The longest-held prisoner of war in American history (360)

Cold War Conversations

Jack Downey was the longest-held prisoner of war in American history. He was a CIA officer captured in China during the Korean War and imprisoned for twenty-one years.

I speak with Barry Werth the author of Prisoner of Lies - Jack Downey's Cold War. He details Downey’s story when the CIA recruited him as a new Yale graduate in the post-World War II years. In a violation of protocol, Downey took part in an airdrop that failed and was captured over China.

US government policy forbade ever acknowledging the identity of spies, no matter the consequences. Washington invented a fictitious cover story and stood by it through four Administrations. As a result, Downey was imprisoned during the decades that Red China, as it was called, was considered by the US to be a hostile nation.

This is a harrowing, chilling story of one man whose life is at the mercy of larger forces outside of his control; in Downey’s case as a pawn of the Cold War, and more specifically the Oval Office and the State Department.

However above all, it is an inspiring story of remarkable fortitude and resilience.

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Linked episodes

The Chinese Civil War and the Independence of Taiwan https://pod.fo/e/b9f5d

Episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode360/

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