Vice Admiral Stockdale (Ret.) Dies

[Fly Navy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050706/ap_on_re_us/obit_stockdale

James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dies

SAN DIEGO - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, Ross Perot's 1992 presidential running mate who received the Medal of Honor after enduring 7 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison, died Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he had suffered from
Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado.

In the 1992 presidential election, Stockdale became independent candidate Perot's vice presidential running mate, initially as a stand-in on the ticket but later as the candidate.

Stockdale gave a stumbling performance in the nationally televised vice-presidential debate against Dan Quayle and Al Gore and later said he didn't feel comfortable in the public eye.

"Who am I? Why am I here?" he asked rhetorically in his opening statement. Toward the end, he asked the moderator to repeat a question, saying, "I didn't have my hearing aid turned on."

During the Vietnam War, Stockdale was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

Stockdale was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." His shoulders were wrenched from their sockets, his leg had been shattered by angry villagers and a torturer, and his back was broken. But he refused to capitulate.

Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool.

"My only hope was to disfigure myself," Stockdale wrote in his 1984 autobiography "In Love and War." The ploy worked, but he spent the next two years in leg irons.

After Ho Chi Minh's death, he broke a glass pane in an interrogation room and slashed his wrists until he passed out in his own blood. After that, captors relented in their harsh treatment of him and his fellow prisoners.

Stockdale spent four years in solitary confinement before his release in 1973.

He received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. The citation reads, "By his heroic action at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country."

He retired from the military in 1979, one of the most highly decorated officers in U.S. Navy history, and became president of the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina. He left in 1981 to become a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

Stockdale came to know Perot through Sybil Stockdale's work establishing an organization on behalf of families of prisoners held during the Vietnam War.

When Perot ran again in 1996 as the candidate of his Reform Party, Stockdale had rejoined the Republican Party.

He is survived by his wife and four sons.

 

[Ryoukai]

"Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool."

My badass-O-meter just exploded.

 

[Fly Navy]

"Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool."

My badass-O-meter just exploded.

This is a very famous incident in US military history. You'll learn about it over and over again.

 

[Fly Navy]

One of the finest men to ever serve in the Navy. An inspiration to all. Its an honor to be in the same service as he was.

Well said.

 

[nittany03]

The man had more balls than virtually anybody else I can think of . . . God rest his soul.

 

[DanMa1156]

Wow, I have only heard about this incredible man, but those stories, never. That is incredible. I think it's time for me to read more. Thanks, Fly.

 

[A4sForever]

Admiral James Bond Stockdale .... what a good and decent man; an example for all here to follow ...

This world is a better place for his life and service ... and it is diminished by his passing .... "A last flight West is the one we must all take" ....

 

[gaijin6423]

I met Adm. Stockdale once during a book signing at the boat school. Wow. The man had an incredible presence about him. If only we could all live up to his example of courage...

 

[ChuckMK23]

No better Warrior in my book. I remember reading Admiral Stockdale's writings as a kid - that coupled with Rosario Rausa (Gold Wings, Blue Sea), and Bridges of Toko Ri - are what made me decide to become a Naval Aviator.

Admiral Stockdale is the kind of man that comes along once a century. He will be missed.

Those of you who are newly commissioned would be wise to read up on how he lead VF-51 - and then his leadership and valor as a prisoner of war. He is the epitome of what being a Naval Officer is all about.

Rest in peace Admiral.

 

[Blutonski816]

One tough SOB. A Hero and a Legend... What esle can you say about Adm. Stockdale that hasn't already been said?

Very sad to see such a great man go.
I'll be lucky to become a fraction of the officer he was.



Another Article from Navy News stand

Department of the Navy Announces the Death of Retired Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale

 

[junfan26]

What an amazing man...it's a shame we didn't elect him.

Another article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/05/stockdale.obit/index.html

 

[bunk22]

RIP

ADM Stockdale's balls clanked when he walked. What an inspirational leader, warrior and aviator.

 

[Fezz CB]

RIP

ADM Stockdale's balls clanked when he walked. What an inspirational leader, warrior and aviator.

I agree. The fact that he slashed his wrists to show that he would rather die than submit to the Commies is beyond comprehension. Can you imagine that? This act convinced the VC to improve POW treatment. Wow.....what a great person. That is the definition of honor in my book.

Admiral Stockdale will forever be missed

 

[illinijoe05]

I bet when he gets to the pearly gates, he turns right around, jumps into hell and smacks the **** out of ho chi mihn for a little while before he goes back up there...