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Lee Ellis

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Ellis talks about the type of propaganda he heard in Hanoi, Vietnam all the time. In fact, the Lieutenant Colonel who was cooperating too much with the enemy only made things worse for the other prisoners when he helped aid in the spreading of the propaganda. During this time, Senator John McCain was captured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam as well. (6:38)

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Ellis shares more miscellaneous stories of his days as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He covers what he and the other prisoners did from day to day, as well as the first laugh they all shared together. Since everyone was on edge all the time, it had been three whole months in captivity before they felt comfortable enough to laugh with each other. (5:31)

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While locked away in a POW camp, Ellis says that the guards were armed around the clock with AK-47s, but were not allowed to hurt prisoners unless they tried to directly escape. He does remember one time, however, when a prisoner got in deep trouble for crafting a makeshift American flag inside his prison cell. (6:17)

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When the prisoners weren't cooperating with the NVA, the guards would use rope to torture them. Ellis describes in detail what it was like to feel that pain, as well as how frightening it was when American air raids flew right over the prison. There was a lot of potential to be bombed, but fortunately they never were. (4:36)

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Ellis talks about POWs who were in Son Tay, Vietnam for far longer than he was, which really put things into perspective for him. After the North Vietnamese demanded he make them a radio program and he refused to cooperate many times, Ellis' co-pilot Ken was subject to being forcefully kept awake for 21 whole days. (5:53)

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At the POW camp in Son Tay, Vietnam, Ellis had to do plenty of different jobs to essentially clean up after himself and the other prisoners, and would rotate jobs frequently. After two whole years of being there, he got to write a letter back home to let them know he was okay. He remembers a few unfortunate death stories from the POW camp, and a few where some men attempted to escape. He himself never attempted escape, though. (5:19)

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Although prisoners were kept on high lockdown and weren't allowed to communicate with any other prisoners outside their own cell, Ellis and his fellow POWs still found ways to do it occasionally. The North Vietnamese wanted to fool the world into thinking they were treating their prisoners kindly, so they created propaganda to hide how they were actually being treated. (5:20)

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After he moved back to the Hanoi Hilton, Ellis was actually elected by his fellow prisoners to be one of their French professors following one prisoner's demand to have a custom education program put in place. He mentions how he moved around a lot before his eventual release on March 14, 1973. (6:14)

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Lee Ellis talks about the few months leading up to his final release from the POW camps in Vietnam. He talks about how he felt when he was released, and how he was finally able to eat all the food he dreamed about while in prison. (8:26)

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The next day after the big release and the dining buffet, one of the men actually had a panic attack. Everyone including Ellis had a very drained mindset, meaning it was hard for them to feel emotions normally. He talks about how that affected him after he came home, his R&R experience and how, despite the massive protesting against the Vietnam War, he was never ridiculed because he was a prisoner of war. (5:28)