The unlikely war hero A Vietnam War POW's story of courage and resilience in the Hanoi Hilton

Marc Leepson, 1945-

Book - 2024

"This is the incredible tale of the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW captured in North Vietnam. Doug Hegdahl convinced his captors he was stupid, then spent the next two years memorizing the names of 254 fellow prisoners and other details of POW life. Upon his release, that information helped improve POW life for those still in captivity"--

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Subjects
Published
Essex, Connecticut : Stackpole Books [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Marc Leepson, 1945- (author)
Physical Description
xix, 229 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780811772921
  • Acknowledgments
  • Prologue: The Lowest-Altitude Bailout
  • Chapter 1. Growing Up in Mayberry
  • Chapter 2. The Canberra
  • Chapter 3. Strange and Unexplainable
  • Chapter 4. The Devil's Island of the Far East
  • Chapter 5. Pilots in Pajamas
  • Chapter 6. Doug and Beak
  • Chapter 7. A Gold Mine
  • Chapter 8. A Reluctant Hero
  • Chapter 9. The MOB
  • Chapter 10. Your Government Has Forgotten You
  • Chapter 11. Get Out of Jail Free Card
  • Chapter 12. Independence Day
  • Chapter 13. On American Soil
  • Chapter 14. The Primary Issue of the War
  • Chapter 15. Going Public
  • Chapter 16. Going Private
  • Appendix 1. The Code of Conduct
  • Appendix 2. The Youngest and Lowest-Ranking Vietnam War POWs
  • Bibliographical Note
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Historian and PW reviewer Leepson (Huntland) offers an immersive biography of Doug Hegdahl, "the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW captured in North Vietnam," who famously recited the names of 254 prisoners of the Hanoi Hilton after his release and alerted the world to the POW camp's inhumane conditions and torture of prisoners. Drawing on interviews with Hegdahl's fellow POWs, Leepson presents a complete picture of the extraordinary story, including its unlikely beginnings: Hegdahl, an enlisted seaman, was blown overboard by the concussive force of one of his own ship's gun blasts and picked up by Vietnamese boaters in 1967. He ended up in the Hilton, which was mostly filled with high-ranking pilots. Under questioning, Hegdahl, already feeling foolish at having gone overboard, fell into a country bumpkin--like affect. The guards quickly dismissed him as "The Incredibly Stupid One" and gave him free rein of the camp. He connected with the interred officers, who, impressed with Hegdahl's apparently superhuman memorization skills (which he proved by reciting the Gettysburg Address backwards, a feat Leepson reveals was also a bit of chicanery--Hegdahl was reading it off), ordered him to memorize their names and accept the early release that they themselves refused. Leepson paints a striking picture of a canny survivor nonetheless committed to his compatriots. Vietnam War buffs will be riveted. (Dec.) Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that Doug Hegdahl recited the names of every prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton. There were around 400 POWs held there at the time of his release; he recited the names of 254 of them.

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