In May 1969, at the peak of the Vietnam War, two American prisoners of war escaped from a brutal North Vietnamese prison camp. Their story is one of incredible bravery against the longest of odds—and also one of bitter conflict. Air Force Captains John Dramesi and Ed Atterberry escaped with help from their fellow prisoners, but that help was not given freely. Their attempt killed one man and brought many others a lifetime of pain. THE PARTY DOLLS tells the true, tragic story of an escape code-named the “Party.” The story is told by the men who lived it, American POWs, via interviews conducted by the author some two decades ago, but never published until now. For decades, questions lingered about how Dramesi and Atterberry did it, and how Atterberry died, even among their fellow prisoners. Indeed, the story of the Party is virtually unknown outside Vietnam POW circles. THE PARTY DOLLS opens the door into one of the most tortured stories of the Vietnam War. The story opens in April 1968, in a Hanoi POW camp called the Annex. John Dramesi believed it was American POWs’ duty to escape, mandated by the U.S. military’s Code of Conduct, even though there was virtually no chance of successfully reaching freedom. Dramesi’s cellmates believed any attempted escape would violate standing orders and the Code of Conduct, whose articles were vague and conflicting, and subject them to horrible tortures and suffering. Nonetheless, Dramesi recruits one man, quiet and unassuming Ed Atterberry, to go with him. They and their reluctant cellmates spend the next year devising a way out of the cell, building, and camp, while amassing props and supplies that can aid the escape. Their story, told by Dramesi and nearly a dozen other former POWs, includes anecdotes, arguments, conflicts and incidents, some humorous, some horrifying, and some graphically raw. Ultimately, Dramesi and Atterberry escape, only to be recaptured, and causing months of suffering for dozens of American POWs throughout the summer of 1969.

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In today’s wars, computers, targeting pods, lasers, and precision-guided bombs help FAC (forward air controller) pilots identify and destroy targets from safe distances. But in the search for enemy traffic on the elusive Ho Chi Minh Trail, always risking enemy fire, capture, and death, pilots had to drop low enough to glimpse the telltale signs of movement such as suspicious dust on treetops or disappearing tire marks on a dirt road (indicating a hidden truck park). Written by an accomplished journalist and veteran, Bury Us Upside Down is the stunning story of these brave Americans, the men who flew in the covert Operation Commando Sabre–or “Misty”–the most innovative air operation of the war.

In missions that lasted for hours, the pilots of Misty flew zigzag patterns searching for enemy troops, vehicles, and weapons, without benefit of night-vision goggles, infrared devices, or other now common sensors. What they gained in exhilarating autonomy also cost them: of 157 pilots, 34 were shot down, 3 captured, and 7 killed. Here is a firsthand account of courage and technical mastery under fire. Here, too, is a tale of forbearance and loss, including the experience of the family of a missing Misty flier–Howard K. Williams–as they learn, after twenty-three years, that his remains have been found.

Now that bombs are smart and remote sensors are even smarter, the missions that the Mistys flew would now be considered no less than suicidal. Bury Us Upside Down reminds us that for some, such dangers simply came with the territory.

In late 1972, the Vietnam peace talks were stalled, with the war at perhaps its most crucial point. The United States was searching for a way to strangle North Vietnam’s war-waging capabilities by shutting down its supply pipelines in order to force it back to the negotiating table.

The solution: Linebacker II, a massive, intricately coordinated twelve-day assault by over 700 combat aircraft against vital targets around Hanoi and Haiphong, enemy cities heavily guarded by MiGs, SAM missiles, and radar-guided anti-aircraft.

Here is an unprecedented look at one of the most critical campaigns of modern air warfare, documented in rich, fascinating detail. It is told in the vividly personal words of the pilots and crews who flew the missions — men who dramatically helped to end the American role in the Vietnam conflict and to bring the POWs home.

• An aviation pioneer who was the first to fly across the United States in less than 24 hours and the first to fly “blind” (using only his plane’s instruments).
• A barnstormer well known for aerobatics and a popular racing pilot who won every major air race at least once.
• Recipient of both the Congressional Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• A four-star general and commander of the 8th, 12th, and 15th Air Forces.
• A scientist with a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from MIT.

Calculated Risk provides insights into the public and private world of Jimmy Doolittle and his family, and sheds light into the drives and motivations of one of America’s most influential and ambitious aviators.

This updated edition contains a new foreword written by Richard P. Hallion, a new afterword written by the late Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, and a new introduction by author Jonna Doolittle Hoppes.

See this link for session questions and notes.

April 2022 - Air Force Historical Foundation (afhistory.org)