"The Incredibly Stupid One"
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2018
- This exceptional documentary by Washburn Rural Middle School students Megan Christensen & Meredith Kucera took home 2nd place in the 2018 Lowell Milken Center Discovery Award competition. The documentary tells the story of Douglas Hegdahl, an American prisoner held captive at Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam war. It was Hegdahl's courage, bravery and intelligence that saved hundreds of US prisoners, and landed him with the nickname "the incredibly stupid one." LMC Fellows Lindsey Dowell and Alice Bertels guided Christensen and Kucera.
I was on the Canberra with him. We were assigned to that fine ship at the same time. I didn’t know Doug was so smart. It was an honor to have served with him!
What was the reaction when he was finally reported missing?
We did a search for him on the ship and on the sea. Other ships were called in to help.
Thank you for serving.
gg
So, you're just NOW hearing about this? Hmmm, your story sounds fishy and that's not a Navy joke.
Ironically the vietnamese guards must have felt like a bunch of idiots once they heard what Douglas hegdahl did when he got home.
Yeah I'm a Vietnamese and I must admit we are so bad when forcing the POWs to lie.
Cow
@michael boultinghouse uh sorry to burst your bubble...but Vietnam has not had a good time. Bullied and invaded by China. Fishing waters and territory and resources bullied away by China..
It is ironic but Vietnam may be a good ally against China in the future. especially if they can eventually see the flaws in a single party government from China's example...but who knows. Just know that USA isnt the worst enemy anymore.
@@zydg7787 quit talking bout my ex wife. Haha
@@rednecked7462 bro im dying wtf haha lol
He should have gotten medal of honor for all the lives he saved!
This is my uncle. He never talked about any of this when i was growing up. He was the fun uncle always played with me and my cousins i had no idea what he went through. Hes an American hero and my personal hero. God bless you unk.
Praise be people
WHY AM I ONLY HEARING OF THIS MAD LAD NOW!?
TheBelieveit1 we saw extensive action. I suppose you didn’t hear about it because the government was busy trying to up the body count.
Bruh you lucky, I was brought here by Simple History
Cow
@@zydg7787 why do you keep saying cow? You jealous or something of Doug? You fifth comment I've seen saying 'Cow.'
@@leviathandrumming2175 sometimes some question are left unanswered
Great to see Doug Hegdahl remembered. While the two officers who were paroled with him were stealing the spotlight, Hegdahl was side-lined. He was, after all, a mere enlisted man and had no rank. He felt used by politicians. It was really only after Operation Homecoming, when the rest of the POWs were released, that the true nature of his heroism and importance really became public. The officer who ordered him to accept freedom in order to relay the vital information, Richard Stratton, made sure that he received public recognition for his mission home.
Read also *Voices of the Vietnam POWs: Witnesses to their Fight* by Craig Howes.
Hi Doug
Cow
@@zydg7787 my brother told me once he bumped into you at some bar, lol. My brother was on the Canberra at the same time. He was a 1st class BT.
It takes a very intelligent person to pull that one off
Cow
@@zydg7787 ?
Anyone came from Simple History?
Yes
Yep
Yep
Mmhm
Right here.
Proud to say I learned about Douglas Hegdahl today! I was in elementary school during the mid '60's. Amazing. I do have a critique though-At 6:50 in the video a photo was shown which was said to be Col. Hervey Stockman. This is incorrect. The photo at 6:50 is 1LT James Milton Jefferson. I proudly wore his POW bracelet for many years up until his remains were found, identified and brought home to Gainesville, FL for burial. May God be with them all.
He is the incredibly smart one. By point blank accusing them of killing Richard Stratton, he assured that they'd keep him alive to prove they didn't
This man deserves a medal of honor
I met Doug as he was an instructor and role player at Warner Springs SERE, 1991 when I was war criminal #49. What an honor.
How could you call someone a coward for returning home
Soldiers qere spit on returning home. They were treated like shit, but people didn't understand how fucking terrible the Vietnam War was. The jungles, trenches, gases, etc.
@@leviathandrumming2175 yes people had no sympathy at all
Former POW Captain Frederick Purrington was doing his command tour at NETC Newport when I went to OIS in August 1987. Purrington gave my class, all five companies (some 253 members) the lecture on the Code of Conduct. It was a two hour story of his POW experience. In his story, Purrington went into exquisite detail about Hegdahl and his ordeal. One thing that stands out to me between this video, Purrington's version and numbers cited by other POWs I've met is the number of enemy vehicles Hegdahl disabled by dumping his sweeping debris into the fuel tanks. I remember Purrington saying, "Hegdahl disabled 16 enemy vehicles while in captivity. I'm an O-6, I disabled none!" You have to hand it to the guy, he wins the reward for resourcefulness hands down!
Whoever is the narrator for this video (clearly a young kid) could have a future in voicework. They are a much more compelling narrator than any other kid of the same age by far
I wonder who it is sounds nice amd comfortbale
Are you serious? Her whiny Saturday-morning cartoon voice is very irritating and takes away from the story.
I love stuff like this so much. During my time in boot camp we were all taught the story of Petty Officer Hegdahl. His brothers and sisters regard him as a hero and honor his name.
I worked with him at SERE school. Great guy.
Hes my uncle never knew growing up what a hero he was glad to see that people on these comments give him the recognition he deserves
@@johnmcgarity3768 that is wonderful and you are very lucky to have such an honorable man as your uncle. ❤️
Our country sure knows how to treat our war heroes 💩💩
Congratulations on your award. History has always been one of my passions. Nice work.
I want to write and direct movies in the future, I really want to tell Douglas Hegdahl’s story on the big screen one day.
Please do hes my uncle He never spoke of any of this when I was growing up he was the fun uncle always played with me and my cousins I saw in other comments that you wanted to try to get in touch with him I will see him April of next year I will ask him about the movie
This video is the best description of what happened, far better than Simple History.
Well done, Doug. Well done.
Respect to this man.
Ladies, you did an outstanding job on this!
Watched the whole thing! This was INCREDIBLY well done and I stayed interested the whole time. Good work kiddo! Great information!
Such a well done video. 👏
Excellent.
Why didn't the Navy approve any of the medals Doug Hegdahl was nominated for, at least the bronze star
Yeah they hand out Bronze Stars like candy now. This is a terrible our Nation hasn't awarded him the Medal of Honor
I'm late to the party by four years but I have to say what an excellent job you did on this. By now you are out if high school or nearly so. Best of luck to you, my fellow American. God bless you in all you do.
Great video
Awesome story Doug! And you’re not coward at all!
A better and smarter man than I could ever be. Very impressive.
Although this young man was not an officer or pilot, he is a true hero and should be recognized and awarded for his actions. He even turned down early release until ordered to. God bless you sailor and the rest of our former POW's. 🇺🇸
You don't have to be an officer or a pilot to be a tre hero in any case.
it is amazing on how many stories revolve around anyones experience....the other was he was thrown over by a large wave.....
Wow! If I could make one statement to him, I’d say welcome home
A true hero
HERO!!
came here from simple history
He starts singing @05:43
Hero
They couldn’t award him a navy cross or something for saving the POW lives at that time. Wow
I've heard stories of Doug during my survival training. He did more than what is being portrayed in this video to drive his captors nuts!
The one thing I know about him that he can sing old McDonald’s but the lyrics are all about the names of the Fellow war prisoners
Can the powers that be in Washington and the Pentagon please explain to me why Douglas Hegdahl has not been awarded The Congressional Medal Of Honor ?
Anyone, Please.
The MOH is generally a combat award. Some WERE awarded it for their actions while POWs -- James Stockdale, for example -- but those were for direct acts of resistance. What Hegdahl did was entirely different and, while certianly extremely important in the long run, likely didn't meet the requirements for the MOH.
@@samsignorelli Well he followed orders to leave. Saved a fuckload of pow's. At least SOMETHING was deserved.
I wonder if Hegdahl was honorably promoted to E5 after his release from captivity. The initial photo of him shows a PO Second Class rank on his uniform. According to the copy of the handwritten witness statement by a crew member of the USS Canberra, Hegdahl was an "SA" (Seaman Apprentice) with is an E2.
I arrived in Canberra Australia and was shocked to realise it’s called Canberra whow.
only 200 subscribers? you need more
You've got to be smart to truly play dumb.
Where is his statue, we have one of John Harvard for christ sake.
THIS came in 2ND PLACE??
my Lord! Which documentary won FIRST PLACE?? 😲
i wish I could have understood the audio. Between the pitch of the kid's voice and the "Sounds of Silence," it was insufferable. Where can I go to find out more?
For by grace you have been saved throught faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God so that no one may boast ephesians 2 verse 8-9....
I'm thinking it would be best if we all just pretended we are in an episode of MASH, 4077./ Screwed together, screwed apart. Like The Three Musketeers. Who is with me.
So there was no muster on his boat for 2 days?
Me: Whats You Favorite Color?
Doug: pILloW
Blue
Anyone else here from Reddit?
shit u got me
Hi Doug, how are you?
How old are you now, Bob?
@@vitorhugogusmao4683 I’m 74 now. Doug would be about the same age.
He looks like roomie 😳
Oversimplified
Stop calling people by their last names. Call them by their first names.
It's military culture to be addressed by last name. Even our coaches back in the 1960s in junior high and high school would address us by last name. Most of these fine men were former military WWII vets.
Why couldn’t they make a trade and send them Jane Fonda
7:15 features her husband Tom Hayden who made a few trips to North Vietnam.
Vietnamese after releasing him after 2-3 weeks: đụụụụụụụụụụụụụụụụụ
The background music is incredibly distracting
Heyy im from south Dakota
Hegdahl is my grandmas last name I wonder if I’m related
Ask him! He is on here.
The man was amazing to remember all those names. An ingenious plan. Salute !
@@juliebrothers6033 I agree!
I was thinking about suggesting to “American History Channel” they should run a story on him.
Why do they call him stupid
She explains it lol. He played it off this way to be of little use to the people who captured him.
As a prisoner he made it seem he was illiterate and slow.
It was NOT Col Stratton. Richard “Beak” Stratton was LCDR, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, and later Captain. O-4, O-5, and later O-6 of the United States Navy.
This documentary won 2nd place. And the 1st one was about what? Guns? Obesity? Lol...
if some plane bombed me, i woulnt take him prisoner ,,,,sorry!
It's called the Laws of War.
"If you give no quarter no quarter should be given to you"
Do you understand what that means?
It means if you do not treat our prisoners humanly your prisons shall not be either.
You kill our Prisoners we will kill yours.
There is a reason why POWs aren't executed
I used a song to help me memorize more than 150 digits of pi :)
Isnt it just 100?
@@maleigha_howard6811 Hard N' Phirms "Pi" is 191 digits.
who makes the one with 100? I'd like to hear it! :)
@@maleigha_howard6811 if you're asking if Pi is only 100 digits, no. Pi seems to be infinite. There is no end to Pi, at least, not one that we've found yet... I don't even know if they're still working on it or if they've given up by now.
The narrator is a ten-year old girl?
Eminem 2.0
An excellent video of a real hero ruined by unnecessarily LOUD and distracting music. Please upload this again, but drop the Simon and Garfunkel noise!
THIS NARRATION IS TERRIBLE AND RUINS THE VIDEO. MOST WOMEN LACK THE GRAVITAS TO COMMENT ON A VIDEO LIKE THIS.
I'm female and experienced no problem focusing on the gravitas of the situation in the presentation. It was quite clear.
Still lost the war. Lol
Our military didn’t lose the war, the American people did.
@@robertlite3878 keep telling yourself that
@@pimpdaddy7710 I absolutely do believe that, always have
Americans have a history of quitting when things get tough. Look at What is happening in Ukraine.
@@robertlite3878 that’s why lost so many times
please dump the useless music....