The Hanoi Hilton

They called it 'The Hanoi Hilton'. But the only room service provided by Hoa La Prison for captured soldiers in Vietnam was isolation, starvation, humiliation and torture. Lieutenant Commander Williamson registered as a 'guest' during December 1964-a time when America hadn't officially declared war on Vietnam. He was regarded a criminal, not a Prisoner of war. His sentence was to last eleven years -long years of solitary confinement, interrogation, maggot-infested food and a desperation more angusihing than any felt in the battle front-lines. Put on display for Viet Cong propganda purposes, Williamson and his fellow servicemen clung to their dignity, humanity and honour as they endured Major Ngo Doc's vicious punishments. Less than six hundred men, out of twelve thousand listed as Missing in Action, checked out of 'The Hanoi Hilton'. This is their courageous and shocking story. © Cannon Films, Inc and Cannon International B.V.