Ex-Vietnam War POW a man committed to cooperation

WILLIAMSBURG

As Jeremiah Denton jr. made his way to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in February 1973, he knew he'd reached a turning point.

He'd just left North Vietnam after spending more than 7 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He'd come home to a hero's welcome, receiving global acclaim for his leadership in the prisons and immediately after his release.

Yet his elation at reuniting with his family was offset by the societal change he saw all around him.

As he sat in the hospital, bringing himself up to the present day, he realized that the military, with its lack of popularity due to a controversial war, wasn't the vehicle he needed to "be able to speak out in whatever capacity I chose."

To accomplish what he wanted, he would have to leave the profession to which he'd given nearly three decades of his life. But before he went, he knew he could do one more thing for his fellow service members.

Having been given his pick of assignments, Denton chose to be commandant of the Armed Forces Staff College, which trains mid level officers from all branches of service.

"It fitted in perfectly," he said this week in an interview at his home. "It was my outlet for expressing what I'd learned deepest in prison to those who are doing this in peacetime, by educating them at this level to work together."

The school, now the Joint Forces Staff College, will return the favor today when it dedicates its distance learning center auditorium in Denton's honor.

Promoted to rear admiral, Denton took command of the college in January 1974.

"I was very, very aware how necessary it was to increase the understanding among our armed services," he said. He'd learned this the hard way.

On July 18, 1965, Denton was leading a bombing run over Thanh Hoa, in North Vietnam, when his A-6 Intruder was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He and his navigator had to bail out. Both were captured.

Denton, then 41, was a Navy commander. His rank made him a leader among the prisoners, who were mostly Navy and Air Force pilots. He had to receive news and intelligence from the other POWs, maintain order and morale, coordinate resistance and act as a liaison between the prisoners and guards.

His efforts brought repeated torture and years of solitary confinement. They also brought him an intimate knowledge of how service members with different missions and traditions can pull together during a crisis.

At the staff college, Denton was allowed time to step away from the demands of an operational command and explore those concepts.

But this period wasn't all positive. His time in captivity had taken a physical and mental toll.

When Denton stepped off the plane in the Philippines soon after his release, he thought America had won the war. As he watched the conflict drag on from his seat in Norfolk, his mood darkened.

In April 1975, Saigon fell and the North Vietnamese moved in. The next month, Denton announced his retirement, saying he thought he would be able to do more good in the religious and educational worlds than in the military, and that the time had come for him to find a forum to address what he saw as the country's declining moral standards.

Military leaders asked him to stay and after some thought, he agreed, saying he felt he could pursue his goals while still in uniform.

He spent two more years at the college and then stepped down in June 1977.

He returned to his home state of Alabama, where he worked for a college and began his first charitable foundation. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 and served on the judiciary, armed services and veterans affairs committees, as well as others. He served one term in the Senate before becoming an adviser to President Reagan. He also began several programs that distribute international aid using excess space on military and commercial flights.

Yet after three decades, Denton, now 84, still hearkens back to his days in uniform and remains bullish on the necessity of working together.

"It's one thing to say you're willing to operate in conjunction with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or whatever service," he said. "You can't serve with other people, you can't serve the common interest of another organization, until you know them."

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com