How did American POWs interact with each other in the prisons?

The first communication between isolated prisoners of war may have been a name scrawled on a piece of toilet paper with the burnt end of a matchstick. Notes and whispers were attempted, but both were often detected and severely punished. To do so, they knew communicating closely would be essential.

How did Vietnam POWs communicate?

In Vietnam, the tap code became a very successful way for otherwise isolated prisoners to communicate. POWs would use the tap code in order to communicate to each other between cells in a way which the guards would be unable to pick up on.

What methods did the prisoners use to communicate in captivity?

They were kept separated from each other for months–even years–at a time. The prisoners developed secret ways to communicate. Messages were passed by sweeping, even blinking eyes–using the tap code taught in Air Force survival school.

How were American prisoners treated by North Vietnam?

Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which demanded “decent and humane treatment” of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as waterboarding, strappado (known as “the ropes” to POWs), irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement.

How many POWs were in the Vietnam war?

The United States listed about 2,500 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action but only 1,200 Americans were reported to have been killed in action with no body recovered. Many of these were airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos.

Are there any POWs in Vietnam?

As of 2015, more than 1,600 of those were still “unaccounted-for.” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense lists 687 U.S. POWs as having returned alive from the Vietnam War. North Vietnam acknowledged that 55 American servicemen and 7 civilians died in captivity.