{"id":2017504,"date":"2023-08-30T22:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T02:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/captured-shot-down-in-vietnam-veteran-and-former-pow-shares-his-story-at-nixon-museum\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T22:37:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T02:37:07","slug":"captured-shot-down-in-vietnam-veteran-and-former-pow-shares-his-story-at-nixon-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/captured-shot-down-in-vietnam-veteran-and-former-pow-shares-his-story-at-nixon-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam Vet and Ex-POW Shares Story at Nixon Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcaptured-shot-down-in-vietnam-veteran-and-former-pow-shares-his-story-at-nixon-museum%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2017504&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Air Force\u2063 Lt. Colonel Tom\u200b Hanton Shares His Captivating Story of Survival<\/h2>\n<p>Air Force Lt. Colonel Tom Hanton\u200d had much to say to his small Yorba Linda audience on August 29th as he\u200d recounted his harrowing experience of being shot down over North Vietnam in \u20621972.<\/p>\n<p>Over 50 people gathered at the Nixon Library&#8217;s Cabinet Room\u200d to hear Mr. Hanton&#8217;s story, coinciding with\u2064 the museum&#8217;s 50-year anniversary commemorating the end \u2064of the Vietnam War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.<\/p>\n<p>The retired colonel&#8217;s talk\u2064 was part \u2064of the museum&#8217;s lecture series accompanying their new exhibit: &#8216;Captured: \u200dShot Down In Vietnam.&#8217; This exhibit showcases the stories and artifacts of Vietnam War soldiers \u2064who were captured as prisoners of war.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/disability-claims-of-32000-veterans-delayed-5481129\">Disability Claims of 32,000 Veterans Delayed<\/a> &#8211; 8\/26\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/santa-ana-celebrates-chicano-heritage-with-2nd-annual-festival-5481788\">Santa Ana Celebrates Chicano Heritage With 2nd Annual Festival<\/a> &#8211; 8\/28\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During \u2064his \u2063captivating talk,\u200d Mr. Hanton\u200d shared his story\u2063 with surprising humor, \u2062recounting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gary-payton-says-shaq-would-go-to-the-bathroom-in-a-bucket-and-then-pour-it-on-rookies\/\" title=\"Gary Payton Says Shaq Would \u201cGo to the Bathroom\u201d in a Bucket and Then Pour It on Rookies\">practical jokes<\/a> \u2064he and his \u2064fellow \u200dU.S. Air Force \u2062inmates played on \u200ctheir North\u200b Vietnamese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boston-marathon-bomber-files-lawsuit-over-alleged-unlawful-treatment-in-colorado-prison\/\" title=\"Boston Marathon bomber files lawsuit over alleged \u2018unlawful\u2019 treatment in Colorado prison\">prison guards<\/a> during their captivity from 1972 to early 1973.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just pretended I\u200b was in school\u2063 [during imprisonment], and acted either like a teacher&#8217;s pet or their \u200dworst nightmare,&#8221; Mr. Hanton said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>However, his capture and subsequent imprisonment were far from lighthearted. Mr. Hanton\u2064 was flying over North Vietnam near\u200d Da Nang when his plane was shot down by the North Viet Cong. He was forced to eject to avoid death, marking his 135th flight at the time of capture.<\/p>\n<p>Although \u2063he and his pilot were not seriously injured, they were &#8220;severely beaten&#8221; by their captors before being stripped \u200bdown to their underwear and boots. They were then\u200c forced on a two-day\u200c trek to the infamous Hoa Lo Prison, known as the &#8216;Hanoi Hilton,&#8217; where \u2064U.S. \u2062military captives were held \u200dduring the war.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the\u200b worst\u2063 I was\u2064 treated at the time, \u200cbeing \u200ccaptured,&#8221; Mr.\u2064 Hanton \u200dshared with the\u2062 crowd. &#8220;The beating was brutal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Upon arrival at the\u200d prison, Mr. Hanton endured 30 \u2062days of solitary confinement while blindfolded. Despite the harsh conditions, he considered himself fortunate compared to many of his fellow inmates who were subjected to even worse treatment before \u200dthe \u2064North Vietnamese forces adopted regulations from the Geneva Conventions.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>A poster of the &#8216;Captured: Shot Down In \u2062Vietnam&#8217; exhibit is \u200cdisplayed at \u200dNixon Library in Yorba\u2064 Linda, Calif., on Aug. 29, 2023. (Carol Cassis\/The \u2062Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;There were guys that were tortured and\u200b put in solitary confinement for \u20627 to 8 years. I\u200d can&#8217;t even wrap my mind around that,&#8221; he expressed. &#8220;I knew I could make it when \u200cI thought about those guys. I thought if they could make it through all that, I could make it one more day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After his solitary confinement, Mr. Hanton found\u2063 himself in a small \u2064cell with two other inmates. The three of them formed a close bond, caring for and looking out for one another, which he described as tremendously helpful.<\/p>\n<p>In addition \u200dto supporting each other, Mr. Hanton and his cellmates found solace in playing practical jokes on the \u200dprison guards. One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/captured-shot-down-in-vietnam-veteran-and-former-pow-shares-his-story-at-nixon-museum\/\" title=\"Vietnam Vet and Ex-POW Shares Story at Nixon Museum\">memorable prank involved pretending<\/a> his\u2064 cellmate&#8217;s afro was on fire\u2062 by\u2062 smoking a cigarette directly \u2062behind his head, creating the illusion of a growing flame.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The guard walked by and went nuts,&#8221; Mr. Hanton \u2062recalled, eliciting laughter from the audience. &#8220;We did pranks like that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By\u2063 the time the\u200d guard returned with an officer to address the &#8220;flame,&#8221; Mr. Hanton&#8217;s cellmate had pinned back his afro, and\u200b both Mr. Hanton and their other \u200dcellmate sat\u2064 innocently by, pretending nothing had happened.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We just sat there all fat, dumb, and happy,&#8221; Mr. Hanton chuckled along with the audience.<\/p>\n<p>Despite \u200cthe\u2063 grueling\u200b conditions, Mr. Hanton managed to \u200ckeep his patriotism alive throughout his imprisonment. He meticulously carved an American flag onto his\u2063 aluminum drinking \u2063cup using\u200b a discarded nail, and even used the blood from his mosquito bites to paint \u2064the flag onto his prison\u2064 cell&#8217;s \u200bwhite wall.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Air Force Lt. Colonel Tom Hanton at Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, \u200dCalif., on Aug. 29, 2023. (Carol Cassis\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unfortunately, a\u2063 guard discovered what \u2063Mr. Hanton was painting and promptly sponged the wall down\u200d before he could finish. Undeterred, Mr. Hanton began painting the\u2063 wall again, \u2062but \u200bhe was\u2064 liberated by American \u200dforces before he could complete his second attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the \u2063veteran expressed gratitude for his life and chose to focus on the positive aspects of his experience.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t dwell\u2064 on what happened. I&#8217;m just blessed to be alive,&#8221; he shared. &#8220;I like to focus\u2063 on\u2063 what I learned and gained \u200cfrom [imprisonment].&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted the importance of\u200b the people \u2064in his life, such as his fellow inmates \u200dand family, who provided support. He also emphasized the significance of humor\u200d and trust in oneself and others to navigate the challenges of the Hanoi \u200bHilton.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the audience, including other\u200d Vietnam\u200c War veterans, expressed their \u2064gratitude to Mr. Hanton for his service.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For those of us that were stationed on the ground down there, thank you. You [and the Air Force] saved a lot of lives,&#8221; one\u2062 veteran expressed \u2062during the event&#8217;s question and \u2063answer session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Air Force Lt. Colonel Tom Hanton shared his story of being shot down over North Vietnam in 1972 with a small Yorba Linda audience on Aug. 29. Over 50 people gathered at the Nixon Library&#8217;s Cabinet Room to hear his talk, coinciding with the museum&#8217;s 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2249,"featured_media":2017505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2017505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}