“In the North, I knew I would survive. In the South, we often wanted to die.” (Memoir, page 5)

Floyd Harold Kushner

Floyd Kushner [detail from video] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Army Unit: 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Service Location: Hawaii; LZ Two Bits, Vietnam; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Peru; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Pensacola, Florida Rank: Colonel POW: Yes Place of Birth: HI

Army Colonel Floyd Harold Kushner had been flying combat missions in Vietnam for three months when his helicopter crashed into enemy territory on November 30, 1967. He spent the next five and a half years in captivity. Much of this he endured in a series of rudimentary prisoner of war camps in South Vietnam. In addition to beatings and malnutrition, he also dealt with the frustration of not being able to practice medicine; although he had the medical know-how to treat his fellow prisoners, he was not allowed to help them. In 1971, he was forced to march 900 kilometers north to Hanoi, where he was imprisoned for the remainder of the war.