During the press conference where he appealed for help, he was expressing his loyalty to the government, but while he was doing this, his eyes were also saying something.
The tape was widely distributed and US intelligence experts intercepted the Morse message. Let’s dive into what he said in the message, what happened next, and the details of Jeremiah Denton’s interesting story until we get to this point.
Let’s start by looking at who Jeremiah Denton is.
Denton, who retired from serving as an admiral in the U.S. Navy, was a senator representing Alabama in the Senate. The most important factor that made him an important person was the courage he showed while being held captive in Hanoi, North Vietnam, after the jet he was piloting was shot down.
In an interview he gave in 1966, he gave a message that attracted the attention of the whole world.
In 1966, while Denton was being held as a prisoner of war, he appeared at an international press conference to represent his country against Vietnamese propaganda. No one who put him in front of the camera had any idea what was going to happen.
During the recording, he blinked his bloodshot eyes in Morse code and coded the letters “TORTURE”. In such a clever way, he announced to the whole world that the conditions there were terrible and that they were being tortured.
He remained a prisoner of war for almost 8 years.
That recorded moment had an impact all over the world, especially in America, and Denton became a figure of the Vietnam War.
He was released on February 12, 1973, in an operation called “Homecoming” and became the first American prisoner of war to be released at that time. Later, the other captives were released and returned to America.
Denton passed away on March 28, 2014, at the age of 89. The courage he showed and the difficulties he experienced, especially when he was held captive, continue to be talked about even today.
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