Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Film honors Vietnam POW homecoming anniversary

?Return with Honor? tributes American fighter pilots


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

POW Lt. Comdr. Robert Shumaker, USN, shot down and captured in North Vietnam on Feb. 11. 1965. Photo courtesy American Film Foundation/Vietnam Archives POW Lt. Mike McGrath, USN, Homecoming March 1973. Photo courtesy American Film Foundation/AP Worldwide Photo

It was 35 years ago when Wood River Valley resident Lt. Cmdr. Render Crayton returned home after being a prisoner of war for seven and a half years in Hanoi, Vietnam. In celebration of Crayton's 35th anniversary, the Community Library will present a screening of Academy Award-winning filmmakers Freida Mock's and Terry Sanders' acclaimed documentary, "Return with Honor."

The screening will take place at the Magic Lantern Cinema in Ketchum on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m., and all proceeds will benefit the Community Library. Both Mock and Crayton will be in attendance for the screening. Tickets are $8 for the general public, $6 for students and teachers and free for veterans.

"It's a story about the human experience," said Mock. "It's emotional and spiritual. It's a story about how macho flyer pilots survive being POWs."

Released in 1998, "Return with Honor" is a timeless film that continues to be discovered, especially when screened for students. Mock has received numerous letters from high school students who watched the film for an American Government AP class at Roosevelt High School in Seattle for Veteran's Day. The letters revealed how touched the students were by the film.

"Teachers were shocked because no one wanted to go to the bathroom because the story is so riveting," Mock said. "This is a film that blows kids away."

Crayton was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 56 onboard the USS Ticonderoga, which had been deployed to Vietnamese waters in late 1965. Fighter planes from the USS Ticonderoga and another vessel, the USS Hancock, flew strike missions against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor.

On Feb. 7, 1966, Crayton launched in his A4E Skyhawk aircraft on a combat mission over North Vietnam and was shot down. For the next seven and a half years, he was kept as a prisoner by the North Vietnamese in various POW camps in and around Hanoi.

On Feb. 12, 1973, Crayton was released with 590 other Americans, but he had sustained injuries. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, held prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today.

"I think it was a tough thing for Mock to do," Crayton said. "It screened at a POW reunion in Dallas, Texas. I thought it was brave of her to put it out in front of such a tough audience. She received a standing ovation."

Crayton said the film brought back many memories and lots of stories he lived through in Vietnam as well as the stories of other POWs. Crayton also said the film has no hidden meanings and tells the whole story.

"I wouldn't think it would appeal to high school children. They have such limited knowledge to the Vietnam War," Crayton said. "It's good, and I am so glad to hear about their reaction."

For more information about the filmmakers and "Return with Honor," visit americanfilmfoundation.com.




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