| ID | 128405 |
| Title Proper | Alcatraz gang |
| Other Title Information | eleven American POWs in Hanoi's notorious camp |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Robbins, James S |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Picture yourself locked "in a dimly lit, windowless concrete box, approximately nine feet long by four feet wide," with a bamboo mat and a bucket, one or both of your ankles locked in irons, left there like a caged animal. Now imagine spending two years there, alone-the isolation interrupted only by routine interrogation and occasional torture sessions, some lasting days-and you are getting close to describing the experiences of a handful of American prisoners of war whose North Vietnamese hosts had designated them as troublemakers. These were the men of Alcatraz. In all, more than three hundred and fifty American servicemen were being held captive by North Vietnam when US involvement ended in 1973. Few tales of American valor are as dramatic and gut-wrenching as those of the Vietnam-era POWs, some of whom were held for eight years, twice the length of US involvement in the Second World War. Defiant, by Alvin Townley, whose previous book chronicled the world of US Navy aviation, is the story of eleven of these captives whose leadership and resistance to their captors' treatment, including efforts to use them for propaganda purposes, caused the North Vietnamese so much trouble they were rounded up, blindfolded, and removed to a special prison they dubbed Alcatraz. They would spend two years there, isolated from the main group of American prisoners, segregated even from one another, forbidden to communicate amongst themselves, and tortured repeatedly for their refusal to capitulate. According to a camp functionary they nicknamed "Rabbit," the Alcatraz Eleven were the "darkest criminals who persist in inciting the other criminals to oppose the Camp Authority." We would call them heroes. |
| `In' analytical Note | World Affairs US Vol.176, No.5; Jan-Feb 2014: p.94-100 |
| Journal Source | World Affairs US Vol.176, No.5; Jan-Feb 2014: p.94-100 |
| Key Words | History ; Cold War ; Post Cold War ; Alcatraz Gang ; Hanoi's Notorious Camp ; Vietnam ; North Vietnam ; Us Navy Aviation ; World War -II ; POWs ; War ; Political Isolation ; Military Operation ; Military Strategy ; Foreign Policy - US |