Jeremiah Andrew Denton, Jr. (b.July 15 1924) born in Mobile, Alabama, is a retired United States Navy Rear Admiral, Naval Aviator and a former U.S. senator, of the Republican party, for the state of Alabama. He spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and later wrote a book about his experiences. Denton was the first Roman Catholic to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate.
Denton attended McGill Institute and Spring Hill College and graduated from the United States Naval Academy, class of 1947.
His 34-year naval career included service on a variety of ships, in many types of aircraft, including airships (blimps).
His principal field of endeavor was naval operations.
He also served as a test pilot, flight instructor, and commanding officer of an attack squadron flying the A-6 Intruder.
In 1957, he was credited with revolutionizing naval strategy and tactics for nuclear war as architect of the "Haystack Concept," while serving on the staff of Commander, South Fleet, as Fleet Air Defense Officer.
Denton graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College and the Naval War College, where his thesis on international affairs received top honors by earning the prestigious President's Award.
In 1964, he received the degree of Master of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University.
While serving as Naval Aviator during the Vietnam War, Denton was Commanding Officer (CO) of Attack Squadron SEVENTY-FIVE (VA-75) aboard the aircraft carrier USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA 62).
On 18 July 1965, then-Commander Denton was flying an A-6A Intruder, Bureau Number 151577, from the INDEPENDENCE with his bombardier/navigator, Lieutenant, junior grade Bill Tschudy, to participate in a bombing mission over the Vietnamese city of Thanh Hoa.
Both men were shot down and captured by hostile forces.
Denton and Tschudy were both held as prisoners of war for almost eight years, four of which were spent in solitary confinement.
Denton is best known for the 1966 North Vietnamese television interview he was forced to give as a prisoner, in which he ingeniously used the opportunity to communicate to American Intelligence.
During the interview Denton blinked his eyes in morse code to spell out the word "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" to communicate that his captors were torturing him and his fellow POWs.
He was also questioned about his support for the U.S. war in Vietnam, to which he replied: "I don't know what is happening now in Vietnam, because the only news sources I have are Vietnamese.
But whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live."
For his continuous resistance and leadership, even in the face of torture and inhumane conditions, he would be awarded the Navy Cross. While imprisoned, Denton was promoted to the rank of Captain.
Finally, on 12 February 1973, both Denton and Tschudy were released from prison along with numerous other POWs.
Stepping off the plane as a free man back in his home country, Denton said:
"We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America."
Denton's next assignment, beginning in January 1974, was as commandant of the Armed Forces Staff College (now known as the Joint Forces Staff College).
He stepped down as commandant in April 1975 but continued to work at the college until he left the military in June 1977.
He retired from the Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral, and would later go on to write the book
When Hell was in Session detailing his detention as a POW in Vietnam. The book was later turned into a movie of the same name starring Hal Holbrook.
Following his retirement from the Navy, Denton accepted a position with the Christian Broadcasting Network as consultant to his friend, CBN founder Pat Robertson, a position Denton held until 1980.
During this time, both Denton and Robertson repeatedly expressed military support for the Contra forces in El Salvador.
In 1980, Denton ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat from his home state of Alabama and achieved a surprise victory over Democrat Jim E. Folsom, Jr., who had defeated the incumbent in the primary. In doing so, he became the only retired admiral to be elected to the United States Senate.
In the Senate, he compiled a solidly conservative voting record. He was featured in a 1981 article in Time Magazine called "The Admiral from Alabama".
In 1986, he narrowly lost his bid for reelection to conservative Democrat Congressman Richard Shelby, who later became a Republican in 1994.
During the Vietnam War, Admiral Jeremiah Denton had been a naval aviator and was shot down on July 18, 1965.
He was tortured in a Communist prison for eight years, which he detailed in his book,
When Hell Was In Session (1998). After the War, he was elected a U.S. Senator from Alabama. Admiral Jeremiah Denton's story is similar to that of naval aviator Captain John McCain, who was shot down during the Vietnam War, tortured in Communist prison for six years and later was elected a U.S. Senator from Arizona.
Explaining how Communism spread in Latin America, Admiral Jeremiah Denton wrote a draft for new chapter, titled "A Single Poker Hand" (WND), in which he stated:
<It was a terrible nightmare that President Carter had chosen to support the Communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua, backed by the USSR... I never dreamed of getting into politics, but when I saw Ronald Reagan...I knew he was what the country desperately needed. His early work against Communism in Hollywood really impressed me...
I was elected to the Senate and found myself again in a position to serve my country... Fidel Castro of Cuba was personally in charge of swapping arms to the Colombians in exchange for drugs that he smuggled into the U.S., while the Columbians transferred plenty of arms to the Sandinistas for their mischief in El Slavador.> 1924JD001
In the mid 1980's, during a tense moment in international relations, Senator Jeremiah Denton, with approval from President Reagan, went to Nicaragua and confronted the Nicaraguan Communist government, causing its leader, Daniel Ortega, to lose face. This was a turning point in stemming the aggressive spread of Communism in Latin America.
On July 13, 2009, Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton wrote a book review of Ride the Thunder, By Richard Botkin Vietnam War's true victory (published by WorldNetDaily.com):
<Thirty-six years ago this month, after the North Vietnamese suffered utter destruction of their military complex from Linebacker II air operations and the blockade of all North Vietnam ports, the Democratic Congress passed a bill prohibiting any further U.S. aid to South Vietnam. The bill's passage was the death sentence to the nation we had vowed to protect from communism.
President Nixon knew his veto of the bill would be overridden, making any veto effort futile. Even though the North was ready to sign a treaty to free South Vietnam, Congress' demands to pass the bill nullified Linebacker II and provided the communists with a free ticket to walk into South Vietnam.
This exercise of off-battlefield politics resulted not only in the loss of a near conquest by American armed forces but in a dreadful loss of American credibility. No history pundit has since given account to Vietnam's true victory - until now. Richard Botkin, author of "Ride the Thunder," provides indispensable, historic details of the Vietnam War, dispelling the notion that all was lost.
The aftershock of Vietnam resulted in the tragic realization among veterans and citizenry alike that the gallant, sacrificial effort of American, South Vietnamese and allied forces to preserve a free South Vietnam had been futile and flagrantly unappreciated by America. Following Vietnam, no American promise of prolonged commitment to any cause would be of concern to antagonists or trusted by allies.
The precedent is being applied tragically by the current administration in its signals to our antagonists that we will withdraw our troops from Iraq and other Middle East trouble spots before we achieve our objectives. Unless we can dismiss the applicability of the precedent, we are destined to repeat our failures, thus ensuring our ultimate demise as a nation. However, we will not dismiss it until the truth about our Vietnam experience is revealed in its totality.
Now at last, "Ride the Thunder" provides this indispensable revelation. Anyone who reads it will finally have the facts to perceive the answers to long-held questions: Was the cause in Vietnam worth our waging a war? Did the media's reporting and false antiwar influences cause us to surrender? Was military victory indeed forfeited by Congress' unilateral political act? Was the bill prohibiting any further commitment there the coup de grace in efforts to free South Vietnam?
The book delivers the truth comprehensively and authoritatively.
Evidence is presented in the true stories of persons engaged over the entire time frame of the war. Incontrovertible facts and details are presented on Vietnam.
"Ride the Thunder" painstakingly sketches the history of Vietnam, revealing its remarkable ethnic characteristics: its peerless work ethic, an unequaled awareness of the importance of family, compassion for the elderly and an awareness of the importance of rearing wholesome children. It relates how Vietnam in early ages became a powerful nation in military, political and economic terms.
However, Mr. Botkin also relates Vietnam's history of often being overtaken and ruled by more powerful nations whose soldiers and officials mistreated innocent Vietnamese with unbelievable savagery.
From China, Japan and other powerful oppressors to devastating natural disasters, Vietnam's people have been tempered by sufferings for centuries.
"Ride the Thunder" traces its historical origins in relationship with the United States.
The book exemplifies how the Korean War predisposed the United States to regard Ho Chi Minh's invasion as directly related to U.S. containment of communist expansion.
The Korean War ended with the United States settling on a stalemate for the first time in our history.
This created a pattern of quitting and foretold the possibility we would settle for even less in a future war - as we did in Vietnam and show signs of doing in the Middle East.
Naturally, Vietnam's history takes the sharpest focus as it deals with the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
In this light, "Ride the Thunder" chronicles the individual personal experiences of the Vietnamese and U.S. military and political personages, the sum of which presents a comprehensive tapestry depicting all the complex facets, revelations and implications of the war and its aftermath.
The persons chronicled have well-known names, including Maj. Le Ba Binh, U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Gerry Turley, Capt. John Ripley and Sgt. Chuck Goggin, to name a few.
The sum of their collective experiences displays the events and true significance of every ground and air campaign, battle and strategic tactical decision.
The truth derived is in sharp contrast to the way the war was reported, written into history and remembered by us as a nation.
As I reviewed "Ride the Thunder," though I have come to be regarded as one of the more authentic writers on what is significant about that war, I learned much I had not known.
However, more than any author can convey in words, one thing that I and other former prisoners of war witnessed with our own eyes was the absolute total destruction of the enemy's military during Linebacker II and the full realization by the North Vietnamese that they no longer had the means to continue the war.
A few days before my release from prison, I was subjected to an interview and briefing by the top military and political leadership of North Vietnam.
The leaders told me they accepted defeat and were eager to sign an agreement to keep South Vietnam free.
Their earnest plea to me upon return was to prevent the POWs from exaggerating the brutality of the treatment inflicted on us, which would incite U.S. public opinion to the degree that Mr. Nixon would find it inadvisable to sign the agreement.
The interview is written up briefly in "American Admiralship" by Edgar F. Puryear Jr., published by Naval Institute Press.
I hope Mr. Botkin's "Ride the Thunder" and my review will establish an accurate perspective on the meaning and significance of Vietnam and result in a renewed, honorable depiction of the war.> 1924JD002
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
1924JD001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Jeremiah Denton, 2009, explaining how Communism spread in Latin America in a draft for a new chapter, titled "A Single Poker Hand" (WND), forwarded to William J. Federer for review.
1924JD002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Jeremiah Denton, July 13, 2009, Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton wrote a book review of Richard Botkin's Ride the Thunder-Vietnam War's true victory, published by WorldNetDaily.com.