCain, III, wore when he was shot down in 1967, the pajama type uniforms worn by POWs while in captivity, and a book containing sketches of houses that Lieutenant (junior grade) Dan Glenn, an architecture major in college, drew to pass the time in the latter stages of captivity.
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