Jeremiah Denton, Rest in Peace

           War hero, Rear Admiral and former United States Senator Jeremiah Denton died last month in Virginia at the age of 89.  He was famous as a prisoner of war during the Vietnamese War.

            Born in Alabama in 1924, Denton graduated from the Naval Academy in 1947 and became a naval aviator, instructor and test pilot.  Meanwhile, he earned additional degrees from the Armed Forces Staff College, Navy War College and George Washington University.  Denton is credited as the architect of the “Haystack Concept,” a tactic to conceal naval air carrier groups by making them appear as commercial shipping. 

            During the Vietnamese War, Denton served on the carrier, U.S.S. Independence.  His A-6 Intruder was shot down in 1965 by North Vietnam.  After bailing out, Denton was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese.  He spent over seven and a half years as a P.O.W., half of which was in solitary confinement because of the organized resistance exhibited by him and his fellow prisoners.  In 1966, the Communist North Vietnamese forced Denton to participate in a televised press conference.  Seizing the opportunity, he famously blinked the word “T-O-R-T-U-R-E” in Morse Code to alert the world for the first time of the conditions he and his fellow Americans were suffering at the hands of their captors.  Denton also maintained his honor by affirming his support of the United States and its policy.  He was promoted to Captain during this time and was later awarded the Naval Cross for his heroism, the highest of his many decorations.  The bold move by Denton helped put pressure on the North Vietnamese to stop violating the Geneva Convention, but carpet bombing by American B-52 bombers in 1972 was even more effective.  Released in 1973, Denton made a famous speech on the tarmac at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines in which he expressed the pride of the American P.O.W.s for having served under difficult circumstances and their gratitude to their Commander in Chief and the United States.

Denton served as Commandant of the Army War College from 1974-1975.  He retired from the Navy as a Rear Admiral in 1977.  In the meantime, Denton penned When Hell Was in Session, which told the story of the American P.O.W. resistance to the North Vietnamese captors, in 1976.  I recommend the book, which was later turned into a motion picture.  A documentary filmed entitled Return With Honor, which was the motto of the resistance, told the story of the heroic leadership of Denton and a handful of other officers in the prison camps who did, indeed, maintain American honor to the best of their abilities, despite torture and starvation.

After the war, Denton worked as a television broadcaster, advocating American aid for the resistance to the Marxist Nicaraguan government.  He founded the National Forum Foundation, now known as the Admiral Jeremiah Denton Foundation, in 1984.  Meanwhile, Denton was elected U.S. Senator in 1980, thereby becoming the only retired Admiral elected to the Senate, as well as the first Republican elected Senator from Alabama since Reconstruction and the first Roman Catholic elected statewide.  He served honorably from 1981-1987, compiling a conservative record.  Denton was narrowly defeated for reelection in 1986 by Democrat Richard Shelby, who later became a Republican.  

Jeremiah Denton served the United States of America for decades, with honor, and was a model of self-sacrifice and comportment in captivity.  He is an inspiration to all Americans.  May Jeremiah Denton rest in peace.