In John McCain's Footsteps

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Today, I thought I'd follow the Arizona Senator, John McCain's footsteps from when he was a POW in Hanoi during the Vietnam/American War here. He was shot down above Truc Bach Lake, conveniently close to Tay Ho where I live. During the War, Truc Bach Lake and Tay Ho were surrounded by anti-aircraft weaponry and many American airmen were shot down over those lakes.

John McCain survived the somewhat rough landing albeit with injuries. He was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi "Hilton" just down the road from Hoan Kiem Lake, central Hanoi. This was not a new prison - the French demolished an entire village - Phu Khanh village, which used to be a centre for ceramic ware and was a well-renowned village housing 48 households in 1896. The French, fighting the Vietnamese at the time laid waste to the village and built the prison, named Maison Centrale. It was originally designed for up to 500 prisoners, but by 1953 it was holding in the region of 2000 prisoners. All held by the French.

Visiting the prison is a sobering experience. First the 4 metre high walls, topped with razor wire comes into view before a solid looking gate appears. As it was open, those were swung inwards. I paid the fee and stepped inside, away from traffic noises and into a different world. The first room was a long, narrow dark room with iron fetters and wooden boards where prisoners would be kept shackled 23 hours 45 minutes daily, only being released for 15 minutes excercise and bathing. The next area were the narrow, windowless dungeons for olitical prisoners and isolation blocks. Despite being in isolation, such prisoners were also shackled to the concrete floor with very limited movements being allowed.

Quite by far one of the more macabre exhibits was the mobile gullotine, brought in for executing political prisoners and those convicted of agitating against French rule. The blade still looks as sharp and bright as ever, I guess.

One of the exhibits was the flight suit John McCain was wearing when he was shot down and a photo of him being treated by the prison doctor. Although there was a whole section devoted to American pilots inside the prison, much of this section focussed on how well treated they were with photos of Christmas being celebrated, basketball matches in the courtyard. reading letters from home and other soft "look how nice we are to POWs" type photos. Having said this, there were many clear hints of how tough life was inside Hoa Lo with descriptions of meagre food, dysentry/malaria outbreaks and of ourse, with it being so close to centrl Hanoi, the constant threat of bombardment during the fighting.

So much of the prison is a dedication to the devotion and courage of Vietnamese freedom fighters who fought French occupation of their homeland. There are exhibits on escape plots - one being through a sewage pipe, another prisoner somehow managed to walk out through 6 locked doors and through the main gate before legging it. Ingenious, really!

After an hour, I stepped out of the quiet into the normal bustling sounds of a Hanoi street and back into the shadow of Hanoi Towers.

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Photos

Hoa Lo Prison
Shackled Prisoners

View of Guillotine from Death Row
Hoa Lo Prison

John McCain's Air Suit
Hoa Lo Prison

John McCain being treated
Hoa Lo Prison

Shadow of Prisoners
Hoa Lo Prison