b. 23/12/1923 Abingdon, Illinois. d. 05/07/2005 Coronado, California.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 04/04/1969 Hoa Lo Prison, Hanoi, North Vietnam.
Stockdale was born December 23, 1923, in Abingdon, Illinois. He briefly went to Monmouth College in his home state before attending the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating in 1947, he became a pilot by 1950. Over the next 15 years, he worked his way up the ranks and was sent by the Navy to earn his master’s degree in international relations at Stanford University. But he preferred flying over academics, so he went back to that when the Vietnam War began.
By late summer of 1965, Stockdale had already flown nearly 200 combat missions in his career. On Sept. 9, the pilot was on his third tour of duty, commanding Carrier Air Group 16 on a mission over North Vietnam. On his flight back from the target, Stockdale’s A-4 Skyhawk was shot down. He ejected over a small village and was captured.
Suffering from several broken bones, Stockdale was taken to the prisoner of war camp in Hanoi — famously called the “Hanoi Hilton” — which was known for its brutality. Stockdale, who was the highest-ranking Navy officer POW in Vietnam, was held there for nearly eight years. It was a difficult eight years.
From the start, Stockdale refused to cooperate with his captors. After being caught urging other POWs to resist, he and 10 other senior POWs were taken to another jail block where they were frequently tortured. Stockdale spent two years in heavy leg irons and four years in isolation, but he didn’t waver. He led the POWs’ culture of defiance, finding ways to communicate and govern prisoner behavior that gave them all hope. Stockdale became a symbol of resistance. One of his most famous acts of defiance was cutting his own wrists, showing the enemy that he would rather die than tell them anything. While the enemy revived him, the act was credited with helping end the North Vietnamese use of excessive torture toward POWs.
Stockdale was finally released along with several other POWs in February 1973 during Operation Homecoming. On March 4, 1976, he received the Medal of Honor at a ceremony at the White House. It accompanied the many other accolades he had earned, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, four Silver Stars and two Purple Hearts. Stockdale served in the Navy for two more years as president of the Naval War College. He retired in August 1979, ending a 32-year career.
Stockdale is often mentioned at the Naval War College during ethics discussions. His story helped form the backbone of the ethics class known as Foundations of Moral Obligation, which is still one of the most popular electives among students there.
As a civilian, Stockdale was the interim running mate for Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot as he tried to qualify for the 1992 ballot. Stockdale also served a year as president of the Citadel in South Carolina before returning to Stanford to take on various roles over the next two decades. In 1980, the Vice Admiral James Stockdale Award was created for inspirational leadership. It’s still given out today. The guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale, commissioned in 2009, was named in his honor.
Stockdale wrote two books of essays about his service, and he and his wife wrote a book called “In Love and War” that was turned into a movie in 1987. The couple had four sons. Stockdale died at his home in Coronado, California, on July 5, 2005, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was buried at the Naval Academy.
MOH CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while senior naval officer in the prisoner-of-war camps of North Vietnam. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the prisoners’ of war resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Adm. Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt. Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-disfiguration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Adm. Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all the prisoners of war. By his heroic actions, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country. Rear Adm. Stockdale’s valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
BURIAL LOCATION: US NAVAL ACADEMY CEMETERY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND.
SECTION 3, LOT 0307.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.