“Freedom has a taste to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know.”

–A POW saying left on a wall in the Hoa-Lo Prison known to Westerners as the “Hanoi Hilton.”

A small American flag on display at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum was a patriotic light in the dark days of the Vietnam War.

Air Force pilot Col. John A. Dramesi was shot down over North Vietnam and captured in 1967. He is considered the only Vietnam War prisoner to never break under barbaric torture and say anything other than name, rank and serial number.

The U.S. listed about 1,200 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in Vietnam. In 1973, 591 Americans, including Dramesi, returned home.

Dramesi wrote a book about his experience in captivity, “Code of Honor,” in which he tells of his determination to resist his capturers in the “Hanoi Hilton.”

Dramesi failed to escape twice, the second failed attempt resulted in all the prisoners being subjected to horrible torture. After four years in the prison he sought the help of other prisoners to construct this American flag.

It took about a week and a half to make the flag, shown in comparison with a quarter. It was displayed and saluted by the group at night and flew until morning. In the morning the flag was saluted again and then hidden in a mosquito net.

Making the ‘Dramesi flag’

The white background is a handkerchief provided by fellow prisoner Tom Strumpter to Dramesi.

The red stripes are from a pair of red shorts given to Dramesi by fellow prisoner Robert Duagherty.

The blue background is from a jacket provided by the North Vietnamese.

The white stars were embroidered by Duffy Hutton from threads removed from a towel.

The gold embroidery was taken from the threading of a yellow blanket.

The red thread was from a red handkerchief given to Dramesi by Ken Simonet.

Days as a POW

Every dot represents a day Dramesi was a POW. The shaded area represents the estimated time during which the flag was present.

The Hanoi Hilton in a 1970 aerial surveillance photo.

Torture tactics in the prison included beatings and electric shock. One prisoner recounts losing 50 pounds in the first three months and that it was not unusual for a man who was over 6 feet tall to weigh as little as 120 pounds.

Illustrations of rope torture that prisoners were subjected to, drawn by Navy Capt. Mike McGrath in his book “Prisoner of War.”

Some men were tied or shackled to their beds for weeks at a time.

The normal diet consisted of either rice or bread and a bowl of soup. Two bowls of boiled cabbage a day was all the prisoners received for several months. Meals improved slightly in the final two years.

Meeting the president

On May 24, 1973, the White House held a dinner with 1,300 guests including the 591 Vietnam POWs. The Honor Guard at the event presented Dramesi’s flag as the band played “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Dramesi presented President Richard Nixon with the flag in the Oval Office the next day.

Dramesi remained with the Air Force until he retired in 1982. He is one of four airmen to be awarded the Air Force Cross twice.

Sources: Nixon library, National Archives, “Prisoner of War” by Mike McGrath, “Code of Honor” by Col. John Dramesi