Operation Thunderhead (37 page)

 

 

With the award, Lieutenant Dry's name was added to the honor roll of Academy graduates who lost their lives in combat for their country. Among the dignitaries, family, and friends who attended the ceremony—including Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, as well as a member of the Class of 1968; Rear Admiral Joseph D. Kernan, Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command; Richard Hetzell, Robert Hooke, and Frank Sayle of Alfa platoon, SEAL Team One; and most of the surviving Naval Academy Class of 1968—was Colonel John A. Dramesi, USAF (Ret.).

FINAL RETURN

There was a failure of the leadership of the prison camp that neither the SEALs nor anyone in higher command had any knowledge of. In spite of Dramesi and the other members of the escape committee having met all of the requirements put to them, permission to conduct the escape was denied. The SRO of room #7 had noted the activity and excitement of Dramesi and the men around him. That greatly concerned the man and he investigated the situation. In part, that was how he learned of the planned escape.

The SRO of room #7 immediately got in contact with the senior ranking officer of the prison camp. He pointed out what was going on and the repercussions that could come down on the other prisoners in room #7, and even those in the rest of the camp, if an escape took place. He reminded the senior of just what had happened only a few short years earlier when Dramesi and Atterberry had escaped, how the consequences of that action had made life a literal hell for most of the American prisoners in North Vietnam. The possibility of retribution by the North Vietnamese and the return of torture as a punishment was a very real threat. The prisoners had all suffered enough.

In spite of the escape attempt having been approved by outside authority, by the manner of the message of the highest authority, the SRO of the camp reversed his earlier decision. He ordered the escape committee to stand down. There would be no escape from Camp Unity or any other section of the Hanoi Hilton. Operation Diamond was over before it had really begun, and there was no means to inform the outside world of the situation quickly enough to prevent Operation Thunderhead from going forward.

On February 12, 1973, only eight months after the events of Operation Thunderhead, a new operation took place. Operation Freedom was the return of the POWs held by the North Vietnamese. Out of the 725 individuals known to be captured or interned by the Communist forces of Vietnam, 660 were eventually returned to U.S. custody. Sixty-five individuals died while prisoners, some from the injuries received while ejecting or being taken prisoner, others from the abuse and neglect of the North Vietnamese and their allies. Many more individuals were lost and listed as missing in action. Some had been simply obliterated by the violence of war. Others disappeared, and concern for them continues to this day.

 

 

On board the freedom bird flying back from North Vietnam, the cameras showed a shouting, happy bunch of POWs. One smiling man lifted up a small cloth to face the camera. That man was John Dramesi, and the object he was holding was the American flag he had so carefully made and defended.

 

 

Colonel Leo K. Thorsness, USAF (Ret.), was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for six years. He received the Medal of Honor while a POW for the actions he took in order to save others on the day he was shot down. The award was made in secret by President Richard Nixon so that the information couldn't be used against Thorsness by his North Vietnamese captors while still under their control.

In a conversation made during the research for this book, Thorsness remarked on a dream that many of the POWs had while they were being held. The dream was about the day that their cell door was kicked open by an armed green-clad American soldier. He would reach his hand out and say: “I'm here to take you home.”

One of the SEAL operators who remained on the
Grayback
during the SDV insertion also made a remark that would have been well received by Colonel Thorsness. The man said simply: “If I had known about the prisoners, I would have swum up the Red River to go get them.”

And Lieutenant Dry would have led them there to kick open the doors.

Lt. Melvin Spencer “Spence” Dry
Lt. ( j.g.) Robert. W. Conger
EO1 S. E. Birky
MMC Phillip L. Martin
PH3 Tim R. Reeves
RM3 Richard C. Hetzell
YN3 E. A. Knudson
RM3 M. J. Shortell
RM3 D. R. Hankins
RM3 B. S. Steele
ETR3 J. M. Davis
ADJAN Robert M. Hooke
RMSN Frank H. Sayle
HM2 W. B. Wheeler

Lt. ( j.g.) John Lutz
Lt. (j.g.) Bob McGrath
Tom Edwards
Steve McConnell
Jim Couzins
Tony Drake
Scott Shaw

A1 Skyraider “Sandy,” 41-43

A6A Intruder

A-12

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)

air raids/strikes

civilians avoided by U.S.

Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)

Dramesi and

Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

Operation Thunderhead and Hanoi

Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)

air support and infantry, integrating

Alcatraz Prison

Alfa Platoon, SEAL Team One.
See also
Navy SEALs; Operation Thunderhead

American Civil War and POWs

American Fighting Man (Articles I and IV, Code of Conduct)

American Flag by Dramesi

Andersonville (Georgia)

antiaircraft cannons

antiwar movement in U.S.

Articles I-VI, Code of Conduct.
See
Code of Conduct

Atterberry, Edwin Lee (POW )

Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

Zoo Annex Prison

Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)

 

B-29

B-57

“bad treatment” camp

ballistic missiles

balloons (zeppelins) as military aircraft

bamboo club torture

Bataan Death March

Battle of Okinawa

Baugh, William (POW )

Birky, Sam E. (Navy SEAL)

Blackbirds (SR-71).
See also
Operation Thunderhead

A-12 (predecessor)

altitude for operations

“Booming the Hanoi Hilton,” 230-232

CIA-run overflight program

cost of

crew

Blackbirds (SR-71) (
continued
)

defense against

engines (Pratt & Whitney J58)

Habus

“I” in International Morse Code

mission approval

NASA and

North Vietnamese knowledge of

Operating Location 8 (OL-8)

Operation Black Shield

Operation Kingpin

pilot

Rapid Rabbit
(SR-71 #978)

reconnaissance systems operator (RSO)

retirement of

SA-2 “Guideline” missile vs.

secrecy of

selection board for crew

sensor systems on

Son Tay camp raid

speed (Mach 3 to Mach 3.5) of

stealth aircraft and

titanium alloys

Blackwell, Reggie (Captain)

Boink, Louis (Navy SEAL)

“Booming the Hanoi Hilton,” 230-232

bowing demands by North Vietnamese

brainwashing of POWs

Briarpatch Prison

Bright Light operations, Navy SEALs

Bronco OV-10

Bronze Star Medal recipient

Brown Water Navy

“Bug” (torturer)

Bushido code of moral principles

 

Camp America.
See
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)

Camp Unity.
See also
Blackbirds (SR-71); Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison); Operation Thunderhead

American Flag by Dramesi

Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population

communications link between POWs and U.S.

escape committee

George G. McKnight (POW ) and

George T. Coker (POW ) and

interrogation sessions

James H. Kasler (POW) and

lack of torture

map of Hanoi

mistakes made by Atterberry and Dramesi in escape

morale boosters

movement of POWs by North Vietnamese

90 percent chance of escape success order by SRO

Operation Diamond

opposition to escape

outside support required for escape attempt

permission to escape

resolve of Dramesi

senior ranking officer (SRO) at

sympathy, snack packs, and sports (“Ss”) for POWs

casting technique

casualties

Navy SEALs

POWs

World War I

Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population

cell doors

chain dragging to detect submarines

Chamberlain, John (Commander)

Chambers, Carl (POW)

“Chico” (torturer)

CIA operations in Laos

CIA-run overflight program, Blackbird (SR-71)

civilian display of POWs

civilian populations, avoided by U.S.

Cobb, Darrel (Lieutenant Colonel)

Code of Conduct.
See also
prisoners of war (POWs)

Article I (American Fighting Man)

Article III (resistance, escape, special treatment not accepted)

Article II (surrender, never voluntary)

Article IV (do no harm to fellow POWs, leadership)

Article VI (American Fighting Man)

Article V (name, rank, and serial number)

Executive Order 10631

North Vietnamese knowledge of

training soldiers

Coker, George T. (POW )

Camp Unity

Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)

Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)

“Colt .45” (guard)

communication among POWs

Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

link between POWs and U.S. (Camp Unity)

Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)

Communist China

Conger, Robert W. (Navy SEAL)

Coronado (California)

Couzins, Jim (UDT)

cover stories for Operation Thunderhead

“criminal” accusations by North Vietnamese

Crusades and POWs

Cuban Program

Cu Loc Prison.
See
Zoo

 

“danger close” distances

dau
(“pain”)

Davis, J. M. (Navy SEAL) and

Day, Bud (POW )

Demilitarized Zone

Detachment 10 of Helicopter Support Squadron Seven (HC-7)

“diehard,” Dramesi as

Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)

air strikes

Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population

cell doors

civic duties performed by POWs

civilian display of POWs

closing of

Dirty Bird Annex, Dirty Bird West (“Doghouse,” “Foundry”)

disguises of Coker and McKnight

escape by Coker and McKnight

food (starvation diet)

George G. McKnight (POW) and

George T. Coker (POW ) and

heat misery at

leg irons on POWs

medical care

recapture of Coker and McKnight

security upgrades at

disguises of escapees

Atterberry and Dramesi (Zoo Annex Prison)

Coker and McKnight, Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)

darkening skin

Dramesi's first experiences

Dockery, Kevin

“Doghouse” (Dirty Bird Annex, Dirty Bird West)

Dong Hoi

do no harm to fellow POWs (Article IV, Code of Conduct)

Do Son Peninsula

Douglas A1 Skyraider “Sandy,” 41-43

“down on the deck,” 28

“downtown,” going

Drake, Tony (UDT)

Dramesi, John (childhood and youth)

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)

education

family

patriotism

pilot, desire to be

Scarlet Rifles close-order drill teams