Doug Hegdahl
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Douglas Brent Hegdahl (born September 3, 1946) is a former
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
petty officer second class Petty officer second class (PO2) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations. Canada Petty officer, 2nd class, (PO 2), is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of master sailor (f ...
(E-5) who was held as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. After an early release, he was able to provide the names and personal information of about 256 fellow POWs, as well as reveal the conditions of the prisoner-of-war camp.


Early life and military career

Hegdahl was born on September 3, 1946. Both of his parents were descended from Norwegian immigrants and he remarked how his entire family were devout Lutherans. Heghdahl graduated from Clark High School in
Clark, South Dakota Clark is a city in and county seat of Clark County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,148 at the 2020 census. History A post office was established at Clark in 1880. Clark was platted in 1882. The city took its name from Clark ...
on May 24, 1966. Immediately afterwards, he enlisted in the United States Navy. Following recruit training and advanced school, he had achieved the rank of Seaman Apprentice and was sent to Dixie Station. Sometime in the early morning hours of April 6, 1967, 20-year-old Hegdahl was onboard the in the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...
, three miles off the coast, when he was knocked overboard by the blast from a 5-inch gun mount. He swam and trod water until he was picked up several hours later by Vietnamese fishermen who treated him well. He was reported missing at the 11:30 a.m. ship's muster. After two searches of the ship, he was officially listed as "missing as a result of lost at sea." Later that day, Hegdahl was handed over to Vietnamese militiamen who clubbed him with their rifles before moving him to the infamous "
Hanoi Hilton Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red and Black Rivers). As a municipality, Hanoi consists of 12 urban districts, 17 rural d ...
" prison. The interrogators first believed that Hegdahl was a commando or an agent. His story of being blown overboard seemed unbelievable to the interrogators. Hegdahl thought he would be much better off if he pretended to be of low intelligence. Hegdahl was physically maltreated for a few days before he was able to convince his captors that he was of little value for their propaganda campaign. His bumpkin demeanor and youthful appearance aided in his ability to convince them that he was no threat to them. When asked to write statements against the United States, he agreed, but pretended to be unable to read or write, which was believable to his Vietnamese captors. Thinking they had someone who would be easily turned to their cause, they assigned someone to teach Hegdahl to read. After Hegdahl appeared to be incapable of learning to read and write, his captors gave up on him. Later, he came to be known to the Vietnamese as "The Incredibly Stupid One", and he was given nearly free run of the camp. He reported that fellow U.S. captives in the Vietnam War would authenticate a new prisoner's U.S. identity by using "
Shave and a Haircut "Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect. It is used melodically or rhythmical ...
" as a
shibboleth A shibboleth ( ; ) is any custom or tradition—usually a choice of phrasing or single word—that distinguishes one group of people from another. Historically, shibboleths have been used as passwords, ways of self-identification, signals of l ...
, tapping the first five notes against a cell wall and waiting for the appropriate response. U.S. POWs were then able to communicate securely with one another via a
tap code The ''tap code'', sometimes called the knock code, is a way to encode text messages on a letter-by-letter basis in a very simple way. The message is transmitted using a series of tap sounds, hence its name. The tap code has been commonly used by ...
. Then, with the help of Joseph Crecca, a
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...
officer and fellow prisoner, Hegdahl memorized names, capture dates, method of capture, and personal information of about 256 other prisoners. According to his senior officer and cellmate, Lieutenant Commander Richard A. Stratton, Hegdahl also convinced his captors that he needed new glasses and memorized the route from the prison into the city of Hanoi, where he was taken to be fitted. During his prison stay, Hegdahl disabled five trucks by putting dirt in their fuel tanks. Hegdahl was one of three POWs (along with Navy Lieutenant Robert Frishman and Air Force Captain Wesley Rumble) who were released on August 5, 1969, as a propaganda move by the North Vietnamese. Although the POWs had agreed that none would accept early release, they agreed that Hegdahl's release should be an exception. He was ordered to accept an early release so that he could provide the names of POWs being held by the North Vietnamese and reveal the conditions to which the prisoners were being subjected. After his discharge, Hegdahl was sent to the
Paris Peace Talks The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follow ...
by Ross Perot in December 1970 and confronted the North Vietnamese with his first-hand information about the mistreatment of prisoners.''Where are our PoW/MIA's?'' 1997


Post-war life, and wider recognition

After returning to the United States, Hegdahl used his experiences as an instructor at the U.S. Navy's
Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training concept originally developed by the British during World War II. It is best known by its military acronym and prepares a range of Western forces to survive when evading or b ...
school at
NAS North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado ...
,
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. He left the US Navy as a
Petty officer second class Petty officer second class (PO2) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations. Canada Petty officer, 2nd class, (PO 2), is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of master sailor (f ...
. His story was featured on Season 6, Episode 15 of
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's ''
Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's executive p ...
''. It was also shown on the streaming provider
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, ''The Night Shift'', season four, episode seven. ''The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton,'' a slice-of-life biography focusing on Hegdahl's Vietnam War and post-war experiences, by the journalist and historian Marc Leepson, was published i
December 2024
by Stackpole Books.


Awards


See also

*
Jeremiah Denton Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. (July 15, 1924 – March 28, 2014) was an American politician and United States Navy two-star admiral who served as a U.S. Senator representing Alabama from 1981 to 1987. He was the first Republican to be popularly ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegdahl, Doug 1948 births American prisoners of war Living people Military personnel from South Dakota People from Clark, South Dakota United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War United States Navy sailors American prisoners of war in the Vietnam War