Col. Howard Hill, USAF, Vietnam, POW

Veterans Chronicles

Howard Hill attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and went on to flight training, where he became a radio intercept officer (RIO). Deployed to Vietnam as a backseater on an F-4, Hill flew many missions, including one that earned him his first Silver Star before being shot down two months later.
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Hill details that successful mission in October 1967. He then takes moment by moment on the December mission in which his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. He describes the torture he endured for refusing to give up information to the enemy and what life was like in the Hoa Lo prison - better known mockingly as the Hanoi Hilton - for more than five years.
Col. Hill also describes how he kept his mind sharp in captivity by writing poetry expressing his love for America. Finally, he tells us about his release and how Americans should appreciate their freedoms.