Army pilot recalls POW experience
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Retired Army Col. William Reeder said his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam made him emotionally stronger.
Immediately after Army pilot William Reeder’s attack helicopter was shot down and crashed in South Vietnam, he was unable to stand and suspected his back was broken.
“I was almost completely paralyzed,” said Reeder, now a retired Army colonel and author of a new book, “Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam.”
Reeder, who attended Roosevelt High School in Honolulu for a year in the early 1960s, recalls in his book how he survived as a prisoner of war for 11 months and became emotionally stronger because of the experience.
A book-signing event is set for 1 to 3 p.m. today at the Pacific Aviation Museum. The 238-page book, published by Naval Institute Press in April, focuses on his ordeal as a prisoner of war and an excruciatingly painful three-month march to a prison in Hanoi.
During his year in Honolulu, Reeder had a newspaper route delivering the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and was in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Roosevelt. He finished high school in California and enlisted in the Army in August 1965, thinking he would serve three years in the military and return to civilian life.
Reeder was on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, after graduating from the officer’s training program, and flying a Cobra attack helicopter near the Cambodian and Laotian border on May 9, 1972, when his aircraft was shot down.
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At the crash site, despite his injuries, he crawled into nearby brush then managed to walk far enough to elude the North Vietnamese military for three days.
Besides his back injury, he had burns on the back of his neck, his right ankle was bleeding from a shrapnel wound, and shell fragment wounds left blood running down his face.
During subsequent interrogation, his captors bound Reeder’s elbows together, resulting in dislocations in both arms. Also, they took his socks, forcing him to walk sockless in boots for the three-month march to Hanoi, after which the bottom of his feet felt “like hamburger.”
In addition, his right leg became infected and he suffered a number of tropical diseases, including three kinds of malaria.
Reeder said initially he was grouped with prisoners confined in bamboo cages in jungle camps with meager provisions. “Conditions were very, very bad,” he said. “People were dying almost every day. … That was complete agony.”
Upon entering the prison in Hanoi, Reeder said he knew he would survive. “I don’t know how long I would have survived in the camps,” he said.
Reeder said his book also honors a couple of captured South Vietnamese soldiers who, at the expense of their own well-being, helped him stay alive.
He was released from the Hanoi prison on March 7, 1973, several months before direct U.S. involvement in the war ended. Reeder, who retired from the Army as a full colonel in 1995, said he had been thinking about writing his book for more than 40 years.
But when he sat down to write it, he was forced to relive the POW experience in his mind’s eye. “That was unsettling. I went to bed with not having good thoughts and dreams,” he said. “I was wondering what I was doing.”
Reeder said his wife, Melanie, kept him on track as she contended that his personal story could inspire and motivate people who have suffered similar experiences. “We all face problems,” he said. “The small things in life don’t bother me anymore.”
24 responses to “Army pilot recalls POW experience”
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The people of this country should be glad folks like Col. Reeder sacrificed so much for the freedoms that so many of us take for granted. Thank you sir.
Copy that
Trump thinks this guy is a loser….
Trump thinks this guy is a loser….
NoBama has no clue what the military is all about.
At least Trump attended cadet school.
Why do you folks feel the need to dishonor this hero with your silly dribble?
So Vietnam posed a threat to our freedoms? He sacrificed of course, but to say it was for our “freedoms” is complete bollocks. The Vietnam War was to enforce America’s political will on a country halfway around the world. There was no threat to our “freedoms”.
North Korea is also halfway around the world…
And North Korea doesn’t threaten our freedoms either…
But they’re working on developing weapons that can.
It was a fight against communism, albeit far away. If we waited for the enemy to come landing on our shores before we ever engaged in fighting, it would be far too late.
Of course it was a fight against communism. That was my whole point. It wasn’t a fight to protect “freedom”. Funny, the side we supported lost the war and I didn’t see any of our freedoms threatened. Communism wasn’t about to come to our shore and take away any of our “freedoms” not matter what your delusions tell you. Basically the guy in the story suffered for greed of the US government, not to protect anyone’s “freedom” and he certainly is not a hero.
Morimoto, I disagree. The communist nations, either through fear, desire for dominance, or just irreconcilable differences, were not going to abide by “live and let live.” The fight against communism was a fight to preserve our freedom. BTW, I don’t throw the word “delusions” at you – I respect your opinion. Please respect mine.
Morimoto – I agree with much of what you say. However, please do not denigrate this pilot. He went to war for his country and he should be called a “hero” for the sacrifices he made.
Absolutely.
Morimoto, the fact that you disrespect what this man and others like him had to deal with,regardless of our governments motives, he served because he believed in his leaders. Lambast our leaders, fine that’s your right but I challenge you to even come close to demonstrating the same commitmen.
Eradication , I’ll share a foxhole with you any day and in any war! You can rest assure I’ll watch your back with my life!
Thank you sir.
Thank you Colonel Reeder – looking forward to meeting you at the book-signing sir.
welcome home!
All POWs deserve recognition and praise, for their great sacrifices.
Wouldn’t care to walk in his shoe! Kudos for surviving the death camps. Hooray for American heroes. Many Alohas to you, Col. Reeder!
I look forward to reading his book and be inspired/motivated.
yes copy that thank you
This guy is one tough son of a bitch.