Word: denton
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...They conceded that treatment had varied for each P.O.W., that conditions had improved remarkably by the fall of 1969, and that high-ranking officers had absorbed the worst of it. But mistreatment was clearly widespread, and often brought on by the prisoners' steadfast resistance. As Navy Captain Jeremiah Denton said, "We forced them to be brutal to us." Even those who considered their treatment comparatively mild, such as Air Force Captain Joseph Milligan, often suffered enormously. Provided totally inadequate medical attention, Milligan treated-and cured-a badly burned arm by letting maggots eat away the pus, then cleaning...
...from the start an emotional event, not only for the prisoners and their families but also for millions who watched the various airport ceremonies on television. For the first time in many years of the Viet Nam experience, the nation was indulging in an unabashed patriotism. Navy Captain Jeremiah Denton set the tone when he stepped off the C-141 hospital plane that ferried the first batch of men from Hanoi to Clark. Denton smartly saluted the welcoming brass, then stepped to waiting microphones. "We are honored to have the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances," he said...
Navy Lieut. Commander Everett Alvarez Jr., who was captured in 1964 and became the longest-held prisoner in North Viet Nam, bounced down the ramp after Denton. In the second plane from Hanoi came Air Force Colonel James Robinson ("Robbie") Risner, an Air Force ace from World War II, Korea and Viet Nam, who was captured in 1965. "It's like we've been asleep for seven years," he said...
...their mothers, who were critically ill. By midweek, the rest began flying home. The welcomes were short and emotional. At Virginia's Norfolk Naval Air Station, a crowd of several hundred people sang God Bless America! and Onward, Christian Soldiers as they waited in the wet night for Denton, Galanti and Navy Captain James A. Mulligan. "Hi, everybody," said Mulligan. "There's something great about kids waving American flags...
...reasonably clear general picture about the life of prisoners in the North had already emerged: captives there were held in camps, sustained by regular though substandard diets and permitted to keep themselves physically fit. It was a hard but organized life. "During some of our darkest days," Capt. Denton recalled, "we tried to cheer one another by emitting a signal, the soft whistling of the song California, Here I Come. We usually knew we were whistling in the dark...