'The Unlikely War Hero': The Youngest and Lowest-Ranking Vietnam War POW in the Hanoi Hilton

It was April 6, 1967, when 20-year-old Seaman Apprentice Doug Hegdahl fell overboard, off the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Canberra and into Vietnam's Gulf of Tonkin. He spent hours in the water before he was picked up by a fishing boat and sent to North Vietnam's notorious Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton. His fall was a rookie mistake, and one that led to two years of imprisonment -- and a place in history as a Vietnam War hero.

Author, historian and Vietnam veteran Marc Leepson's new book, "The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton," looks at the story of the youngest and lowest-ranking prisoner captured by the North Vietnamese during the war. Hegdahl's cunning and bravery revealed the secrets of the Hanoi Hilton to the world, as well as a complete accounting of the Americans held there during his tenure.

Between 1964 and 1971, some 271 U.S. Navy sailors fell off their ships for various reasons. Hegdahl was the only one who ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp in Hanoi. Originally enlisting as a postal clerk, he ended up off the coast of Vietnam as an ammunition handler. One night, he went up on deck to watch the ship's guns bombard targets inland. When he did, the blast from the firing guns threw him off his feet and into the drink.

Although young, Hegdahl was by no means slight. At six feet tall and 225 pounds, there was reason for his captors to believe he was a CIA operative. He was also, apparently, a fast thinker: Upon his capture, he pretended to be a "country bumpkin" who could barely read or write, and when the communists tried to teach him, he pretended to be so dumb, he couldn't learn. They would dub him "the incredibly stupid one" and wrote him off, knowing someone of his rank and intellect had no useful information.

Hegdahl was, in actuality, as smart as the other prisoners in the Hanoi Hilton; he was just younger and junior enlisted. Like the other POWs, he learned to communicate using the tap code, refused any kind of early release by betraying his country and -- most importantly -- memorizing the names of fellow Americans he'd encountered. His erstwhile cellmate, Lt. Cmdr. Richard Stratton, said the kid had "brains, guts and guile ... Doug Hegdahl was a godsend."

Like other prisoners, he endured long periods of solitary confinement, interrogations, constant medical issues and hunger strikes. He was paraded in front of foreign journalists and American anti-war activists. Unlike the other POWs, he also managed to disable enemy trucks by pouring sand and dirt into their gas tanks. Life in the Hoa Lo camp meant a cot with a wooden board to sleep on, tropical disease, constant punishment and, if you were lucky, neglect.

Hegdahl was eventually one of 12 Vietnam War prisoners who accepted an early release by the enemy. Some of the POWs left behind, Leepson writes, saw the men who took an early release as disgraceful for having disobeyed the Code of Conduct, while some of those same captives would have happily cut their throats. Hegdahl was the exception, because he was ordered to come home by the POW leadership with the names of 254 prisoners in his head, many of whom were presumed dead.

Hegdahl was repatriated to the United States on Aug. 5, 1969 (and stole his prison guard's prized cigarette case on his way onto the plane). When he was safely in American custody, he released the names of the prisoners, testified about the conditions under which they were being held and even attended the Paris Peace Talks so he could let the North Vietnamese know the United States was aware its people were being tortured.

Leepson thought about writing Hegdahl's story for 25 years. Although the author didn't get to speak with Hegdahl personally, he talked to the sailor's close POW friends. With these and access to the memoirs and statements from other prisoners such as John McCain, Jeremiah Denton and more, Leepson constructed a compelling story about how men in the worst of times can endure horrible atrocities -- and still retain the will to resist and escape.

"The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton" is in bookstores now.

Keep Up With the Best in Military Entertainment

Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.