James Stockdale's Ordeal and Leadership as a POW

On September 9, 1965, while serving as Carrier Air Wing Sixteen Commander aboard the USS Oriskany, James B. Stockdale ejected from his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk after it was hit and disabled by enemy fire during a mission over North Vietnam. He parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and subsequently captured.

Stockdale was then held as a prisoner of war at Hỏa Lò Prison, the notorious "Hanoi Hilton," for over 7½ years. As the highest-ranking naval officer among the prisoners, he became a leading figure in organizing resistance. Despite repeated torture and the denial of medical treatment for a severely injured leg sustained during his capture, Stockdale developed and upheld a code of conduct for fellow prisoners to follow, covering torture resistance, secret communication, and general behavior. In the summer of 1969, Stockdale was subjected to brutal treatment, confined in leg irons in a bath stall, and repeatedly beaten. When he was informed he would be paraded in public, he intentionally disfigured himself by slashing his scalp with a razor to avoid being exploited as propaganda. When guards covered his injury with a hat, he used a stool to swell his face beyond recognition. Later, fearing forced confessions that could endanger fellow prisoners, he slit his wrists to protect them from further interrogation.

Early in his captivity, Stockdale’s wife, Sybil, joined with other military wives to establish the League of American Families of POWs and MIAs. By 1968, her advocacy drew national attention, pressing the U.S. government to formally acknowledge the mistreatment of American POWs. She carried this message to the Paris Peace Talks, bringing wider awareness to their cause.

Stockdale was among eleven American prisoners, known as the "Alcatraz Gang," who were key resistance leaders. Alongside George Coker, George McKnight, Jeremiah Denton, Harry Jenkins, Sam Johnson, James Mulligan, Howard Rutledge, Robert Shumaker (who coined the term "Hanoi Hilton"), Ronald Storz, and Nels Tanner, Stockdale was separated from other POWs and confined to a secluded section called "Alcatraz," near the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense. Each prisoner was held in a small, windowless concrete cell of 3 by 9 feet (0.9 by 2.7 m), with a light bulb kept on constantly and leg irons fastened every night. Storz died there in captivity in 1970.