| Date: 9 September 1965 |
| Aircraft type: A-4E Skyhawk |
| Serial Number: 151134 |
| Military Unit: VA-163 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Oriskany |
| Name(s): |
| Cdr James Bond Stockdale (POW) |
| Cdr James Stockdale, the Commander of Oriskany’s Carrier Air Wing 16, was on his second tour in Southeast Asia and had led the search for North Vietnamese patrol boats during the attack on the USS Maddox on 2 August 1964. Using VA-163’s appropriate call sign Old Salt 353, 42-year old Cdr Stockdale had flown over 175 missions when he set out on 9 September to lead a major raid on the Thanh Hoa Bridge. Unfortunately, the weather closed in over Thanh Hoa half way through the launch cycle and Stockdale had to send his aircraft to secondary targets. After an abortive search for a SAM site Cdr Stockdale decided to attack railway sidings about 15 miles south of Thanh Hoa. Stockdale approached the target at 150 feet, released his Snakeye bombs and pulled up for another pass. As the aircraft reached about 700 feet it was hit by 57mm ground fire and immediately pitched nose down. With the aircraft diving at great speed, the hydraulic system inoperative and the gyro toppled, Cdr Stockdale had no option but to eject. He landed in the village of Tin Gia near the target and was attacked by several villagers and badly beaten. Primarily a Crusader pilot (he was the first man to reach 1,000 hours in the F-8), Jim Stockdale was the Navy’s second CAG to be shot down in the war. He was temporarily replaced as CAG by Lt Col Charles H Ludden, CO of VMF(AW)-212. This was the first time since the Second World War that a Marine had commanded a Navy air wing.
Cdr Stockdale spent the next seven and a half years in prison in Hanoi where, as the most senior naval officer captured, he was singled out for the most brutal treatment imaginable. James Stockdale adhered to the Code of Conduct for POWs and provided a superb example for his fellow prisoners thereby bringing him further retribution from his captors. His refusal to co-operate in the propaganda efforts of the North Vietnamese and the discovery of the prisoners’ secret communication system brought more torture and beatings from the guards. Cdr Stockdale, realising that the punishment was about to be meted out to the other prisoners, made himself a symbol of their collective resistance and on 4 September 1969 he deliberately inflicted a near fatal wound to convince his captors of his willingness to die rather than capitulate. He was revived by the North Vietnamese who seemed to realise that they could not break his spirit and from that time on, the treatment in the prison camp improved. In recognition of James Stockdale’s courageous leadership in the most terrible conditions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1976. He was released on 12 February 1973 and resumed his naval career. James Stockdale retired from the US Navy in 1979 with the rank of Vice Admiral and served as a senior research fellow with the Hoover Institution. He died in 2005 and is buried at the United States Naval Academy. |
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