POWs+in+Vietnam

Prisoners of war in Vietnam were faced with one of the toughest situations of living. Most people probably wouldn't be able to begin to comprehend the horrors that POWs had to live with everyday. POW treatment could even be compared to the nazis treatment of the jewish prisoners in the days of the holocaust era. It is even sad to think that in all these years that there are probably still approximately 2,583 soldiers unaccounted for that could quite possibly still be held in prisoner camps according to []. Also politically POWs played an important part in sparking the beginnings of the [|Geneva Accords]. The daily lives of POWs consisted of rigorous interrogations, beatings, torturing, mental "brain washing", malnourishment, and little to none medical care.


 * __Name of camps used to keep POWs:__**

1. Alcatraz 2. Briarpatch 3. Camp Faith 4. Dirty Bird 5. Dogpatch 6. Farnsworth 7. Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) 8. Moutain Camp 9. Plantation 10. Rockpile 11. Skidrow 12. Son Tay/Camp Hope 13. Zoo

__**STATISTICS OF POWs IN WAR**__ All POW returnees/escapees and country where captured based from []
 * **Country/Service** || **Cambodia** || **China** || **Laos** || **NVN** || **SVN** || **Totals** ||
 * **Army** || **17/0** || **0/0** || **3/0** || **0/0** || **102/15** || **122/15** ||
 * **Air Force** || **1/0** || **1/0** || **7/0** || **319/0** || **4/1** || **332/1** ||
 * **Marines** || **0/0** || **0/0** || **1/0** || **9/0** || **19/10** || **29/10** ||
 * **Navy** || **5/0** || **1/0** || **2/2** || **140/0** || **2/0** || **150/2** ||
 * **Civilian** || **4/0** || **2/0** || **8/0** || **1/0** || **43/6** || **58/6** ||
 * **Foreign Nationals** || **3/1** || **1/0** || **7/1** || **3/0** || **62/0** || **74/2** ||
 * **Totals** || **30/1** || **5/0** || **28/3** || **472/0** || **230/32** || **765/36** ||

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__**TECHNIQUES OF TORTURE USED AGAINST POWs :**__

- tourniquets applied to cut off circulation - the twisting of limbs until totally broken - the hanging of a soldier by his thumbs - malnutrition - untreatment of wounds - soldiers were whipped with thick strips of tire for hours - the brain washing of making soldiers believe they were war criminals - soldiers were confined in leg irons and handcuffs for up to a month

__**COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE SOLDIERS**__ The POWs locked up in Vietnam used a certain type of communication of "tapping" the walls as a way to deliver messages from cell to cell. This type of communication is colsely realted to morse code because different types of taps would make up for different letters. This way of communication was one of the soldiers most valued Coping Mechanisms because it allowed soldiers to help each other through their hard times and helped keep soldiers sanity intact.

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The Geneva Accords were a big step in the better treatment of Prisoners of War being held in the opposing country. Before the Geneva Accords there wasn't anything really stopping a nation from mistreating POWs and many countries took advantage of this by the torturing of prisoners to try to gain information. All of this was better regulated after the countries could come to an agreement on how POWs should be treated. The Geneva Accords is also similar to the Constitution because many of its articles are to be interpreted. An example of how the Geneva Accords better protected POWs in Vietnam would be that they were no longer allowed to be used in scientific experiments or medical care that is not in the captured soldier's best interest. A link to the relevancy of the Geneva Accords would be at [|The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights].
 * __Geneva Accords__**

__**Medal Received By POWs Returning Home:**__ The main parameters of receiving a POW medal are: - to have served in the military for the U.S.A. and/or its allies - to have been taken under the power of an opposing military force. For the exact titles and specifications of receiving this medal go to: []


 * If you are interested in looking up any names of POWs this link will bring up the whole list of names from A to Z. [|POW List]