Du
ring the Viet Nam Era, Army Sergeant First Class Roque Santos Matagulay was a prisoner of war for 155 days in 1962. News reports state that on July 23, 1962, he and another fellow soldier were ambushed by Communist guerrilas while hunting off-duty for deer near Pahn Theit, South Viet Nam. At the time, Matagulay was on an assignment as a military advisor to the Vietnamese military.
During his captivity he was tied up and constantly reminded that he would be killed if he made the slightest effort to escape. Although, he did not receive physical torture, he was subjected to eight solid hours of political indoctrination and interrogation on a daily basis. He was forced to listen to the English-language broadcasts on Communist North Viet Nam's Radio Hanoi three times a day and was regularly tested on what they had to say about the world situation.
As a POW he contracted Malaria and lost about 40 pounds due to prison conditions. While under physical and mental duress he was coerced into signing adverse statements about the U.S. and South Viet Nam government.
On the Christmas Eve of 1962, he was released by the guerillas. Prior to doing so the guerrillas held a release ceremony, which included 400 soldiers, villagers, women and children to witness what they deemed was an act of generosity to their prisoner. They put Matagulay on a bus and sent him back to his freedom.
Matagulay retired as a Master Sergeant in 1971 after serving 20 years on active duty in the Army. Matagulay died in 1999 and is now buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Bibliography
____. 1962. Associated Press via Times-Picayune. New Orleans, LA.
____. 1963. World: Rice & Rats. Time Magazine.
____. Find A Grave retrieved September 15, 2014 from: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&;GRid=958449
Stuart I. Rochester & Frederick T. Kiley 2007. Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973. Naval Institute Press: Anapolis, MD.
