AMERICAN POWS TAUGHT US ALL A LESSON IN 1973
Fifty years ago this month, the first planeload of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam War stepped onto the tarmac at Clark Air Base, a U.S. outpost in the Philippines. A cheering crowd of thousands enthusiastically waved miniature American flags as millions of Americans watched the live television coverage of the homecoming, in the middle of the night.
Their safe return had become a central negotiating point at the Paris peace talks, securing a release so valuable that getting these POWs home became the only victory left for our nation during the Vietnam War.
With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, the men’s longawaited freedom was only days away. But a small group of them initially refused repatriation. That group became known as “the Kissinger 20.”
For eight years, from 1965 to 1973, the standing rule among the POWs was, “only accept release in the order of capture.” First in, first out. This rule was inculcated early and often among 591 surviving captives.
The reason for the rule was simple. Their captors had attempted many times to lure the POWs into accepting favored treatment or early release — in exchange for public claims of humane treatment.
The rule removed the temptation to sell out fellow POWs and give the enemy the propaganda advantage. If broken, their reality became a case of survival of the few at the expense of the group. The Kissinger 20 chose to follow the rule.
“We knew something was wrong,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Ed Mechenbier recalled in an interview in 2010. He and the other 19 members of the Kissinger 20 realized they should be released later — after other captives held longer. “So we refused to put on our clothes. We refused to leave.”
Finally, an Air Force brigadier general arrived to talk with Col. Norm Gaddis, the senior ranking officer of the group of 20 POWs. The general convinced Gaddis it was a legitimate release, not a propaganda ploy by the Vietnamese.
Col. Gaddis relayed the information to the other POWs and asked them if they would board the plane. They unanimously said no. The rule was the rule.
“With that,” Maj. Gen. Mechenbier recalled, “Col. Gaddis went down the line, and he gave each one of us a direct verbal order: ‘You will leave today on my authority.’”
Confronted with the express orders of a superior officer, the Kissinger 20 prepared to leave.
As Maj. Gen. Mechenbier said, “so, we put on our clothes, and we told the Vietnamese that if we see so much as one camera, hear so much as one click, we’re turning around and going back into the cell. They let us march out in formation, we got on the bus, and went to the airport on the 18th of February, and there, according to the protocols, we were released.”
Maj. Gen. Mechenbier went on, “I get on the airplane, and I sit down next to a portly American with a crew cut, thick glasses and a black suit. I put my hand out and say, ‘Hi, I’m Ed Mechenbier.’ [And] he says, ‘I’m Dr. Roger Shields. It is my job to get you guys out of here. What the hell have you guys been doing?’”
Together, they pieced together the back story.
National security adviser Henry Kissinger went to Hanoi on Feb. 10, 1973, to discuss post-war relations and to witness the first 115 POWs to be released. As a goodwill gesture, the North Vietnamese offered to release an additional 20 men before the next scheduled release date. Kissinger accepted the offer.
According to Maj. Gen. Mechenbier, Kissinger randomly chose 20 men. Curiously, Mechenbier said, many of them seemed to have German-sounding last names.
Place yourself in the shoes of the Kissinger 20 for a moment. You have endured up to eight years of filth, deprivation, isolation and torture. Your family, freedom and future are all just hours and steps away. All you have to do is walk out to the C-141 and accept the ride back to freedom.
Temptation pulls at you to ignore the rule that helped you survive for years, and just run for the plane.
After years of incarceration, the Kissinger 20 chose to stand by their fellow Americans and their mission — despite the temptation. They knew the power of standing together. One POW called it “the power of we.”
Even with the finish line in sight, the smell of freedom tantalizingly close, they refused to accept release until they were absolutely certain their mission was completed.
The men came home to a muchanticipated celebration — with homecoming parades, lifetime passes to Major League Baseball, national media tours and a celebritystudded White House dinner. Sadly, the rest of the men who fought in Vietnam often faced derision and rejection for their service.
If we only learned one lesson from the Vietnam war, it is that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines go to war because their country asked them to.
Today, we thank all veterans for their service — regardless of where they served. Hate the war, not the warrior.
Baldwin Kiland is co-author of “Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind.” She lives in Coronado. Fretwell co-authored “Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teams” and lives in Yakima, Washington.