Chapter 10: Freedom Bird

[00:00:00] A quick note, this is a 10-part chronological docu-series. We recommend starting at chapter 1

[00:00:06] and for the best immersive listening experience, headphones are suggested.

[00:00:11] Imagine for a moment the last 8 years of your own life. How much has happened? How much has changed?

[00:00:20] Where have you been? What have you done? What about your family? Your kids?

[00:00:26] Imagine each of those nearly 3,000 days. Now imagine you spent that entire time

[00:00:36] imprisoned in a war camp, constantly fighting off death, having committed no crime at all.

[00:00:44] Would you have the willpower to survive? Would you have the physical or mental endurance?

[00:00:50] Would you have the honor to refuse going home early in order to remain in solitude

[00:00:57] with your country and your fellow prisoner? Imagine you were an American POW in North Vietnam,

[00:01:05] starving, beaten, confused. Would you still have hope?

[00:01:12] Somehow, in 1973, our heroes still did. That year, the brotherhood among American prisoners

[00:01:26] of war in North Vietnam was tighter than ever. Post-Sante raid, they were all in the Hanoi

[00:01:33] Hilton in tight quarters with relationships and love as close as family members.

[00:01:41] Everett Alvarez, 8 years into captivity that year,

[00:01:44] remembers the end feeling closer. By that time, we were being treated well in 1972.

[00:01:53] We were living in larger groups.

[00:01:55] Red McDaniel, 6 years into his, recalls as well.

[00:01:59] I had absolute blind faith my country is coming to get me.

[00:02:04] But would they really be released? Was going home a reality?

[00:02:12] Or would the enemy who followed no rules,

[00:02:15] grow tired of the seemingly endless negotiations and simply execute the POWs?

[00:02:21] In this episode, our story comes to a close.

[00:02:28] Created in honor of Ross Perot Sr., with additional support from In-N-Out Burger,

[00:02:33] proud to support veterans and their families.

[00:02:35] From the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, in partnership with Found Wave Productions,

[00:02:41] this is the season finale of Captured, shot down in Vietnam.

[00:03:27] Here's our show's historian and author.

[00:04:14] Alvin Townley again.

[00:04:35] During his first weeks and even months in office, President Nixon was optimistic about being able

[00:04:41] to end the war quickly because he assumed that the North Vietnamese also wanted peace

[00:04:46] and would agree to negotiate peace terms that were acceptable and honorable for both sides.

[00:04:52] Only slowly and painfully did President Nixon and Henry Kissinger realize that

[00:04:57] North Vietnam had no interest in negotiating.

[00:05:00] The North Vietnamese not only demanded what amounted to an unconditional American surrender,

[00:05:06] but insisted that the American government topple the South Vietnamese government as it withdrew.

[00:05:12] Nor would the North agree to the return of American POWs, nor an accounting for those missing in action.

[00:05:20] We will not be blackmailed into an agreement.

[00:05:24] We will not be stampeded into an agreement.

[00:05:28] And if I may say so, we will not be charmed into an agreement until its conditions are right.

[00:05:36] The North Vietnamese didn't really want to negotiate because they felt they were winning.

[00:05:40] They were in it for the long haul and they were just not going to negotiate away their goals.

[00:05:47] And they were alive North Vietnamese dying, they were vested in this war.

[00:05:51] And so when they did actually sit down to talk, there was a ridiculous exchange about

[00:05:56] what the shape of the table was going to be.

[00:05:59] The North Vietnamese and NLF preferred a round table to symbolize equality

[00:06:04] and create a more inclusive atmosphere while the United States and South Vietnam

[00:06:09] wanted a rectangular table to reflect division, better representing the realities on the ground.

[00:06:15] By that time I realized, others perhaps, that the only way we were going to get out of there was to

[00:06:21] force the North Vietnamese to come to the true stocks and stop the silliness of what was going

[00:06:27] on in Paris with the round table and this and that and the demands and who could sit where.

[00:06:32] A compromise was eventually reached and the table was set up in a horseshoe shape.

[00:06:37] But things like that just, I think let everybody know there was a real negotiation happening.

[00:06:43] I mean it was just ridiculous.

[00:06:47] As the war waged on the ground and in the air over Vietnam, the negotiations in Paris were

[00:06:52] repeatedly started and stopped and started again because the North Vietnamese negotiators

[00:06:59] proved to be intractable adversaries and finding common ground was anything but easy.

[00:07:05] Between 1969 and 1973, President Nixon delivered 14 long and detailed,

[00:07:12] nationally televised prime time speeches to the American people on Vietnam.

[00:07:18] In the third of those speeches on December 15th, 1969, near the end of his first year in office,

[00:07:25] the president reported no progress on the negotiating front for over a month.

[00:07:30] Four months later, on April 20th, 1970 in his fourth address, he echoed those same sentiments.

[00:07:37] No progress has taken place on the negotiating front, he said.

[00:07:41] On January 25th, 1972, in his eighth speech, the president outlined the elements of the

[00:07:48] numerous proposals the United States had made during these negotiations,

[00:07:53] only to see them repeatedly rejected by North Vietnam.

[00:07:56] Dr. Henry Kissinger and Hanoi's Le Duc Tho have closed shop on their private negotiations

[00:08:02] to reach a ceasefire in the Vietnam War. So far, what they have to say in public about those talks

[00:08:09] does not indicate that a ceasefire is ready to be declared. Dr. Kissinger will report the

[00:08:14] president Nixon first thing tomorrow morning upon arrival in Washington from Paris.

[00:08:19] A North Vietnamese source would only say about the talks things don't look so good.

[00:08:28] Following the breakdown of peace talks with North Vietnam just a few days earlier,

[00:08:33] President Richard Nixon announced the beginning of a massive strategic bombing campaign

[00:08:38] to break the stalemate. Over the next two weeks, over 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped

[00:08:44] on the cities of Hanoi and Hai Phong. The bombing increased.

[00:08:55] Here again is the writer of the captured exhibit and former President Nixon aide Bob Bostock.

[00:09:01] In December of 1972, Nixon unleashed the biggest bombing campaign of the war on the North

[00:09:08] and at the Hanoi Hilton and other camps around Hanoi. You know, he was determined to find a

[00:09:14] negotiated end but he was not reluctant to use military power to prod the North Vietnamese when

[00:09:21] they would be in transigent. A bombing operation called Linebacker II where American B-52s

[00:09:28] heavily bombed North Vietnam and Hanoi. In the city and around the city in, you know,

[00:09:33] this continuous bombing. The B-52s would come all night. The fighter bombers come during the day

[00:09:43] and it just continued, continued and there was a time when the bombs fell pretty close to

[00:09:50] the Hanoi Hilton maybe not by design but it shook things up. There was one night

[00:09:58] in Linebacker II where out of that one window up high and one of these big cells I could look

[00:10:04] out at a section and I saw counted 11 SAM surface to air missiles go up into the clouds.

[00:10:12] I counted 11 SAMs. It continued and continued and I knew, hey this thing is not going to end

[00:10:21] until the Vietnamese agree and Nixon's not going to stop until they do. United States military

[00:10:32] command has acknowledged the loss of two more B-52s in the North Vietnam bombing missions.

[00:10:38] This brings to 10, the number of the giant bombers down by North Vietnamese anti-aircraft

[00:10:43] fires since Monday. Nixon was our hero. We were all championing for him because when

[00:10:57] Nixon was elected we felt that the war would end soon. It didn't happen as quickly as we thought.

[00:11:06] I think the American people kind of gave up on the war. It didn't have the support

[00:11:12] that they needed to provide to impetus to end the war and so we just,

[00:11:18] we felt that it was never going to happen but when the B-52s came we felt the end was nearer.

[00:11:25] In the following December 1972 recording, Nixon and Kissinger discuss the North Vietnamese

[00:11:31] reaction to the bombing. The guys were now saying well why do we do it with B-52s? The

[00:11:37] point is that as we know we couldn't do it with anything from B-52s because god damn it

[00:11:41] there's nothing else that can fly at this time of year. The president within 10 days you got

[00:11:45] these guys to the table with no other method could have stopped. Well the main thing now

[00:11:51] Henry is that we have to pull this off. It's going to be tough today assuming we go forward with our

[00:11:58] plan. We're talking to the North. My view is we talk and we settle right with them. The

[00:12:05] relentless bombing campaign continued for 11 days only pausing on Christmas. 15 B-52s and 11 other

[00:12:14] American aircraft had been downed. North Vietnam claimed over 1600 civilians were killed. Towards the

[00:12:23] end of December 1972 the North Vietnamese finally came back to the table and the fact of the matter

[00:12:29] is they were suffering enormous casualties losing far more men than the United States or South

[00:12:37] Vietnam you know there are hundreds of thousands killed and terrible condition for the people

[00:12:42] in their country. Last few days they were just no Sam's because they had run out the air raid

[00:12:51] sirens would go off during the day and the guards were they could hear a moan and groan

[00:12:56] around the around the prison they didn't even want to go man their guns anymore. They've had it

[00:13:02] so when the bombing stopped we knew that was it. We knew when the bomb is coming

[00:13:07] the end would be near. I started to to become optimistic again about myself my future.

[00:13:18] In January of 1973 the Paris peace accords were assigned. Good evening I have asked for this radio

[00:13:25] and television time tonight for the purpose of announcing that we today have concluded an

[00:13:32] agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam within 60 days from this

[00:13:38] Saturday all Americans held prisoners of war throughout Indochina will be released.

[00:13:45] After eight and a half years all the hope all the endurance was finally about to pay off

[00:13:54] the American POWs were coming home. In this recorded White House phone call from January

[00:14:10] 2nd 1973 just one month before the POW rescue mission former president Johnson calls president

[00:14:17] Nixon to wish him a happy new year.

[00:14:37] These people are now coming back to the table we've been a very we think constructive frame of

[00:14:42] mind and they better that's uh as you know I'm sure you feel the same way we've got to get

[00:14:48] this finished in the right way and not the wrong way that's what you did try to do it's what

[00:14:53] I'm trying to do.

[00:15:14] Two weeks later Johnson would pass away from a heart attack he would never see the men he sent

[00:15:20] to war come home. Towards the end when they were having early releases and they asked if I would go

[00:15:29] home with my my sister or my mother came with a delegation I had and I said no they asked John

[00:15:36] McCain the same thing and you know that became he became famous for that too. Forever it after

[00:15:42] maintaining his honor all those years he wasn't about to forego it and abandon his brothers

[00:15:48] just to go home a few months early. Operation homecoming was really well planned it was the

[00:15:56] first time anything of that nature. The organized plan to get the men home became known as Operation

[00:16:02] Homecoming it would involve 54 C-141 missions flown from February 12th to April 14th 1973

[00:16:11] freeing 591 POWs the aircraft that took them home were called Freedom Birds.

[00:16:21] For 12 days 12 nights we had very little food a lot of bombing but when Obama stopped four

[00:16:28] days later they called us all out into the courtyard and in the courtyard there at the

[00:16:34] Hilton said the parish peace accords have been signed and they said you know he'd be going

[00:16:39] home soon they said in the morning you will be going out and you'll be released in four groups.

[00:16:47] Next day was February 12th 1973 and that's the day we first walked out of the camp without

[00:16:56] being blindfolded and without being handcuffed. Even as we walked out of that camp I was cynical

[00:17:04] I guess by nature by that time. We got on the busses road on the way to the airport

[00:17:11] they brought sandwiches out but I didn't want to eat because in case we did go home I wanted to be

[00:17:18] hungry I didn't want to eat anymore of this stuff. They marched us and lined us up in the you know

[00:17:24] in order of shoot down I was first myself and Bob Shoemaker next to each other. We walked to

[00:17:32] the line and you know the column of twos and the first 40 guys that were released then

[00:17:37] there was a big C141 and the officer said you know just wait patience patience they started calling

[00:17:46] out names and stepped forward and I remember getting to the back of 141 and I looked up

[00:17:51] as the ramp and we're going up and there was an Air Force nurse and she was beautiful. I just

[00:17:59] looked at her. We sat down and now they're piled on and what have you. Everybody got loaded the

[00:18:08] board but here I am thinking gee something's gonna happen. You know they're they're feeding us

[00:18:16] soft drinks and we're talking. We sat down Bob and I sat next to each other and I was nursing

[00:18:27] a coke a soft drink. The plane started taxiing it was revving up at the end of the runway

[00:18:37] and everybody started cheering and what have you. I didn't cheer Bob didn't cheer.

[00:18:46] As we got airborne I figured okay my cynicism went away first time I felt really good about

[00:18:54] about leaving. At that point from then on I never looked back and thought about it. I was always

[00:19:02] thinking forward and what's next in my what's next in my life and I took my coke and I said

[00:19:11] Bob we made it. It was a great thrill.

[00:19:22] But there was no laughter on the C-41 until we leave North Vietnamese airspace. We had a g-jump on

[00:19:34] the aircraft and that's when all the laughter starts because we're out of no Vietnam. The POWs

[00:19:40] landed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines and it was covered wall-to-wall coverage on TV back

[00:19:45] here in the United States. They were showing it the when the plane left Vietnam and flew

[00:19:52] into Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. This again is Mike McDaniel, Red's oldest son.

[00:19:58] He was eight when his father left and a teenager when he returned. It was like four

[00:20:03] o'clock in the morning East Coast time and my mom comes in with this Polaroid camera takes

[00:20:09] pictures of us all while we're still sleeping it's a goofy-looking picture. She wakes us

[00:20:14] up to all gather around the television to watch this and I can see that whole scene where

[00:20:23] you see this plane landing on the runway and you know your dad's in that airplane

[00:20:29] then it's taxing down the tarmac and they bring out the stairs to come down

[00:20:33] and we're all sitting on the floor. I can tell you exactly where we were all sitting. My mom's

[00:20:37] sitting on the floor right in front of the television we're all surrounding her just

[00:20:40] excitement you know your dad's on that airplane. They start coming off and you see this guy all

[00:20:45] you can see is from the chest down and you can tell us this tall linky guy and you knew it was him

[00:20:52] he's weight wither and he's adjusting his belt buckle like you do in the Navy you can see his

[00:20:56] hands and my mom dissolves on the floor I mean she's just just sobbing tears and you know

[00:21:04] mom mom not now not now you gotta watch this so she didn't even see it so she had to watch

[00:21:09] the rerun to see it again but that's one of those memories we'll never forget. Seeing these men

[00:21:19] come off of those planes was extraordinary and Nixon wrote in his memoirs a few years later

[00:21:26] I've got a quote right here he said the scene at Clark airbase was tremendously moving as one

[00:21:31] by one them in came down the ramp walking or hobbling on crutches saluting the flag

[00:21:36] some made eloquent statements some fell to their knees to kiss the ground these were no ordinary men

[00:21:45] these were true heroes. We were three days in the Philippines with emergency medical treatment

[00:22:02] able to call home got to talk to Mike and the children and and my wife. Then he calls us on

[00:22:10] the phone the next day that was wonderful I mean you know now things are going to change but

[00:22:15] you're so excited that he's coming home. So here we are talking to him on the phone and you're

[00:22:21] talking to your dad who's been gone for almost seven years now and here he is on the phone

[00:22:26] larger than life you know I'm 10th grade at the time and one of my brothers and my again this was

[00:22:36] 70s we were both big surfers we had to long surf her hair and one of our biggest concerns

[00:22:41] was is he gonna make us cut our hair? We said well dad we our hairs our hairs a little longer

[00:22:49] and he said I mean again that's that's how stupid our focus was he says he goes you know I don't care

[00:22:55] have a long hair as long as you have good character and we just look at each other yes

[00:23:00] mom you hear that mom you hear that. We landed we were driven to the hospital at Clark.

[00:23:10] I stepped out of the car there's a huge bunch of people out there and they were carrying these

[00:23:15] banners and these flags and they you know all cheering when I stepped out of the car to go in the

[00:23:21] hospital first thing stripped off the clothes we had on jumped in the shower hot shower and stayed

[00:23:29] there for about 30 minutes I must wash my hair with soap shampoo and and then came out because

[00:23:38] by that time I was hungry. At Clark Air Base in the Philippines, Everett and the other POWs were

[00:23:44] debriefed and physically examined before being sent to a military hospital. I told him about the

[00:23:50] parasites no worms and this and that he said well let's let's put you on a bland diet here

[00:23:56] I figured okay because you know I want a steak and eggs french fries I wanted to uh and so I said

[00:24:02] well okay I waited so long like egg site week I can wait another couple of days we went sat down

[00:24:09] and started eating finished with my bland diet when I looked up here's another guy group of guys

[00:24:14] coming through the line and they're eating hamburgers and eggs and steaks I said wait a minute

[00:24:23] wait a minute this is not gonna work the hell with the bland diet we went in got our plate

[00:24:28] tray full of I wanted a steak I wanted about three eggs four eggs french fries toast a milkshake

[00:24:35] and I went through and I brought that in the doctor saying you know you shouldn't be eating that

[00:24:40] and I said excuse my French bullshit you know they said watch me as I scarfed it down

[00:24:48] I scarfed it all down and yeah every meal thereafter I scarfed it down

[00:24:54] somebody sneaked went off to the px store and brought some booze and then somebody brought

[00:25:00] in some music and I was a bachelor and so here I am and so I started really enjoying the party and so

[00:25:10] forth two days and then three days guys are flying home and people apparently people said

[00:25:22] where's alvarez what's wrong with him how come he's not coming home well I was killing myself

[00:25:28] parting you know we were able to call and yeah we're fine you know fine but I was just

[00:25:36] in no hurry jones went funny called me says every people are asking for you so you're going home

[00:25:49] I would like to say a word to some of the bravest people I have ever met in his formal address

[00:25:55] signaling the peace agreement president nixon expressed admiration for the league of wives

[00:26:01] bringing international awareness to their heroic efforts the wives the children the families of our

[00:26:06] prisoners of war and the missing inaction when others called on us to settle on any terms you

[00:26:13] had the courage to stand for the right kind of peace nothing means more to me at this moment

[00:26:20] and the fact that your long vigil is coming to an end here again is andrea rander active member

[00:26:30] of the league of wives and the spouse to donald rander an army servicemen who endured many years as a

[00:26:36] p o w it was announced that all of the prisoners would be released we were all praying that our

[00:26:44] men would be coming home safely and all we could do was deal with the anticipation this was really

[00:26:53] exciting during his captivity I never received word from him at the end the captors allowed those who

[00:27:03] were leaving to take letters to give to the wives and families of those who had not been released

[00:27:10] so I received a letter from from donald it was a wonderful love letter almost as if he

[00:27:17] hadn't been through those five years it was incredible and reading that letter it gave me

[00:27:23] you know getting prepared for him to arrive was going to be the best thing that was ever

[00:27:28] going to happen in my life we were given the instructions on what to do where to go

[00:27:35] what time to be there so I was trying to prepare the children and I tried to explain to them

[00:27:42] you know life is changing girls you've been with your mom five years plus and dad's going to enter

[00:27:49] the picture now and we're going to be a family again and you're going to have to adjust to that

[00:27:56] the re-unification reunion was going to happen at the hospital up in in Pennsylvania

[00:28:03] and so um that's where we met him so then what was the moment like seeing him for the first

[00:28:11] time again unbelievable it was a wonderful reunion a day that I'll never forget with the

[00:28:19] children there and I think they were in disbelief and seeing their dad on the fourth day we flew

[00:28:32] back to the US into our home base where I met Dorothy and the children what was it like

[00:28:41] seeing your kids six years later just great joy one of the greatest days of my life I still remember

[00:28:47] like it was yesterday it's like a videotape in my mind I can see it I can see the car knowing your

[00:28:55] dad's in that sedan and it pulls up in front of the hospital we're all there the big commander

[00:29:00] Atlantic fleet is there it's kind of a big deal all the media is there and here this limousine

[00:29:05] is kind of like a good slow motion in my mind it comes and pulls up that door opens and there he is

[00:29:14] larger than life and his khakis oh it was the greatest greatest moment I'll never forget

[00:29:23] he comes and he grabs my mom sweeps my sister up in her arms and we all get kind of had this

[00:29:28] kind of the group hug the wife had done a great job and the kids were all very normal

[00:29:38] it was very easy reunion because she had done such a good job keep my name before the kids and

[00:29:45] answering all their questions when's dad coming on over and over and I think our family is much

[00:29:52] stronger because of that experience they all even though it was a tough six years

[00:29:59] there's no things to be said about the strength that we have as a family now

[00:30:10] in the six years since dawn had last been home Andrea like many of the POW and MIA wives

[00:30:18] had grown into her own independence you know I really was an independent woman who didn't

[00:30:26] realize she was independent I had done all of these things on my own thinking that this is what

[00:30:35] I have to do it's just you do what you need to do in life and then you take it from there

[00:30:43] and that must have been my whole philosophy at the time so yes I felt this independence but

[00:30:49] I also felt that in getting back into a marriage and reality setting in things were going to be

[00:30:59] a little bit different and I had to I had to adjust to that but the fact that he had gone

[00:31:06] through what he went through he didn't think I understood what he went through and he definitely

[00:31:13] didn't understand what I had gone through to a degree we tried to make the best of our marriage

[00:31:20] and we tried very hard and sometimes things just don't work out the only thing that I ever got

[00:31:27] out of him is because the only reason he was divorcing me is because he loved me but where

[00:31:33] we we both became very proud of each other the POWs returning home during what they call

[00:31:41] Operation Homecoming was really for a lot of Americans the end of the war that was the symbol

[00:31:46] that was the moment that the Vietnam War ended when they saw American POWs walk off those aircraft

[00:31:52] finally returned to America that was the moment that everybody appreciated everybody felt this

[00:31:59] this spark of national unity and everyone felt some degree of closure around the conflict in

[00:32:06] Vietnam unlike red and donald everett no longer had a wife to come home to his young wife tangy

[00:32:14] had left him during his captivity but everett didn't let that crush his spirit it really wasn't

[00:32:21] hard to come home the only thing it was hard is how we were I was thrust into being an instant

[00:32:28] celebrity a media instant celebrity status and I had never I never anticipated it I didn't know

[00:32:39] how to handle it and I didn't know I just didn't know it took me years to get used to it I shied

[00:32:46] away from the notoriety I met my wife which we met March 30 I came home February to the States

[00:32:54] February 16th let me tell you my wife was most helpful I mean I don't know where I'd be without her

[00:33:03] I felt like I met somebody with who was a genuine person I'm not saying the others weren't but

[00:33:09] they never met measured up to what this one my wife is she she's just an honest genuine

[00:33:17] good person with strong values and they matched mine and I knew right off the bat

[00:33:24] you know our first date was at the White House dinner May 24

[00:33:34] after they got home you know the president was trying to figure out you know what can we do to

[00:33:38] salute these men who had endured so much came home with honor it was a very very important

[00:33:45] thing for the president that these men had endured and kept faith in what he was trying to do

[00:33:50] Sammy Davis Jr of all people was at a was entertaining after a state dinner at the White

[00:33:58] House and he had suggested to the president he would say you can't solve to have a dinner for

[00:34:02] these guys the Nixon's decided yeah we're gonna have a dinner for these men and their wives were dates

[00:34:08] on May 24th 1973 the largest dinner in White House history was held

[00:34:18] 1300 guests at a formal sit-down dinner

[00:34:27] the sheer size of this event has made it necessary to move outdoors under this giant

[00:34:32] tent erected here on the south lawn the tent is longer and wider than the White House itself

[00:34:37] inside are 126 round tables where the former prisoners that ladies and government dignitaries

[00:34:43] will dine and watch the show there was never a dinner that big before or since at the White House

[00:34:47] still holds the record ladies and gentlemen here we are at the White House the big tent with all

[00:34:54] the POWs and here's one of our great POWs from Illinois and California Admiral Stockton thank

[00:35:00] you mr. Hope well of course I am thrilled to be here as a guest of President Mrs. Nixon

[00:35:05] and I'm sure I speak for all of the prisoners of war in saying that this is probably one of the

[00:35:11] highlights of our lives coming to the White House for a dinner with President Nixon was a

[00:35:17] very high level recognition of what they've been through and that America appreciated them and

[00:35:24] truly welcomed them home good evening I'm Tom Gerroly BC news White House correspondent

[00:35:30] men who live for years in harsh prison conditions are tonight here with their ladies being given

[00:35:35] the best the White House has to offer in food elegance music and entertainment the performers

[00:35:42] are all donating their time and their talents for this occasion such varied talents as the

[00:35:46] new Christie minstrels Joey heatherton victim own Roy a cuff Sammy Davis jr. with special guest

[00:35:53] appearances by such Hollywood celebrities as John Wayne Phyllis Diller Irving Berlin

[00:35:59] Ricardo Montalbán and Jimmy Stewart most notable is Bob Holt a Christmas time

[00:36:04] entertainer of GIs for as long as I can remember I don't have to tell you this is the biggest

[00:36:09] thrill for anybody in show business to be introduced by the president the second biggest

[00:36:13] thrill is the date with Henry Kissinger it's a beautiful setting I got to work fast because

[00:36:19] Rainling Brothers wants this tent fact by midnight but I'm thrilled to be here with you guys

[00:36:24] this is what I like a captive audience the normal custom at a White House dinner as you know is

[00:36:34] for a receiving line and we considered that but then I timed that out to the extent that time

[00:36:44] permits I would like to meet those of you who are here I would like to meet as many of you

[00:36:49] as I possibly can so if you have the time I have the time just remember we must get through

[00:36:55] in time for dinner I think he also very much admired what they had been through you know and

[00:37:01] for him he was bringing home his soldiers and getting to shake their hands looking to the eyes

[00:37:06] of people that have been through so much for their country and for each other frankly it took

[00:37:15] some time but true to his word the president greeted all of the POWs who had lined up to

[00:37:21] shake his hand one by one he also had some words personally for both Everton Red we walked you know

[00:37:29] we were in line and he was greeting each one and when my turn came he I shook his hand and I remember

[00:37:37] he looking at me and then he felt me up and down you know my shoulders my arms he said

[00:37:45] you look to be in good shape the way I remember it is he said I want you to know I tried I really

[00:37:53] tried and so when he said that I took that as that he tried to end it sooner he did and he

[00:38:03] did all he could to get us out that's how I took what he meant to say all I said was thank you

[00:38:13] you are next to me said are you as tough as they say you are the leaders had told him about my story

[00:38:23] and he said red are you as tough as they say you are I don't remember what my response was

[00:38:30] knowing red he probably said no always with humility he probably said it was the strength

[00:38:36] of his fellow POWs that pulled him through the POWs and they came back and I said one of the

[00:38:43] things they missed most was kind of like just a regular good old American dinner that's what

[00:38:47] they serve them you know nothing fancy roast beef vegetables potatoes something called seafood

[00:38:52] Neptune which has you know shrimp and some scallops and things like that and you know nice strawberries

[00:38:57] and stuff for dessert they borrowed canoes from the Pentagon to fill them with ice to keep the

[00:39:03] champagne cold this next fella acts sings dances does impressions plays the drums

[00:39:10] ladies and gentlemen my favorite show of sammy davis jr right

[00:39:16] I would just like to say that it is the greatest really the greatest thrill of my life

[00:39:24] this is something very special for me tonight change change change change

[00:39:29] the president gave a toast which gentlemen if you can imagine during my term as president of the

[00:39:55] united states and also before that as vice president in other offices I have spoken to many distinguished

[00:40:01] audiences I can say to you today that this is the most distinguished group I've ever addressed

[00:40:07] and I've never been prouder than I am at this moment to address this group and he gave a toast to

[00:40:12] the the wives of the POWs I remember that first christmas in 69 I met with a group of

[00:40:22] the representatives of the league of families down in the library and I talked to these wonderful

[00:40:29] remarkable women and I saw their faith and their courage and their love of country

[00:40:34] and I heard them tell me that their husbands had not gone to Vietnam simply for the purpose of

[00:40:43] getting back the salute of them and said he was going to declare every one of them

[00:40:48] one of America's first ladies for that night and they gave a plaque to the president that said

[00:40:53] our leader our comrade Richard the lion

[00:41:01] next it's opened the white house to the POWs and their spouses or guests the whole thing that not

[00:41:07] just the ground floor and the state floor but also the second floor where the family lives

[00:41:11] just a great evening for the POWs giving them run of the house there was dancing provided

[00:41:19] all the way up until four o'clock in the morning in the east room by different service bands from you

[00:41:24] know army air force navy or anything etc the servicemen saying their good nights here

[00:41:30] did well past the nixons bedtime and they're saying their good nights and will be retiring soon

[00:41:36] he wrote in his memoirs in 1978 this was one of the greatest nights of my life there were no

[00:41:42] words that could describe the joy and satisfaction that I felt at the thought that I have played

[00:41:47] a role in bringing these men back home on may 24th 2023 50 years to the day the dinner down to the menu

[00:41:57] was recreated at the nixon presidential library welcoming as many living POWs and their families

[00:42:03] as possible we will feature content from that dinner in a coming bonus episode the extraordinary

[00:42:10] thing is that after all those years up to eight and a half years for eval for example POWs

[00:42:16] persevered always knowing that it was going to be really difficult the next day was going to be hard

[00:42:22] and after that was going to be hard the week after that was going to be hard they never gave up hope

[00:42:26] that they'd ultimately return home with honor at the end of the day unfortunately for them it just

[00:42:31] took a long time for the end of the day to arrive but in february and march of 1973 the POWs returned

[00:42:39] home exactly as they always had aspired they returned home with honor when i lost my youngest adult son

[00:43:00] at two boys he was 29 my other son you know it's about a year and a half older loved each other

[00:43:06] of best friends and obviously it's devastating to lose a child as a parent but my son was

[00:43:12] devastated you know he was crushed and i i remember thinking you know he needs to hear my dad's story

[00:43:20] again two days after my son had passed and i said dad i need you to uh to talk to michael i kind of give

[00:43:26] him your life's message and one of one of the treasures of that time for me was um my dad says

[00:43:33] these words to him he says michael this is a tragedy it's a tragic loss and i know it hurts

[00:43:40] and i wish i could take that all away but i can't but let me tell you something young man he said

[00:43:46] i can't tell you how or when but sometime in your years ahead you'll see the good that will come out

[00:43:52] of this in the lives of encouraging others tragedy is not the pain that we go through the tragedy is

[00:43:58] the waste of the pain that we experience here we are seven years later after my son's passing

[00:44:05] and my son and i my oldest son and i we we reflect on that and making sure that the tragedy is

[00:44:11] not wasting the pain as my dad said so here he is 91 years old and he actually had a heart attack

[00:44:24] back in october he's recovering well and everything is looking good but uh we realize he's not invincible

[00:44:32] after all we had a good report from the cardiologist a couple weeks ago and told him he could put his

[00:44:38] superman t-shirt back on as you go through life everybody has adversity it's how you handle

[00:44:48] that adversity what you have to do is learn how to dance in the rain it's when you get through

[00:44:55] that adversity if you gain something from it you're a stronger person but if you don't

[00:45:03] it's a waste it's just a loss i learned very early on that courage is not the

[00:45:10] essence of fear it's simply the presence of faith and that was the thing that enabled me to survive

[00:45:25] evrit too held close to the values that enabled him to survive and hold his head high he never

[00:45:32] sacrificed his honor nor his sense of duty which he would have seen as a betrayal to his country

[00:45:38] not even to come home early it was the first thing he emphasized to his family

[00:45:44] and they finally reunited i wanted to come home with my self-respect and i wanted to come home

[00:45:57] with my personal integrity i wanted people to to look at me and and i wanted to not be ashamed

[00:46:04] for what i did when i came home and the first thing i said to my father i said you know that

[00:46:12] it's possible it's possible that they would have let me go had i done certain things they could

[00:46:17] i could have come home earlier i said but if i had i i says uh you would not be proud of me

[00:46:26] you know i don't know why i said that for some reason that meant a lot what did he say

[00:46:33] he didn't say anything he just hugged me evrit now 85 and red now 91 went on to have full

[00:47:02] healthy and happy lives with wives to whom they are both still married and many precious kids

[00:47:08] and grandkids it's been five decades since the men were released from north vietnamese captivity

[00:47:17] but the lessons these heroes can teach us about endurance self-sacrifice duty and hope

[00:47:26] remain as important as ever today their bodies may have been captured and tortured but their hearts

[00:47:36] were unbroken not everyone's story had a happy ending at least 141 p o w servicemen lost their

[00:47:47] lives and many more are still accounted for as m i a s as it says on the vietnam p o w flag

[00:47:55] that still flies today 50 years later you are not forgotten

[00:48:32] after captivity evrit and red earned many decorations and military awards to name a few

[00:48:39] they received lesions of merit two purple hearts each and the distinguished flying cross

[00:48:46] for acts of heroism while participating in aerial flight despite everything they had endured

[00:48:53] in the service of their country evrit and red remained in the navy for years retiring from

[00:49:00] the navy in 1980 as commander alvarez ever earned a master's degree and went on to serve in public

[00:49:07] life for decades as a leader in the peace corps va and many more organizations he was recently

[00:49:14] nominated for the congressional medal of honor and remains married to tammy the woman he met just

[00:49:20] two weeks after coming home a high school in evrit's native selenus california was named in

[00:49:27] his honor the mascot of evrit alvarez high school an eagle a gold and navy blue eagle

[00:49:38] and captain mcdaniel read resume duty as commanding officer of the uss niagra falls

[00:49:45] and later the uss lexington before his retirement in 1982 he served as a naval liaison to the us

[00:49:53] house of representatives working closely with congressmen on national defense planning and

[00:49:58] consulting on naval strategy his son mike would also go on to be a navy captain

[00:50:06] red later founded the nonprofit american defense institute and continues to share

[00:50:12] his experiences in captivity and beyond on speaking tours across the country thank you

[00:50:21] sincerely for listening to our docu series it has been a great honor and privilege to share

[00:50:27] this story with you captured shot down in vietnam is a docu series from the richard nixon

[00:50:42] presidential library and foundation produced by the team at found wave and respectfully

[00:50:48] created in honor of ross perot senior if you're interested in learning more about vietnam

[00:50:53] pw's you can visit the exhibition captured at the nixon library in yorba linda california

[00:50:59] original music compositions fully effects and mastering from jonathan rock produced and edited

[00:51:05] by steve weaver weinberg research background and history from jason schwarz executive production

[00:51:12] from joe lopez and the team at the richard nixon foundation and kaley mason from perot family

[00:51:17] collections co-executive production interviewing and hosting from me tyla russell mccusker find

[00:51:23] future episodes of this show and bonus content including archival photos and audio at captured

[00:51:30] podcast dot com if you enjoyed our production please consider leaving a review and clicking

[00:51:35] follow on apple podcasts or spotify