Off the Wall: When a Child’s Lullaby Became a Powerful Weapon in the Vietnam War
In April 1967, a 20-year-old farm boy from South Dakota did something that would change the Vietnam War–he fell off his ship.
In April 1967, a 20-year-old farm boy from South Dakota did something that would change the Vietnam War–he fell off his ship.
(Clever Journeys) - Seaman Douglas Hegdahl was standing on the deck of the USS Canberra when the recoil from a five-inch gun knocked him overboard into the Gulf of Tonkin. He treaded water for five hours. then swam for seven more.
When fishermen finally pulled him from the sea, they handed him to North Vietnamese forces
The interrogators didn’t believe his story. They thought he was a spy, a commando, someone important. Thev beat him and threw him into the Hanoi Hilton-the most notorious prison of the war.
But Hegdahl made a choice that would save hundreds of lives. He became “The Incredibly Stupid One.” He played up his country accent. He stared wide-eyed at things he’d never seen before. When they ordered him to write a confession he claimed he couldn’t read or write.
The guards, used to illiterate peasants in their own country, believed him completely. They even assigned someone to teach him–who…
