
The Incredibly Stupid One - ca98am79
https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/h/h135.htm
======
grecy
Playing dumb works extremely well to get out of extortion attempts too.

I've driven through a stack of countries notorious for extortion by Police and
Military - Congo, Nigeria, Honduras, Kenya, Guinea - just to name a few.

One of my tactics to avoid paying a cent is playing dumb. It's super easy when
they don't speak English. I do my best to understand their
(French/Spanish/Portuguese/Whatever), all the while remaining very polite and
friendly. It's a real shame when I don't understand they want money, and
virtually always they wave me through in disgust.

On a two year drive from Alaska to Argentina I paid one $5 bribe.

In three years around Africa through 35 countries I paid once in Ivory Coast,
because I was too big for my boots and let on that I speak French.

Playing dumb has a lot of advantages.

For anyone interested, here's me dealing with a real-life extortion attempt in
Nigeria [1]. This was in Nigeria, so it's all in English, but the script is
identical in any corrupt country.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RTlDa2cg0o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RTlDa2cg0o)

~~~
reidjs
I vaguely remember a post from you on reddit or HN or somewhere a long time
ago when you were first getting ready for this trip and the responses were
like "You're going to get robbed/break down in the middle of nowhere/You won't
find jeep parts in Africa/Why not drive a land cruiser/you will die in the
Sahara." Glad to see you proved the naysayers wrong.

~~~
grecy
Thanks! Yeah, those comments were intense. So much hate and anger from so many
people who've clearly never been even remotely close to Africa.

In fact, I met some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I ever have
all throughout Africa!

------
simonebrunozzi
Man, what a story. Please, HN readers, dedicate 15 minutes of your time today
to read it. It's so worth it.

I won't spoil some of the great passages, but let me leave you with the
conclusion:

> These sailors are the products of the neighborhoods, churches, schools and
> families working together to produce individuals blessed with a sense of
> humor and the gift of freedom who can overcome any kind of odds. These
> sailors are tremendously loyal and devoted to their units and their leaders
> in their own private and personal ways.

> As long as we have the Dougs of this world, our country will retain its
> freedoms.

~~~
kgarten
We are talking about the vietnam war ... how were soldiers fighting in it
retaining the freedoms of the US?

Just wondering ...

~~~
zeveb
Well, they were defending the freedoms of South Vietnam, which was a sovereign
republic which was being invaded by another country. They were resisting
international Communism, which had a goal of establishing Communist
governments in every country, to include the United States. So by defending
South Vietnam from its invader they were defending the United States.

~~~
kgarten
No, a coup in South Vietnam happened, that lead to starting the war. They were
not invaded. Not arguing about the sovereign nation part, yet I recommend you
read up a bit on the history (maybe not only US history books).

vietnam war domino theory, haven’t heared that in a while. So the US was
defending their freedoms against communism ... and lost? So they lost their
freedom and communism took over the world?

Watch Apocalypse Now and full metal jacket to see how freedoms were defended.

------
xivzgrev
I’m amazed by his cleverness. Playing dumb to get one up on his captors. I
also really liked how he took steps to protect his senior after his release.

------
sonofgod
Part of the recitation of names mentioned in the article:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7ktaSAjGA&t=1950](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7ktaSAjGA&t=1950)

Less musical than I expected...

------
brian_herman__
Reminds me of this guy.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Denton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Denton)
He repeatedly blinked his eyes in Morse code during the interview, spelling
out "T-O-R-T-U-R-E".

~~~
price
Thanks for that link! I had not known that story - but in retrospect I know
I've seen references to it a number of times.

The story is so wild that... I always assumed it was a fictional trope, and
didn't think to look for a real story behind it. Glad to be educated.

------
chris_wot
"And, yes, She did have Canberra, Australia on her Port of Call list."

That might be somewhat difficult, given Canberra is entirely inland.

~~~
gumby
Well technically Jervis bay is part of the ACT but you’d have a hard time
getting a military ship in there.

~~~
kirrent
One of my favourite facts about Jervis Bay Territory is that while:

-It is counted as part of the ACT for senate representation.

-It is part of the seat of Fenner in the ACT for the house of reps.

-It is governed under the laws of the ACT.

It is still legally a separate territory. Great for a tricky trivia question.

------
jml7c5
His Wikipedia entry:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Hegdahl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Hegdahl)

------
lioeters
Reminds me of the archetype of the "wise fool"..

> To call a man a fool is not necessarily an insult, for the authentic life
> has frequently been pictured under the metaphor of the fool.

> In figures such as Socrates, Christ, and the Idiot of Dostoyevsky we see
> that foolishness and wisdom are not always what they seem to be.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_fool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_fool)

------
lanius
Was the US unaware that POWs were being tortured at the Hanoi Hilton before
Brent's release?

~~~
topkai22
I don’t think so, but the Northern Vietnamese generated a bunch of FUD about
it. Gross simplification, but essentially committed anti-war activists or
others opposed to the US campaign (including foreign powers) would sometimes
accept the Northern Vietnamese account of humane treatment as fact.

What Brent did was get concrete intelligence about exactly who was still alive
and in prison, so that families could know their relatives were still alive
and N. Vietnam could be publicly held to account for their survival at least.

------
griffinkelly
I heard a former RF-4 pilot and POW at the Hanoi Hilton speak; it was honestly
one of the best motivational speeches I've ever hear. Talk about a positive
look on life. The other amazing thing was seeing him do the 'tap code' in real
time.

~~~
doug1001
is the former pilot you are referring to, Ron Bliss? He passed away in 2006;
he and i were neighbors; i knew him very well

------
Supermancho
> The Communists took a siesta for two hours every afternoon which was a good
> deal for us as we were free from torture and harassment. I was laying on the
> floor on my bed board and Doug was skipping, yes, skipping around the room.

My mental state also reacts to stress with unreasonable cheerfulness, at
times. It has something to do with the joy of all the new problems and
opportunities paired with an appreciation/confidence that I am not going to
die imminently (he was put in a cell where they kept long-term prisoners), in
the face of it...a type of relief. Having survived multiple events where my
survival was in serious question, I am a consummate pessimist with an
expectation that I can die at any time. Therein lies a freedom.

Skip if you can. Live. I get it.

~~~
lanius
>Having survived multiple events where my survival was in serious question

Out of curiosity, what were these events?

~~~
Supermancho
Emergency open heart surgery, severe anaphylaxis from a previously unknown
allergy to tetracycline that swelled all my tissues (internally as well) which
had all the bad effects you can imagine (unconsciousness frozen joints/lockjaw
swelled tongue etc after severe pain) with lumps the size of fists on my
limbs, starving to the point of eating out of the dumpster (a year of living
out of my car) multiple times (you can graze within grocery stores for so
long), nearly freezing to death in an alleyway in new york city next to the
hudson with my now wife, aggresive-yet-otherwise-benign tumor growing on my
scalp (years later that has left a MASSIVE scar), etc. I count about 12 for
just myself.

------
nonesuchluck
> Upon release I compared notes with Doug and we determined that time frame
> was the same time he accused the Vietnamese in Paris of murdering me [I had
> not written home once writing became voluntary] for embarrassing them in a
> Life magazine bowing picture. Thanks to Doug, despite the scars on my body,
> the Communists had to produce me alive at the end of the war.

I'm feeling a bit stupid myself, because I'm not following the implication
here. Why would Hegdahl's accusation cause the VC to leave Stratton alive, or
to check him for signs of torture, or to pay him any special attention at all?
If Hegdahl _hadn 't_ ever mentioned him, why would they kill Stratton
specifically?

I enjoyed the story, and appreciate the tongue-in-cheek delivery, but it may
have been intended for an audience better acquainted with the geopolitics of
the war than I am. Any help?

~~~
topkai22
I'm making some assumptions here, but the N. Vietnamese viewed the prisoners
as political negotiating chips. They were very casually indifferent to their
survival and indeed many died. Quite a few were killed. However, the N.
Vietnamese tried to paint a very different picture publicly, that the POWs
were being humanely treated.

Doug openly accusing the N. Vietnamese of murdering Stratton meant the
Stratton's value to come out of his imprisonment alive was greatly increased,
as that made the N. Vietnamese look good and the Americans look more foolish.

Stratton, for various reasons, may also have thought the N. Vietnamese would
kill/disappear him because he had signs of obvious torture, which would put
lie to their claims of humane treatment.

The fact this happened "in Paris" indicates it happened during the Paris peace
accords (which effectively ended most US involvement in the Vietnam war), so
was a matter of concern to the top officials in the country.

------
dasudasu
What is the actual physical process in getting sent overboard from a firing
ship? That does seem very unusual.

~~~
abfan1127
have you ever shot a gun? The rapid gas expansion which expels the bullet can
get quite big for big guns like 50cal. Now scale that up to a bullet 8" (20cm)
in diameter which has an ultrasonic muzzle velocity. The shock wave from a
shot fired could push a person so hard, they go over a railing into the water.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApJbzEKdlvQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApJbzEKdlvQ)

~~~
topkai22
Yup- an 8" gun uses ~90 lbs of powder. That is a big blast and not all of it
goes forward.

------
dreamcompiler
This is an amazingly cool story. One of the best things I've read on the
internet.

------
nemo
>One morning he had the 0100 watch while the Canberra was steaming down the
coast of North Vietnam firing its 8-inch guns against targets of opportunity
(bicycles, water buffalo and occasional trucks) on Highway 1.

Just steaming along casually bombarding civilians and livestock like normal.

~~~
nickff
The North Vietnamese would often transport military supplies on livestock, by
bicycle, and in unmarked vehicles. In any case, it doesn't excuse their
repeated torture and murder of PoWs.

~~~
teachrdan
That's a straw man argument. To apply the principle of generosity, OP is
referring to the author's total lack of acknowledging US crimes against
Vietnamese civilians, even as it focuses (quite reasonably!) on the torture of
American POWs.

There can be no conversation about the US war in Vietnam without recognizing
the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed by American forces.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War#Casualties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War#Casualties)

~~~
nickff
What are you talking about? Not everything you dislike is a logical fallacy. I
am not saying that I know for a fact that those targets were military; I am
just saying that it was very difficult to differentiate 'legitimate targets'
in a situation where the enemy does not advertise their insignia (as required
by the Geneva Conventions).

The Vietnam War was a war, and wars cause civilian casualties. North Vietnam
ran a very effective, organized campaign of terror against South Vietnam and
its supporters. The South Vietnamese and American forces were each responsible
for many deaths of innocents, through negligence and more isolated
malevolence.

~~~
AtlasBarfed
Why were we there again?

"A war is a war" is a particularly terrible argument given the war in
discussion was the Vietnam War

