U.S. Special Forces Prisoners of the Vietcong Exhibit

Press Release from the ASOM: A very special exhibit will be on display in the Airborne & Special Operations Museum’s (ASOM) temporary exhibit hall, opening at 10 a.m. Friday, February 10, through January of 2013. “The Animal Called POW”: U.S. Special Forces Prisoners of the Vietcong describes the experience of U.S. Special Forces and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) prisoners held in South Vietnam. The exhibit will also cover rescue missions, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training and modern prisoners of war.

Raymond C. Shrump a prisoner of five years is quoted “Some of these men died in my presence, and I can assure you not one—not one ever lost faith in his country, his God, or in you, his fellow man.” Utilizing dioramas and media technology the visitors will be immersed in the times. According to Dr. Nicole Suarez, Museum curator, “Nineteen prisoners of war will be highlighted; some of these soldiers and/or their families will be at the opening of the exhibit.”

A focal point in the exhibit is Colonel James “Nick” Rowe a U. S. Army officer, one of only thirty-four American prisoners of war to escape captivity during the Vietnam War. Rowe was kept in a cage made of saplings, measuring 3 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet. The exhibit includes a realistic “tiger cage”, a replica of the one that imprisoned Rowe. Rowe later developed the rigorous SERE training program taught to high-risk military personnel. Visitors will be able to enter an immersive indoctrination hut an example of one used in the U Minh Forest, better known as the "Forest of Darkness," in southern Vietnam.

A quote by Daniel Pitzer captured with Rowe has been contributed for the title of the exhibit. “…having spent four years in the hands of the VC, I will never again be the same after being the animal called POW.”



Photo, left, of Ike Camacho at the exhibit opening ceremony. The exhibit has been made possible by the support of Booz, Allen, Hamilton; the S.E.R.E school at Camp MacKall, North Carolina; United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC); Fort Bragg Department of Plans, Training and Management; The Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation and many more. A press only event has been scheduled for Friday, 3 February 2012 from 11am to 2pm.