The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton

by Marc Leepson

On April 6, 1967, twenty-year-old U.S. Navy Seaman Apprentice Doug Hegdahl fell off his ship, a guided-missile cruiser, in the Gulf of Tonkin. Close to exhaustion after nearly four hours in the water, he was picked up by a small fishing boat and soon found himself in Hỏa Lò Prison, the notorious North Vietnamese POW camp the prisoners called the Hanoi Hilton. Under intense interrogation, Hegdahl pretended to be a country bumpkin who could barely read or write. His captors fell for the ruse, calling him “The Incredibly Stupid One.”

But Doug Hegdahl was far from stupid. Possessing a razor-sharp memory, during the next two years he memorized the names of 254 fellow prisoners and senior officers ordered him to accept an early release. After coming home in August 1969, Hegdahl shocked his debriefers by rattling off the names of the men. Hanoi had admitted holding only a few dozen, although the U.S. military had reliable intel on scores of others. With Hegdahl’s names, 63 missing servicemen were reclassified to Prisoners of War.

But that’s not all. In addition to divulging the names, Doug Hegdahl told the Pentagon about the systematic torturing of the American POWs in Hanoi and reported many other hitherto unknown details about life inside the Hanoi POW camps. The new information became an important factor in North Vietnam’s fall 1969 decision to make life immeasurably easier for the 500-plus POWs held in Hanoi and assuaged the doubts and fears of dozens of POW families.

In a vividly written book based on archival research, personal interviews, and his experiences in the Vietnam War, Marc Leepson, for the first time, tells the incredible tale of the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW captured in North Vietnam. Doug Hegdahl has never been properly recognized for his extraordinary efforts, and his story has never been fully told. It’s a story of survival—has own and scores of POWs.

As a U.S. Navy historian put the North Vietnamese “made a bad mistake when they released Seaman Doug Hegdahl.”

Genres: Nonfiction, War, Biography, History

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2024

About the author

Historian and journalist Marc Leepson is the author of nine books, including Ballad of the Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler (Stackpole, 2017); What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life (Palgrave, 2014); Lafayette: Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General, a concise biography of the Marquis de Lafayette (Palgrave, 2011); Desperate Engagement, the story of the Civil War Battle of Monocacy (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007); Flag: An American Biography, a history of the American flag from the beginnings to today (Thomas Dunne, 2005); and Saving Monticello, the first complete history of Thomas Jefferson's House (Free Press, 2001, University of Virginia Press, 2003, paperback).

A former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, Marc Leepson is the arts editor, senior writer, and columnist for The VVA Veteran, the magazine published by Vietnam Veterans of America.

He has written about the Vietnam War and Vietnam veterans and other topics for many other newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Newsday, the Arizona Republic, Smithsonian, World War II, Vietnam, Military History and Preservation Magazines, Civil War Times, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Encyclopedia Americana, and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.


He has been a guest on many television and radio news programs, including All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, On the Media, CBS This Morning Saturday, History Detectives, The Diane Rehm Show,Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CBC (Canada), the BBC News Hour, and Irish Radio. And he has given talks at many colleges and universities, including the University of Maryland, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Miami, Appalachian State University, the College of Southern Maryland and Georgetown University.


He tought U.S. history at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, Virginia from 2008-2015. He graduated from George Washington University in 1967. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army and served for two years, including a year in the Vietnam War. After his military service, he earned an MA in history from GWU in 1971. He lives in Middleburg, Virginia, with his wife. They have two adult children.

Reviews

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inside the ‘Hanoi Hilton’.

Unlikely is the key word in the relaying of twenty year old Seaman Apprentice Doug Hegdahl’s story of captivity in North Vietnam.
Ending up in the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ after falling overboard from his ship the U.S.S. Canberra, a guided missile cruiser, off North Vietnam in the South China Sea, the picture we have of Doug is an highly intelligent young man whose bumbling attitude covered an adept mind. The lowest ranking prisoner in the Hilton, Doug was dismissed as being importantly, or even capable.
The men he was imprisoned with, including Senator John McCain, are legend.
This is his and their stories and how against his wishes Doug was ordered by the camp higher command to take release as a POW to let the Pentagon know about POW’s who’d been listed as dead or MIA. Doug finally came home against his will, having memorized the details of 254 men and their condition.
An unsung hero of a war no-one in the end wanted I found it a testimony to the strength of mind of many of these men.
Their suffering is not to be ignored. The idea of humanely treating prisoners, the Geneva convention, is necessary to separate us from the those we stand against. Which I am sure is no easy task.

A Globe Pequot ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

[Leesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content and subject is very interesting and informative. Unfortunately, it’s written like a boring history textbook.

[Soozee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting tale about a young American who is taken prisoner in the Vietnam War and what happens to him. However, I would recommend not reading the introduction as it goes into such detail, its hardly worth reading the book as all has been revealed.

There is the usual American pomp surrounding military personnel (and the idea that anyone survives a conflict is somehow a 'hero', without actually doing anything heroic. I was also rather hoping some of the servicemen who promptly chose to take the chance to come home (with accompanying propoganda) were not apparently held to account at all.

Doug Hegdahl was an unusual and resilient young man, who survived his imprisonment and made the best of it, bringing home information to help the families of other men still in prison. He was an example to many (if incredibly unlucky in how he became captured). It sounded as though the rest of his life was sadly affected by his experiences.

The story is well researched, with interviews with survivors. The early part was rather disjointed, but overall the story is told well. Thank you to NetGalley, Globe Pequot and Stackpole Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Autumn House · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story about a POW during the Vietnam War. It’s extremely detailed and fact heavy, more like a textbook or like reading a documentary. I read most but didn’t finish it. Still an interesting story.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

After falling off a battleship Doug Hegdal the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW was captured in North Vietnam. The men he was imprisoned with, including Senator John McCain, are legend. The interrogators first believed that Hegdahl was a commando or an agent. His story of being blown overboard seemed unbelievable to the interrogators. Hegdahl thought he would be much better off if he pretended to be of low intelligence. Hegdahl was physically maltreated for a few days before he was able to convince his captors that he was of little value for their propaganda campaign. His bumpkin demeanor and youthful appearance aided in his ability to convince them that he was no threat to them. Later, he came to be known to the Vietnamese as "The Incredibly Stupid One", and he was given nearly free run of the camp. Doug Hegdahl outfoxed them. Doug Hegdahl convinced his captors he was stupid, then spent the next two years memorizing the names of 254 fellow prisoners and other details of POW life. Upon his release, that information helped improve POW life for those still in captivity.

Leepson has written a great story that not only conveys the story of Doug Hegdal but also what other POWs went through in this facility. Hegdal along with his other POWs are the unsung heroes of a war that no one in the end wanted. What a story of a young kid who simply survived and, in the end, contributed to the fate of many POW’s. Awesome read.

[John Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the Vietnam War, a small-town boy named Doug Hegdahl was swept off the deck of the ship he was on into the Tonkin Gulf. He became the youngest and lowest ranking POW of the war when he was taken to the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp. Incredibly he was able to memorize the names and details of 254 of his fellow POWs! He was ordered by his senior imprisoned officers to accept the conditions of release. He was able to divulge amazingly detailed and largely unknown details of life in the camp, thus giving valuable intel and allowing many MIAs to be reclassified as POWs. Marc Leepson was able to interview many people and piece together an interesting account of Doug's story.

[Anne Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and I have the utmost respect for Doug Hegdahl but unfortunately the Prologue told most of the story so it was hard to stay interested in the book. Leepson was not able to interview Hegdahl for the book which was a downer for me. I felt the book was more the story of the Hanoi Hilton and the other 300+ POWs and less about Hegdahl. I've read a lot of nonfiction about the Vietnam War and this certainly wasn't the best.

[Douglas J. Muenzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking it was a story about the prisoner of war in Vietnam. I expected it to be written more in the first person view by the actual prisoner. Instead it read like a history book. If I wanted to read a history book, I would go back to school. I could not get past the first couple chapters due to this fact. It was way to boring and not really a first person story at all. This is the second book written like this I have bought and will not do so again.

[Mike S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story of an American Hero.

Doug was of great support to my family, and all of the POWs and their families. This well foot noted Biography puts together his efforts both in POW prison, and after coming home. He saved many lives. The youngest and most junior POW held in Hanoi proved to be one of the bravest heroes of the POWS.

[Bob Manning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull story about a very young seaman who fell off a ship sailing along the Vietnam coast during the war. He was picked up by some fishermen and ended up in a North Vietnam POW camp. He got out early and became an advocate for Vietnam POW's. It was disappointing to find out that he declined to be interviewed by the author for the book.

[Marjorie W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. Told in a running fashion, but interesting.

[Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wish Mr. Hegdahl would have interviewed and cooperated more with the author. However, his story is still one that needs to be told and recognized. Great story and well written.

[Sharon]

Purchased in epub format from Barnes and Noble for my Nook.

[Kurt Kamperschroer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story but the author was very detailed to the point it was distracting.

[MonkeyBusiness · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story of a remarkable individual. I just wish it had been more emotionally engaging to read.