Listening to every transmission from 35,000 feet

Episode 19.

A quote from Brigadier General Manor’s summary of the Son Tay Raid:

“21 November, Simons and I proceeded to Saigon where we boarded a Pan Am flight for Washington with an intermediate stop in Honolulu. On arrival in Honolulu we were met by Admiral McCain [His son, John was a shot-down aviator in a Hanoi prison at the time, now he’s a distinguished Senator from Arizona] who had canceled our onward Pan AM flight and replaced it with a C-135 command post aircraft.
We visited with Admiral McCain for about two hours, explaining the details of the mission. McCain’s final comment on our departure was, “Don’t let anyone tell you that this mission was a failure. We will learn, as the results develop, that many benefits will accrue as a result of having done this.” We appreciated his comment, but at the time believed that it was intended to ease our disappointment of having failed to rescue POWs. In retrospect it is astonishing to realize how accurate his prophesy was.”

[END NOTE: Unknown to the world, the POWs were immediately reaping tremendous benefits from the Son Tay Raid. Within a couple of days after the raid, all the POWs were consolidated into two POW camps in the heart of Hanoi, ending solitary confinement. As a result, the POWs’ morale soared. Contrary to their daily propaganda from Hanoi Hannah, they now knew that America would not rest until they were home. Together at last, they formed what they called the “4th Allied POW Wing.” They were able to converse face-to-face, take care brothers’ wounds, encourage the despondent, and hold church services. They even set up a schedule of college-level classes in their cells (teaching calculus scraping a rock on dirty concrete) led by whomever was best qualified in a specific subject. Only when the POWs came home in 1973 did anyone find out about these great results of the Son Tay Raid.

Read this facet of the story, told by the POWs themselves, in Who Will Go: Into the Son Tay POW Camp.]

Here’s how the 4th Allied POW Wing is explained on Wikipedia:

“On November 21, 1970, U.S. Special Forces launched Operation Ivory Coast in an attempt to rescue 61 POWs believed to be held at the Sơn Tây prison camp 23 miles (37 km) west of Hanoi. Fifty-six commandos landed by helicopter and assaulted the prison, but the prisoners had been moved some months earlier and none were rescued. While the raid failed to free any POWs and was considered a significant intelligence failure, it had several positive implications for American prisoners. The most immediate effect was to affirm to the POWs that their government was actively attempting to repatriate them, which significantly boosted their morale. Additionally, soon after the raid all acknowledged American prisoners in North Vietnam were moved to Hỏa Lò so that the North Vietnamese had fewer camps to protect and to prevent their rescue by U.S. forces.^[23][24]

The post-raid consolidation brought many prisoners who had spent years in isolation into large cells holding roughly 70 men each. This created the “Camp Unity” communal living area at Hỏa Lò. The increased human contact further improved morale and facilitated greater military cohesion among the POWs.^[14][24] At this time, the prisoners formally organized themselves under the 4th Allied POW Wing, whose name acknowledged earlier periods of overseas captivity among American military personnel in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. This military structure was ultimately recognized by the North Vietnamese and endured until the prisoners’ release in 1973.^[25]“

See more photos and stories on this website and in Who Will Go, which is just as much to honor the wives and family as the men themselves.

Click Here:  The audiobook is now available.