The longest rescue

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lauren Pitts
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  When the 22 year old Airman left Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., in 1965 for a three-month temporary duty assignment as part of a rescue mission to Thailand, he was unaware that it would take almost eight years to return home.

For eight Thanksgivings, Christmas', and New Years', more than seven and a half years, and a total of 2,703 days, retired Air Force captain Bill Robinson, was held in captivity by enemy forces in North Vietnam.

Robinson, originally from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., deployed to Thailand as part of a four-man crew from the 38th Rescue Squadron. His team consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, and medic. He was assigned orders overseas less than a month after his 22nd birthday. While on station, one mission involved flying into North Vietnam to rescue a team of pilots who had been shot down.

Flying into a hot bed, their helicopter was also shot down. Being the second downed aircraft in the area, the Vietnamese were already searching for a downed pilot, and it didn't take long for them to seize Robinson and his team.

"You go through a point of shock when you get captured," said Robinson. "But before anything else happened, I was lined up in front of a firing squadron. After that point, I realized that anything could happen."

The new prisoners-of-war were then paraded from village to village as some sort of trophy before being handed over to the North Vietnamese military. From there, they were taken to Hanoi, to the infamous prison camp known as the "Hanoi Hilton."

A pair of long and short pajamas, a bar of soap, tooth brush, mosquito net, tin cup, and a pair of shoes made from the inner wall of a tire, became Robinson's only possessions in his 5 by 8 feet cell. He saw nothing of the outside world from his solitary confinement.

"In those kinds of conditions, even the healthiest of men began to suffer health problems," explained Robinson.

It was the growing cases of sickness that eventually caused the prison to eventually close, forcing all the prisoners to be moved to an alternate camp site. It was at this point that Robinson and the other prisoners were moved from solitary confinement to groups of two or three men.

"At first we thought that larger groups meant that the torture was over," said Robinson. "Unfortunately, it was just the beginning."

The prisoners were not necessarily exploited for military information, but rather for political motives and propaganda. Forced to choose between their Commander and Chief and the well-being of their families and the American people, those held captive were tortured for being "uncooperative."

"It was a slow battle of pain," said Robinson. "They had to constantly remind us that they were in charge, but they weren't in charge of our minds, and nothing could change that."

The Vietnamese used persuasion, and they used force, but Robinson claims they were never successful in brainwashing any of the men in his camp.

Picking apart every word, the interrogators would look for any loose ends, constantly trying to put words in the mouths of the prisoners.

"We tried not to cooperate," said Robinson. "We still had a code of conduct to live by."

There are accounts of men who gave up hope, but Robinson never witnessed this within his group. The usual words of encouragement, "never give up, never give in, roll with the punches, and bounce back," fueled his commitment and retained his courage.

Though some Americans did not make it home, either because of physical injuries or mental state, Robinson said that they all went down fighting.

To keep his sanity and spirits alive, Robinson explained how he lived under four faiths: "The faith in myself that I would survive, the faith in those around me that we would survive together, the faith in my country that they would not abandon me, and the faith in my God that He would support me."

As one of only three enlisted men held captive, he continued to survive under his faiths, serving as an inspiration to the other prisoners to never lose hope. The officers around him took note of the example he had set.

Robinson demonstrated leadership qualities that exemplified the officer corps, but he needed to be trained in order to commission. Two officers who had graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and two officers who had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy graduates put together a makeshift Officer Training School course for Robinson.

"It was mostly customs and courtesies, along with Air Force history," said Robinson. "Just the do's and don'ts of officer life."

As the war came to an end, the prisoners in North Vietnam received word that their time in captivity was almost over.

"We reserved our emotions," said Robinson. "We made up our minds not give the Vietnamese the satisfaction of seeing any pleasure from us."

With stern faces, Robinson and his fellow American's marched to the gate of their prison. They saluted the officer standing at the door, and stepped onto the other side, where they boarded an airplane.

"We still could have been captured at that point," he said. "They could have blown us out of the sky."

Robinson was still in awe when the airplane broke ground, and it wasn't until they flew out over the water, far enough out of the reach of the Vietnamese, that they knew it was over.

It was also a completed mission. Robinson left his foreign prison with the pilot he had originally been sent to rescue.

"When the fighter jets pulled up next to our wings... that was when we finally let loose with our cheers and tears of joy," said Robinson.

Imagining the day of freedom for so long, Robinson was not sure how to convince himself that he was in fact freed from his prison of seven and a half years.

He was reunited with his family on Feb. 15, 1973, at Andrews AFB, Md. Upon his return, Robinson became one of three men to ever receive a battlefield commission, swearing in as a second lieutenant on April 9, 1975, during a ceremony in Washington D.C.

"It was a very emotional experience," recalls Robinson. "Everyone was glad that the nightmare was over."

After his experiences in North Vietnam, Robinson says he no longer takes anything for granted.

"It makes me live every day," said Robinson. "It has helped me to find the good in everything. I had a lot of time to reconnect with myself, and make sure all the pieces were still there."

Although the world is not always good, there is always good in whatever is going on, Robinson said.

"Life gave me more lemons than I knew what to do with," said Robinson. "I just ended up making a lot of lemonade."