“It seemed like half the US Air Force came back to try to get me out of there.” (Video interview, 36:48)

Thomas Nelson Moe

Thomas Moe [detail from video] War: Cold War; Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Navy; Air Force Unit: Naval Reserve; 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing; 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron; 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron; 16th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron; 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Service Location: Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam; Hanoi, North Vietnam Rank: Colonel POW: Yes Place of Birth: DC

Conducting a bombing run in January 1968, a weapons malfunction forced Air Force Colonel Thomas Moe to bail out over enemy territory. After three days on the ground successfully avoiding capture, he was eventually discovered and imprisoned by the North Vietnamese for the next five years. Although offered an early release, he refused, on the grounds that POWs should be sent home according to the order of their capture. After further pressure to accept a release, he went on an eight-day hunger strike. Constant torture and beatings led to extensive kidney damage; through the care of his roommate, Myron, and his mental resolve, he survived until his release in March 1973.