Despite Hanoi's signature of the Geneva Agreements on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, stipulating that captured civilians would be released immediately, I wasn't released until five years later in March 1973. During this time, I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, and of this time, one year in a black box. For the first year, I was held in over twelve POW camps in South Vietnam. Next, I was held in one camp and several caves in Laos over a period of a month. Lastly, I was held in three camps in North Vietnam.
Communists are the world's foremost bureaucrats and record everything in quadruplicate.
There were no less than three dozen separate sets of documents recording my incarceration. I was captured by a North Vietnaemse battalion, thus my capture was recorded in their battle report. For efforts in rescuing several Amreicans before my capture, I received the State Department's highest award for heroism and also one for valor. I was farmed out to a Viet Cong prison camp, again my existance was recorded. Twice a month, I was visited by EPD officers, and these visits were recorded.