Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/009/D059.ZIP/D059

Text File | 1990-10-07 | 7KB | 125 lines

DRAMESI, JOHN ARTHUR

Name: John Arthur Dramesi
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Grenlock NJ
Date of Loss: 02 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173800N 1062300E
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. Dramesi entered the service in 1956, and when he was
shipped to Vietnam, he flew tactical fighter bombers from Korat Airbase,
Thailand.

On April 2, 1967, Dramesi was sent on a bombing mission over Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam. When he was near the city of Ba Don, his aircraft was
shot down and Dramesi bailed out. Dramesi twisted his knee as he landed, and was
immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese. He shot at them, but was captured
when he took a bullet in the right leg.

Dramesi was taken to a small village and a week later he arrived at his first
camp. The bullet wound in his leg was still untreated, and he packed his swollen
knee with mud.

Eight days later, he dismantled the side of his cell and as his guards slept,
escaped. He made more than nine miles but was recaptured the next day. (This was
April 11th.) The commissar in charge incited a crowd to stone and beat him as
punishment. The next day, he was taken by truck to the "Hanoi Hilton" and then
to the "Zoo," both in the Hanoi prison system.

On May 10, 1969, after a year of planning, Dramesi and a fellow POW, Edwin L.
Atterberry, made an almost miraculous escape. The two slipped through the roof
and traveled three miles over 12 hours, but were recaptured.

For the escape attempt, Dramesi was put face down on a table, and while one
guard held his head, two others beat him with a four foot length of rubber taken
from an old automobile tire. They also slapped him repeatedly in the face. This
went on for days, in ninety-minute sessions, after which the left side of
Dramesi's head was swelled up like a pumpkin. They also put Dramesi on a bread
and water diet for 30 days. At other times during the next two weeks, Dramesi's
arms were bound tightly together behind him and his wrists and ankles cuffed in
heavy irons. A rope was looped around a two-inch-thick bar attached to his ankle
irons, taken around his shoulders and his head drawn between his knees.

He was held in this position for 24 hours without sleep. His circulation
impaired, the flesh on his ankles died, and he still bears the scars. After two
weeks, the Vietnamese realized he might lose his feet, so they removed the irons
and treated the wounds, but replaced them. Dramesi wore the irons continuously
for 6 months, removing them only once a week when allowed to wash.

After 38 days of this torture, Dramesi was near death. Atterberry was similarly
punished, but did not survive. His remains were returned in March 1974.

Incredibly, following the period of extreme torture, the Vietnamese asked
Dramesi to write a magazine article describing their "lenient treatment" of the
POWs, promising to remove the irons if he did. He refused.

Not only Dramesi and Atterberry were punished. The entire POW populace was
systematically worked over. After the episode was over, the senior officers
outlawed further escape attempts unless they could meet a set of stringent
conditions, including outside help. Planning escapes did not cease, but the
actual attempts were put on hold. This is an excellent example of how the Code
of Conduct was "bent" to the circumstances at hand. A necessary modification was
made to ensure the survival of the prisoners; it having been determined that it
was impossible to follow the Code literally under the circumstances.

The result of the Vietnam experience was a "new" code, the same in letter, but
different in spirit and intent than the pre-Vietnam version. Most agree it is a
more realistic form of guidance, and it stresses community organization and a
chain of command. It releases the POW from the "die-before-you-talk" syndrome
that brought so many to personal shame in Vietnam when they were finally broken.
(And all of those put to the test who survived were broken.)

Dramesi was given only one letter from home in six years. In fact, his POW
status was not known for some time because he steadfastly refused to make
propaganda tapes and statements.

Dramesi never gave up on his country. During his captivity he hand-made the
American flag he displays in the above photo. He smuggled this treasure out by
sewing it between two handkerchiefs. The handkerchief upon which all the pieces
were stitched was given by fellow POW Tom Sumpter, and the red nylon underwear
by Robert N. Daugherty. Thread was pulled from Ben Pollard's blanket to make the
gold border. Dick Stratton provided white thread and Ken Simonet gave the red
thread from a handkerchief received from home. The blue came from an old North
Vietnamese sweater. Duffy Hutton embroidered the stars onto the blue field. the
needle was hand made from a piece of copper found in the compound yard.

Dramesi's message: "As I held the flag high, I thought of this country and the
part we played in defending its greatest attribute -- FREEDOM. In defense of
freedom let us continue to do as we are expected to do...what must be endured
will be endured."

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government.
Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are
convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

John Dramesi wrote of his POW experiences in Code of Honor. He was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he was a Prisoner of War. He
holds the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf
Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, bronze Star with "V" Device for Valor with
two Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf cluster,
numerous Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart with four Oak Leaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal, National
Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with one Oak Leaf
Cluster, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
with "V" device and one Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Vietnam Service Medal with two
Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars.