Jeremiah Denton was a U.S. soldier who was captured during the Vietnam War on July 18, 1965, by the North Vietnamese. On a mission, his A-6 Intruder Attack Fighter went down and he was taken hostage. He was tortured and treated worse than anyone could imagine from 1965-1973. Nobody knows if he would have made it out alive if it were not for his smart thinking during an interview by a Japanese reporter on May 17, 1966 (USNI News).

"As he came in over the heavily defended Thanh Hoa Bridge on the Ma River, antiaircraft batteries opened up. Shells riddled the Intruder, knocking out its sophisticated guidance system. The aircraft went into a tailspin, and pain shot through the commander’s left thigh; a tendon had ruptured as he desperately tried to regain control, but it was hopeless. The fliers bailed out and were captured" (McFadden).

“I was mad as hell at being shot down, and even angrier at being captured.”​​​​​​​- Jeremiah Denton

"The prisoner of war had been tortured for 10 months and beaten repeatedly by his North Vietnamese captors in recent days, and there were threats of more if he did not respond properly when the propaganda broadcast began. Pretending to be blinded by the spotlights, he began blinking — seemingly random spasms and tics. He answered interrogators’ questions with a trace of defiance, knowing he would be beaten again and again, but hoping that America would detect his secret message in Morse code. The North Vietnamese, who lost face, were even more outraged when they learned that Commander Denton, in the Japanese-taped interview broadcast on American television on May 17, 1966, had blinked out 'T-O-R-T-U-R-E.' It was the first confirmation that American prisoners of war were being subjected to atrocities during the Vietnam War" (McFadden). 

​​​​​​​“I get adequate food and adequate clothing and medical care when I require it.”

“I don’t know what is happening, but whatever the position of my government is, I support it—fully. Whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it—yes sir. I’m a member of that government and it is my job to support it, and I will as​​​​​​​ long as I live.”

- Jeremiah Denton

After the video was leaked back to the United States, it took seven years and seven months to discover what message Jeremiah Denton was sending, and plan for his release. After Denton got home as a P.O.W. Veteran, he became a rear admiral, a senator for Alabama (his home state), and even starred in a 1976 NBC movie. Before that movie, he wrote a book explaining his experience. His book is called When Hell Was in Session (The New York Times).

"A man does a lot of praying in an enemy prison. Prayer, even more than sheer thought."- Jeremiah Denton

("Ex-P.O.W.")