140:), so much had changed back in the United States that Coker (and Commander Denton) said it was as if "... we weren't here (in America) at all. We were strangers in our own country, and we didn't like a lot of what we saw". Many still have throbbing in joints from the rope torture and Coker's wife says, "In his sleep, he holds up 'the wall'". Coker also said, "If you're never tested, you don't know (what you can do)".
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suicide attempt failed and the film was never made. Of
Stockdale, Lieutenant Coker said "He was probably the strongest, most exemplary leader of the whole North Vietnamese POW environment". Coker and McKnight were the last POWs assigned to the Alcatraz Gang, being so assigned for previous fierce resistance to their treatment and an unsuccessful escape from the Power Plant or "Dirty Bird" prison camp.
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changed and the session stopped, which the POWs thought was because of a political decision from higher authorities to stop the sessions. All of the prisoners except Storz were moved to other prisons in
December 1969. Storz, debilitated from sickness and untreated injuries, was left behind and died in captivity on 23 April 1970.
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Howard
Rutledge died at 55 on 11 June 1984, after an 18 month battle with cancer. Harry Jenkins was killed in an aircraft accident on 2 August 1995. James Stockdale, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, died on 5 July 2005 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. Jeremiah Denton, who went on to become
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The group received special torture and were taken into torture sessions in order of rank, highest to lowest. Coker was the youngest and lowest ranking of the eleven POWs and was taken in last. He said he is still grateful for every minute the others held out. During the end of his session, something
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every night in 3-by-9-foot windowless concrete cells with the light on around the clock. The eleven
Americans were separated because they were leaders of the prisoners' resistance. Stockdale once tried to kill himself so that the North Vietnamese could not force him to make a propaganda film. The
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These prisoners were held in solitary confinement from 25 October 1967 to 9 December 1969 at a special facility (dubbed "Alcatraz" by
Commander Stockdale) in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, about a mile away from
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a
Senator, died in 2014. Tanner died on 12 June 2015 at 82. Sam Johnson, who served in the House of Representatives, died in 2020. This leaves three survivors - George Coker, James Mulligan, and Robert Shumaker.
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Defiant: The POWs Who
Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned
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365: – a group of 11 prisoners of war who were separated because they were leaders of the prisoners' resistance.
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Map annotated by former POW Mike McGrath (Navy pilot), indicating the location of
Alcatraz and the Hanoi Hilton.
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because of their particular resistance to their North-Vietnamese military captors. These eleven POWs were:
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LT George T. Coker, USN, shortly after his release from the POW camps in North
Vietnam; March 1973.
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When all the POWs were released from North
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409:(March 26, 1996). "George Coker for Beach Schools (Letter to the Editor)".
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Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973
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444:"Our POWs: Locked up for 6 years, he unlocked a spirit inside"
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340:"Perot's Interim Partner Spent 7 1/2 Years As Pow"
286:"Harry T. Jenkins, Jr. | The Brown Shoes Project"
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525:Vietnam War crimes committed by North Vietnam
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422:"Notes on People, Mao Meets Mobutu in China"
154:U.S. Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War
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442:Kimberlin, Joanne (November 11, 2008).
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420:Johnston, Laurie (December 18, 1974).
261:"Cancer Fatal To Rutledge, Former POW"
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338:Adams, Lorraine (March 11, 1992).
311:"Obituary for Charles Nels Tanner"
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515:Vietnam War prisoner-of-war camps
315:Obituary for Charles Nels Tanner
309:Home, Maley-Yarbrough Funeral.
60:was a group of eleven American
104:, USAF; and Nels Tanner, USN.
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520:Vietnam War prisoners of war
374:; Kiley, Frederick (2007).
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510:Torture in the Vietnam War
415:. Landmark Communications.
210:Rochester & Kiley 2007
64:(POW) held separately in
505:American torture victims
476:Townley, Alvin (2014).
480:. Thomas Dunne Books.
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34:21.02528°N 105.84639°E
382:Naval Institute Press
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456:on November 25, 2014
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449:The Virginian Pilot
412:The Virginian Pilot
407:Stockdale, James B.
345:Dallas Morning News
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427:The New York Times
361:He was one of the
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499:Categories
460:August 26,
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397:August 26,
355:August 26,
332:References
320:2020-11-29
295:2020-11-29
271:2020-11-29
212:, p.
195:Adams 1992
102:Ron Storz
22:21°1′31″N
148:See also
126:legcuffs
100:, USN;
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160:Notes
66:Hanoi
482:ISBN
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