The Prisoners The Ten Thousand Day War : Season 1 Episode 22

Episode Twenty-two covers the more than 600 American airmen shot down and captured by the north during the war. Most pilots eventually arrive at the "Hanoi Hilton" an old french prison. Some airmen stayed their for eight years. The prisoners state that they were seldom tortured but the US government insists that 55% of the prisoners were tortured in some fashion. Some of the prisoners felt that they would never get out, after the bombing stopped in '69 the pilots didn't know if they would ever go home. After '69, the treatment of the prisoners improved greatly but that was tied to the ongoing negotiations on prisoner exchange. Most when hearing the Christmas bombing campaign, knew that it wouldn't be long before the war was over. After the Paris Peace Accord 566 prisoners are released, 66 died in captivity. They board US Airforce C-141's for the flight home. As of 1973, over 1,000 Americans are listed as still missing in action, by 1980, that figure is down to 22.