• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Prisoner blinked chilling message in TV interview to save his own life

Home> News> US News

Published 14:08 25 Nov 2023 GMT

Prisoner blinked chilling message in TV interview to save his own life

Prisoner of war Jeremiah Denton became famous after a 1966 interview, supposed to be a propaganda film

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

A man held captive in the Vietnam war sent out a message to the world using just his eyes.

Prisoner of war (POW) Jeremiah Denton became an American hero in 1966 after he was able to turn a propaganda film on its head.

Watch below to see what he's doing:

Denton served as a US Naval Aviator during the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975.

Advert

For nearly eight years, Denton was held in a North Vietnam POW camp called the Zoo and was forced to take part in a propaganda news segment.

The broadcast was designed by the Vietnamese military to show that prison guards weren't breaking human rights laws.

Although Denton was filmed telling reporters that he has 'adequate food, clothing and medical care', his eyes told a different story.

Jeremiah Denton was locked up and tortured for seven and a half years.
Creative Commons

If you've watched the video above and still don't have a clue what's going on, Denton was in fact using morse code with his eyes to convey the truth.

Advert

Denton used the communication method to spell out the word 'torture'.

As well as using telecommunications technique, the POW also made it clear that he still belonged to the US government.

"I don't know what is happening but whatever the position of my government is, I support it," he said.

"Whatever the position of my government, I believe in it, yes, sir. I am a member of that government, and it is my job to support it, and I will as long as I live."

He made the statement despite knowing he would be tortured after the camera stopped rolling.

Advert

"In the early morning hours, I prayed that I could keep my sanity until they released me. I couldn't even give in to their demands, because there were none. It was pure revenge," Denton wrote at the time.

Hundreds of US troops were held captive as POWs.
Creative Commons

"They beat you with fists and fan belts," he also told the Los Angeles Times in 1979.

"They warmed you up and threatened you with death. Then they really got serious and gave you something called the rope trick."

Ropes were used to cut off circulation in your limbs, causing intense muscle spasms, he said.

Advert

Denton later turned to politics and became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since the Reconstruction era.

However, he lost his re-election bid in 1986 by a small margin.

"He was a war hero, an honorable senator, and a family man who cared deeply about his country," said a statement from U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, who as a Democrat defeated Denton in 1986.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Audie Murphy American Legend

Topics: Politics, US News

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

4 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • 4 mins ago

    Dad of two dies after brain tumour symptoms ‘misdiagnosed as depression’

    Jamie struggled to remember footballers' names from his favourite team as his symptoms worsened

    News
  • an hour ago

    British man's heartbreaking final words to his family just moments before tragic Air India crash

    Ramesh Patel was one of 53 Brits on board Air India flight AI171

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    British Air India crash survivor reveals how he 'just walked out' of burning plane as he provides update

    Viswash Kumar Ramesh remembered walking out of the wreckage after the Air India flight crashed into a hostel

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Donald Trump 'considering adding another 36 countries' to travel ban list

    Trump has already restricted 19 countries from entering the US, and now he has his eyes set on more

    News
  • Man explains how he managed to save his own life when fighting off shark in 'traumatic' attack
  • Trump issues chilling ultimatum after Israel's strike on Iran's nuclear sites sparks WWIII fears
  • Russia’s UK ‘hit list’ after country threatens ‘painful’ nuclear apocalypse in chilling response to Starmer report
  • Reporter responds after US representative told her ‘go back to your own country’ in tense interview moment