Hello Everyone! Here is a more detailed version that I could not fit into the video: Douglas Brent Hegdahl III was a Sailor of the United States Navy who in April of 1967, during the Vietnam War, was knocked overboard the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin, three miles off the coast, by the blast from a gun mount. Hegdahl swam until he was eventually picked up by some Vietnamese fishermen which would ultimately result in him being turned over to the opposing Vietnamese forces. Hegdahl was taken to the infamous “Hanoi Hotel” prison. Hegdahl figured that it would be best for him to pretend to be of low intelligence so he acted illiterate and continuously hummed the same song. Among the Vietnamese, Hegdahl came to be known as “The Incredibly Stupid One” and they viewed him as being of little value and of no threat so he was allowed to have nearly free roam of the camp.The tune that he was humming turned out to be “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” and he was using it to memorize names, capture dates, method of capture, and various other personal details of 256 other Prisoners of War. In addition to this feat, Hegdahl was also able to disable five Vietnamese trucks by putting dirt in their fuel tanks. In August of 1969, three POWs, one of which being Hegdahl, were released as a propaganda move by the North Vietnamese. Hegdahl was hesitant to leave because of an agreement the POWs had made amongst each other that none leave if all do not leave, but Hegdahl was ordered to leave so that he could provide the names of POWs being held by the North Vietnamese and reveal the conditions to which the prisoners were being subjected. After being discharged, Hegdahl went to the Paris Peace Talks in 1970 and confronted the North Vietnamese about the mistreatment of the prisoners that violated the Geneva Conventions. Best wishes!
Hello Everyone! Here is a more detailed version that I could not fit into the video:
Douglas Brent Hegdahl III was a Sailor of the United States Navy who in April of 1967, during the Vietnam War, was knocked overboard the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin, three miles off the coast, by the blast from a gun mount. Hegdahl swam until he was eventually picked up by some Vietnamese fishermen which would ultimately result in him being turned over to the opposing Vietnamese forces. Hegdahl was taken to the infamous “Hanoi Hotel” prison.
Hegdahl figured that it would be best for him to pretend to be of low intelligence so he acted illiterate and continuously hummed the same song. Among the Vietnamese, Hegdahl came to be known as “The Incredibly Stupid One” and they viewed him as being of little value and of no threat so he was allowed to have nearly free roam of the camp.The tune that he was humming turned out to be “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” and he was using it to memorize names, capture dates, method of capture, and various other personal details of 256 other Prisoners of War. In addition to this feat, Hegdahl was also able to disable five Vietnamese trucks by putting dirt in their fuel tanks.
In August of 1969, three POWs, one of which being Hegdahl, were released as a propaganda move by the North Vietnamese. Hegdahl was hesitant to leave because of an agreement the POWs had made amongst each other that none leave if all do not leave, but Hegdahl was ordered to leave so that he could provide the names of POWs being held by the North Vietnamese and reveal the conditions to which the prisoners were being subjected. After being discharged, Hegdahl went to the Paris Peace Talks in 1970 and confronted the North Vietnamese about the mistreatment of the prisoners that violated the Geneva Conventions.
Best wishes!
He is amazing.