Theodore S. Sienicki (Class of 1969) oral history and papers relating to the Vietnam War (AMS.1U.S8)

Theodore S. Sienicki recorded information about his service during the Vietnam War in response to questions posed by John F. "Jay" Barry (Class of 1950), Associate Editor of the Brown Alumni Monthly. The recording was made in July 1973, four months after Sienicki had returned home from being a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. This collection contains the transcription of that recording and the article published in the Brown Alumni Monthly based on it by Jay Barry. Sienicki tells the story of his Air Force career as the weapons systems operator in an F-4 fighter-bomber based in Thailand doing bombing missions over North Vietnam. He was shot down and captured on May 3, 1972 and held as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton prison camp in Hanoi, Vietnam for 11 months until March 28, 1973.

Sienicki gives detailed information about the organization of bombing runs over North Vietnam. He describes his 55th mission and his thoughts and experiences when the plane was hit and he had to eject along with pilot Tim Ayres. They both parachuted to the ground and were captured by North Vietnamese soldiers in the Vin Lin Province just north of the DMZ. They were taken by truck north to the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where a large portion of the Americans were held as prisoners of war. Sienicki describes the conditions in the prison, his short time in solitary confinement, the organization of the camp, and the torture endured by other prisoners. He was lucky and did not experience extreme amounts of torture because he was captured toward the end of the war. He talks at length about the psychological aspects of being in a prison and the coping mechanisms devised among the men as a group and individually. He speaks about his anger at the peace groups that visited North Vietnam and talks about Jane Fonda specifically. Sienicki also describes the experience of coming home, the welcome that they received and the effects on his life and relationships with his family and friends.