Recently a retired Air Force Colonel, Bill Talley spoke out about life as a POW. The retired colonel spoke of the filth and the torture that POWs endured during his 11 months in the camp in Vietnam, and the courage exhibited by his fellow American soldiers.
He talked about the really brave men who survived the prison camps, some of them for years.
His talk, enhanced by more than 30 photos and slides, brought a standing ovation from the crowd.
Talley demonstrated the "tap code" and the phonetic way POWs spelled out their messages.
He said They were "texting messages 45 years ago, without mobile phones, communication was vital for morale but it was against camp regulations. Violating the rules brought punishment, sometimes brutal. Handcuffs, leg irons, kneeling on broken glass and being forced to hold up your arms for long periods of time.
Talley spoke of Robbie Risner, a POW for seven and a half years, who spent more than four years in solitary confinement for leading worship services.
As Risner was led away, Bud Day began singing "God Bless America," and the rest of the POWs joined in.
He said Mike Christian made an American flag from a dirty old rag he found. He was beaten after guards found the flag, but he later found another rag and began making another flag. He said the Stars and Stripes, our national symbol was worth the sacrifice.
Talley’s story began in 1972. Stationed at McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita, Talley was home after a 10-month tour in Thailand. He flew 169 combat missions on two tours.
Talley was deployed again to Southeast Asia. On his 13th mission of the temporary duty, the jet fighter he was piloting was shot down over Hanoi. Talley bailed out, landed injured but alive, and hid under a rock on the side of a mountain until he was captured a day later.
After three days of walking through villages, where he was kicked, hit with sticks, pelted by rocks and spat on, he rode in the back of an army truck for hours, before being checked into the POW camp known as Hanoi Hilton.
POWs were held in solitary confinement where nightly interrogations, meant to influence POWs to tell the press they were humanely treated and write anti-war letters.
Talley was among those who refused to comply, and after two months, the North Vietnamese announced Talley had been captured. Word finally reached home that he was alive.
POW wives could send cards and packages, but most were withheld.
He said You could always tell when a package arrived. "The guards would smell like aftershave lotion,"
Talley said "Everything can be taken from men except one thing; freedom to choose one's own attitude in any given set of circumstances," "We are not the master of our fate. God is."
