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Chapter News
Maintenance Video – The next meeting is scheduled for October 19, 1999 at 7:00. The program for the October meeting will be a video from the national EAA on aircraft maintenance. Robins Museum - A trip to the Robins AFB museum is tentatively planned for November. Contact Bob Sutherland if you are interested in attending. Bob needs a rough head count to make ground transportation arrangements at the museum. Christmas Party - The party is tentatively scheduled for December 10, 1999. Get started now looking for a White Elephant Christmas present. This can be either a nice gift or something old that you've been trying to get rid of. The tire chains from last year's party may show up again... Electronic Newsletters - In an effort to save money, members with Internet access will read the newsletter on the web page from now on. Hard copies will be mailed to persons without Internet access. If you have a strong preference for a hard copy instead of an electronic one, contact John Jones at 682-3867. New Member - The chapter welcomed Henry Rymer as a new member at the September meeting. His email is hrpilot1@aol.com. Treasurer's Report - In September, the chapter had a balance of $284.94. Hands-On Workshop - Chapter 108 is considering a hands-on workshop for later this fall. We'll be discussing the date and topics at the next meeting. We've lined up several instructors, but can always use more. Contact Bob Sutherland for more information or to volunteer. Catfish Flight - The weekly catfish flight has resumed
on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. Meet over Crestview Airport at 3000 ft
at noon. Contact Ray Hamorski at 862-4039 for more information.
Your Tax Dollars Hard at Work At the SERFI Fly-in, the Birmingham FSDO gave a presentation about their web page. This is a valuable collection of aviation information that will interest everyone. The web page includes phone numbers, addresses, and a map to find the FSDO building. Scheduled safety seminars are also listed. (The next seminar close to us is November 15 in Mobile.) The FAA database of Designated Airworthiness Representatives, AMEs, and Pilot Examiners is available as well. The A&P folks in the chapter will enjoy the Type Certificate Data Sheets, STCs, ADs, ACs, and MELs. FARs, FAA forms, and aviation weather are available, too. You can find the web page at www.faa.gov/fsdo/bhm.
A Little Over Gross
Alabama Cessna 120 140 170 Fly-In
$$ For Sale $$
Finishing’s the Job A new FBO is opening at Defuniak Springs. Mike Gifford will operate the new FBO and offer maintenance and avionics services. Mike's specialty is aircraft refinishing - both exterior and interior. The city is also planning to offer T-hangars and lengthen the runway to 4100 ft. Call 678-0679 for more information.
The Hanoi Hilton
At the time, Capt Webb was flying F-4C Phantoms with the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On the day in question, his mission was to provide cover for an F-105 raid into North Vietnam. He was flying in one of two four-ship flights of F-4s. The plan for the F-4 flights didn't exactly follow regulations and, during a turn, the two flights of aircraft collided near Hanoi. Webb's plane was badly damaged, but he managed to eject with only a slightly injured back. Webb landed in a tree and managed to free himself from his parachute and hide. He planned to head east to the Gulf of Tonkin and try to find a friendly ship or sub. However, he was found by the Viet Cong the next morning and taken to the famous "Hanoi Hilton" prison. The Viet Cong first took new prisoners to the interrogation room where intense questioning was followed by various forms of torture. The VC were especially interested in biographical data along with aircraft and mission information. Biographical data was used to personalize the torture and brainwashing. Torture was typically directed by the communist political officers and conducted by a large burly man the prisoners dubbed the "hamburger." One of the VC's favorite tricks was to tie the prisoner's hands together behind the back and pull up on the wrists in an attempt to dislocate the subject's shoulders. Once the VC had extracted any useful information from the prisoners,
they were taken to solitary confinement for a period of several months.
Each prisoner was issued striped pajamas, black underwear, tire-tread sandals,
and a tin cup. Food consisted of water, bread, and a mysterious soup
of water and greens.
Eventually, the prisoners would be released to a normal cell with another officer. The VC normally paired a junior officer from one service with a senior officer from another service. The practice was based on a mistaken understanding that junior officers didn't get along with senior officers and that the Air Force disliked the Navy. In actuality, it helped the prisoners organize themselves. One of the rules of the prison was that prisoners were not allowed to
speak to each other. To get around this prohibition, the prisoners
devised several ingenious schemes. The most famous was the tap code.
It was originally used by POWs during World War II and one prisoner had
learned it during survival school. The code consisted of a 5 x 5
matrix with the rows and columns numbered. To spell a message, the
prisoner would tap the number for the row, then tap the number for the
column. In this manner each letter of the alphabet could be identified.
Because there were only 25 squares in the matrix, "K" was eliminated and
"C" was used instead.
This tap code was later adapted by Jeremiah Denton into a vocal version using cough, sniff, clear throat, hack and spit to indicate rows and columns 1-5. Col Webb recalled that the first time he heard the vocal tap code, he thought he had been placed in the tuberculosis ward!
Prisoners also communicated with sign language and by dropping notes at common locations such as the sewage dump station. Col Webb noted that communication was critical to the prisoners because it allowed them to pass along news and keep their spirits up. Treatment of the prisoners improved dramatically after the death of Ho Chi Minh in September 1969. The political officers were replaced my military officers who began to treat the prisoners as fellow officers rather than criminals.
When President Nixon resumed pinpoint bombing of North Vietnam in 1972, the Vietnamese were left completely defenseless and signs of a pending release began to appear. In February, 1973 the first prisoners were released. The prisoners asked to be released in a military fashion, but no uniforms were available. The VC supplied the prisoners with clean blue jackets and pants for their release. At the conclusion of his talk, Col Webb noted that the main thing that kept the prisoners in a positive state of mind was the fact that they were Americans and the U.S. would not leave them in North Vietnam. Contrary to popular myths, Col Webb feels certain that all POWs held in North Vietnam were accounted for. They either perished in prison or were returned to the U.S. For more information, Col Webb highly recommended the new book, "Honor
Bound : American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973" by Stuart
I. Rochester and Frederick T. Kiley. He also recommended the upcoming
movie "Home with Honor."
Calendar October 19, 1999 - Monthly Chapter Meeting November 6 or 13, 1999 - Trip to a museum?
December 10, 1999 - Chapter Christmas Party
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Conditions improved
further following the failed Son Tay POW rescue raid in November, 1970.
Following the raid, all POWs in North Vietnam were moved to the Hanoi Hilton
and housed together in large cells. The prisoners established the
4th Allied POW Wing complete with a chain of command, rules for resistance,
and continuing education classes.