Page 20 - DFCS NEWS MAGAZINE 2020-1

Charles M. Walling Tucson Chapter (Cont’d.)
Former POWs Tell Their Incredible Stories
By Marty Lenzini
George Alan “GAR” Rose
GAR Rose, like Myron, was also flying an F-4 aircraft which was shot down by an air-to-air missile fired from a MIG- 21. This happened on the 21st of June 1972 on a mission to lay a chaff corridor north of Hanoi.
As the aircraft was disintegrating, GAR ejected himself and his back seater. GAR landed in a cultivated field and quickly hid in thick brush as he heard voices approaching.
He stayed hidden for the next hour until discovered by several locals. They grabbed GAR and immediately stripped him of all his clothes except for socks and underwear. A noose was placed around his neck and his arms were tied at his elbows and wrists behind his back.
They moved him down a road while hitting him with bamboo poles and spitting on him. They stopped and were about to shoot him when an NVA regular showed up to take charge. They walked him to a small village and threw him in a pig pen.
As dusk approached, a truck came by with his captured back seater. He was beaten by an NVA Officer and thrown into the bed of the truck. On the way to an interrogation site, the truck was beat-on and rocked by groups of locals out for blood.
GAR and his back seater were taken before a panel of three or four NVA and questioned. Name, rank and serial number did not cut it as they were repeatedly beaten by saying nothing, so GAR, like most POWs, became creative with stories to abide to the code of conduct as best they could. They were finally taken to the “Hanoi Hilton” and tossed into a cell.
During his stay GAR was sleep deprived and questioned at all hours of the day and night. During the Linebacker II Operation, POWs were moved from the “Hilton” to the “Zoo”. Nine months and 8 days after being shot down, GAR was released.
20 / DFCS News Magazine / SUMMER 2020