NWC 2025 INS Lecture - CDR Porter Halyburton: Reflections on Captivity - POW experience in Vietnam

This Issues in National Security Lecture took place on May 13, 2025. The views presented by the faculty or other guest speakers do not reflect official positions of the Naval War College, DON or DOD.

Synopsis:
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam Conflict, CDR Porter Halyburton, USN (ret) speaks about his 7 ½ years of confinement as a prisoner in North Vietnam. After being shot down during a bombing run near Hanoi, Porter survived illegal and inhumane treatment in multiple camps and prisons. In "Reflections on Captivity: The POW experience in Vietnam" he shares the mental processes he used to deal with this horrifying confinement.

Speaker bio:
It has been more than 5 decades since Lieutenant Junior Grade Porter Halyburton and his pilot, LCDR Stan Olmstead, climbed into their F-4B Phantom fighter-bomber and launched on a mission over North Vietnam. This was Porter’s 75th combat mission of the war … and it would prove to be his last. During a low-altitude run 40 miles north of Hanoi, the plane encountered heavy ground-fire and took a direct hit in the cockpit from a 37-mm anti-aircraft shell. Recognizing that the plane had been critically damaged, and the pilot killed, Porter ejected from the stricken aircraft. He was soon captured by Vietnamese villagers and, at the age of 24, he became the 40th American flyer to be taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Since no other aviators on the raid saw a parachute, it was assumed that there were no survivors, and Porter was classified as Killed-in-action. His awe-inspiring presentation will resonate with all warfighters and with the partners who support them.

INS Certificate:
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