House Republican recounts years spent as prisoner of war
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) on Saturday marked the upcoming Veterans Day holiday by recounting his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Johnson, 85, described surviving during the seven years he was held captive after being shot down while flying a combat mission.
{mosads}“I got through those years by the grace and mercy of God, and He gave me all the support I needed in my fellow POWs — great men like Jerry Denton and Jim Stockdale,” he said in the Republican weekly address.
Johnson served 29 years in the U.S. Air Force, flying missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He is one of just a handful of members of Congress who are combat veterans.
He was shot down in 1966 and spent seven years in the infamous prison known as the Hanoi Hilton, where Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was also held as a prisoner of war. The North Vietnamese held Johnson for 42 months in solitary confinement with his legs shackled.
Johnson described how he communicated with his fellow prisoners, who were not allowed to speak, by tapping a special code. They endured torture and were given little to eat or drink; Johnson said he left the prison weighing 140 pounds.
He recalled a message etched onto the wall of the prison by another prisoner: “Freedom has a taste to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know.” Johnson said it was a reminder of why it’s important to pay tribute to America’s veterans.
“You know, freedom isn’t free. It has a cost. And that cost is paid first by our veterans and their families — because when one member joins, it is the whole family that serves,” he said.
“When our veterans come home, we should do all we can to make sure they get the care they need when they need it. That is the least we can do.”
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