CAPTURED: Shot Down In Vietnam
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American aviators were shot down, imprisoned, tortured, and beaten, experiencing the harshest conditions imaginable. For as many as eight long years, the prisoners of war (POWs) stayed true to their mission and survived behind bars. They communicated through codes and raps on prison walls. They were unbelievably brave and resisted enemy propaganda. Their families knew little of their fate.
50 years ago, the US government saved 591 of those POWs from North Vietnamese captivity. Now, hear their personal and intimate stories like never before, from the dramatic moment of being shot down to the tearful family reunion. CAPTURED features newly re-surfaced recordings from Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon B Johnson's oval offices. Broadcast veteran Tyler Russell McCusker conducts original interviews with 85-year-old Commander Everett Alvarez Jr., the first American shot down, 91-year-old Captain Eugene "Red" McDaniel, POW families, authors, and historians.
Put yourself into the action with hundreds of historically-accurate sound effects and scene-setting original music compositions that create an immersive, enthralling soundscape. This new podcast from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Foundation is a compelling and powerful exploration of the human cost of war and the resilience of the American spirit.
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Introducing CAPTURED (Full Trailer)
Exactly 50 years ago, the Nixon administration saved 591 prisoners of war from North Vietnamese captivity. Many of them are still with us and willing to tell their stories like never before in this limited docuseries, from the dramatic moment of being shot down to the tearful family reunion. You wil...
Chapter 1: The First Guy
We rewind to the year 1964 and are introduced to 26-year-old Naval aviator Everett Alvarez Jr. Hear from the now-85-year-old Commander Alvarez himself, as we follow his journey from modest beginnings in Salinas, CA to the moment of being shot down over North Vietnam, leading to more than eight years...
Chapter 2: Better Red Than Dead
The story continues with the harrowing Vietnam wartime experience for Naval Capt. Eugene "Red" McDaniel. His shoot-down and capture, three years after Alvarez's, highlights the differences in preparation American servicemen had for becoming a prisoner of war. Red was forced to endure North Vietnames...
Chapter 3: Hanoi Hilton
On a crisp afternoon in August of 1964, Everett Alvarez Jr. found himself floating in the emerald waters of Hạ Long Bay, North Vietnam, having just ejected from his flaming A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. He was about to be captured by hostile militia, becoming the first American POW in the Vietnam War. While...
Chapter 4: One Thing After Another
18 months into Cmdr. Everett Alvarez's captivity, the North Vietnamese "torture regime" begins as he and fellow prisoners are forced to endure physical abuse, in addition to mental torture, amidst already-deplorable living conditions. After Capt. Red McDaniel is shot-down in May of 1967, he, too, is...