Ted Poe: “The date was April 16, 1966. The pilot was Sam Johnson, United States Air Force. He was a colonel, and he was doing his…”

“The date was April 16, 1966. The pilot was Sam Johnson, United States Air Force. He was a colonel, and he was doing his second tour of duty in Vietnam. He was flying with the fighter squadron called Satan's Angels. He was a career pilot who had already flown 62 combat missions during the Korean war, flying an F 86 Sabre jet. Colonel Johnson also flew with the famed Air Force Thunderbirds. But on that day, April 16, 1966, Colonel Johnson in his F 4 was shot down by ground fire by the North Vietnamese. He was captured, and he was put in a prisoner of war camp. Madam Speaker, he was in that POW camp for 7 years. Because of the way that he would not give in to the torture and to the interrogation, the enemy moved him to the famous Hanoi Hilton, a place they called ``Alcatraz.'' It was as bad a POW camp that ever existed in history. Alcatraz was where 11 POWs were put because they were the most obstinate men, and they were leaders of other POWs. They were hard-nosed, and they had to be segregated. They called themselves the ``Alcatraz gang.'' They were defiant, and the North Vietnamese called this man right here, Colonel Sam Johnson, ``Die Hard.'' They tortured him, but they got no information from him. During that time, that 7 years he was beaten and tortured, Sam Johnson never broke down. He was so obstinate that they finally decided to put him in solitary confinement where he remained for 4 years in a cell that was 3-feet-wide by 9-feet.…”