This segment is dedicated to LTC James N. Rowe who I served under while assigned to Camp Mackall, NC.  LTC Rowe was one of the commanders of Camp Mackall.  I regret now that I didn’t tell him how much I and the Army appreciated all his efforts as a brave POW and building the Army SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance & Escape) Program.

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LTC. James N. Rowe, a West Point graduate, volunteered for Special Forces duty as a 2nd Lt.  2nd Lts. were not part of the Special Forces organization but by some major glitch in the process, 2nd Lt Rowe and 17 other 2nd Lewees reported to Fort Bragg, NC – 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).  His training started at 0330 hours (3:30am) and ended at 2300 hours (11pm), then they had to prepare for the next day’s training.

The new 2nd Lts. were getting the best training possible.  They were actually going through a mix of the enlisted Special Forces training (physical training, weapons, demolition, engineer, communications, ultra-advanced first-aid, and intelligence).  The training was intense and didn’t let up.  After this, the Officers were sent to language school which was non-stop, homework every night, test every day, and more language training.

On 10 July 1963, 2nd Lt. Rowe deployed to Vietnam.  On 29 October, 1963, Ltc. Rowe and two other SF (Army Special Forces) comrades were captured after a firefight.  This began his 05+ year survival as a POW in North Vietnam.  On 31 December 1968, 2nd Lt. Rowe rendered his guard unconscious and escaped.  He was picked-up by an Army UH1-H helicopter.  The following are some of his survival tricks that could be used, especially by military subscribers.

Note:  I used both ranks of 2^nd Lt. and 1^st. Lt. for Nick Rowe.

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01) Mosquito Net:  His captors gave 2nd Lt. Rowe and his 02 SF comrades 02 mosquito nets that were an absolute must to hold-off the thousands of attacking mosquitos that would have surely drove them crazy and eventually killed them.

2nd Lt. Rowe was tortured by his captors without laying a hand on him.  On more than a few occasions, his captors tied him down with no netting.  Throughout the night swarms of biting blood-sucking mosquitos attacked his entire body from head to toe.  He was bitten repeatedly multiple times every second of every minute of every hour throughout the long long torturous night.  His body’s self-defense mechanism probably saved him from going crazy by shutting-off the torture with periods of blackouts.

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02) Foreign Language:  The 03 SF soldiers were knowledgeable with Vietnamese.  One was not only fluent in Vietnamese but fluent in French (common language throughout North & South Vietnam).  The men let on that they spoke a few words here and there and nothing more.  With their knowledge of the language, they could monitor their captor’s conversations and possibly use it to their advantage for escape.

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03) Cleansing Wounds:  Their battle wounds were cleansed with boiled water and regular soap.  The boiled water insured that bacteria in the water was killed.  The soap with the hot water cleaned the wound of debris and anything that could infect the wound.

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04) Leeches:  One of Lt. Rowe’s captors showed compassion by lending his cigarette to detach leeches on his body.  The lit cigarette was applied to the leech where it would let go and drop to the ground.  Later he used candles to detach the blood-sucking leeches.

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05) Diarrhea:  Suffering from chronic diarrhea, Lt. Rowe was injected with Vitamin B1.  While I’m at it, let me tell you about B1 (taken directly from the Gettysburg Program): Vitamin B1 enhances circulation and assists in the production of hydrochloric acid, blood formation and carbohydrate formation.  Vitamin B1 affects energy, growth disorders and learning capacity.  Vitamin B1 is needed for muscle tone of the intestines, stomach and heart.  Thiamin is noted as a brain booster because it helps produce the messages your brain sends out to nerve cells.  Thiamin is vital to memory and learning.  Sources of Vitamin B1 are asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, dried beans, brown rice, egg yolks, fish, organ meats (kidney, liver, heart), many nuts, oatmeal, peanuts, peas, plums, pork, poultry, dried prunes, raisins, rice bran, sardines, soybeans, turkey, wheat germ and whole grain.

Vitamin B1 is noted to repel bugs!  Many testimonials of outdoors people have noted that mosquitoes simply want nothing to do with you.    According to one study, Vitamin B1 did not prevent mosquito bites (controlled study), but may help in the prevention of the pain and itching brought on by the bites.  Consuming sulfur like garlic, is also noted to have repelling effect on many insects including mosquitoes.

Follow the recommended dosage and instructions from the label and as per your doctor’s instructions.

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06) Dental Care:  American POWs constantly asked for toothbrushes and other dental items.  They knew Korean War POWs suffered greatly because of the lack of dental hygiene.  The POWs were eventually given toothbrushes which were used till they were useless.

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07) Dead Drop:  American POWs were separated and that much needed communication between POWs was severed.  2nd Lt. Rowe and the other POW(s) established a dead drop.  A dead drop is a hidden place where messages were left.  Their message drop was located between their cages and the latrine.  The location of the dead drop was disguised or not an obvious site where their captors could intercept the messages.  The dead drop provided a great deal of information.

The POWs learned what their captors were doing to the POWs which better prepared them when it was their turn for interrogation and indoctrination.  Another way to pass messages was to slip it into POWs food.

With the dead drops, and new POWs added to the camp, 2nd Lt. Rowe as well as the other older POWs learned of JFKs assassination, new cars, the Beatles, of each other,…

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08) False Identity:  2nd Lt. Rowe was involved in intelligence but his captors didn’t know this.  To hide his true job (S2 – Intelligence) and protect the information he knew, he claimed he was a trained engineer – he builds things.  And he could back-up this information because West Point had mandatory engineering classes no matter the major of the cadet.  This false identity probably saved him many a torturous interrogations if they had known he was involved with intelligence.

As it turned out, later in his captivity the jig was up.  When Jane Fonda (anti-war protestor) visited Vietnam. She gave the North Vietnamese a list of assumed American POWS with details about them.  They wanted to know if these assumed POWs were being treated fairly.  With details of 2nd Lt. Rowe, they learned he was in fact a 2nd Lieutenant and an S-2 (Intelligence Officer).  At learning this, 2nd Lt. Rowe was repeatedly tortured.  The intelligence he did know was perishable meaning it was good after his capture but as time went on it became worthless.  His captors knew this and tortured him anyway.

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09) KISS:  Keep It Simple Stupid.  2nd Lt. Rowe used the KISS formula to formulate his cover story (Item 08).  His cover story went back years but the details weren’t complex so during many interrogations he wouldn’t counterdict himself.  The KISS formula is still used to this day to supplement military training and planning.

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10) Play Ball:  2nd Lt. Rowe passed the time and maintained his morale by playing baseball – by himself!  Using a nail, he scratched lines in the bottom of his aluminum cup that formed 13 sections of a pie configurations.  Each section was marked “1B” for 1st base, “2B” for double, “SAC” for sacrifice fly, “SO” for strike out, “W” for walk, and so forth,…  To randomly pick any variation he assembled a spinner made of wood and the game was on.  He chose both teams, picked players, and played 9 innings!  He kept score by writing in charcoal against any available surface.  Sounds fun uh – Steeeeriiiike Three – You’re Outta There!

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11) Cattail Roots:  When allowed, 2nd Lt. Rowe ate nutritious cattail roots, and other native vegetables in North Vietnam.  Sweet potatoes on the long 35-meter vines were long gone but the leaves on these vines were eaten.

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12) Fat:  Fat was used to fry food for better taste, and better nutrition.  They got the small amounts of fat from a fish that’s pronounced “ca sac.”  The fat was located around the fish’s major organs.  They also got fat and meat from snakes given to them by guards.  I already talked about fat, how to get it, and its many uses.  See www.survivalexpert.com/fire

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13) Fish Food:  I told you in Item 12 that a fish pronounced like “ca sac” was a food source.  The flat-sided section of the fish was placed between a piece of split bamboo and cooked over hot coals.  This fried the fish to a consistency of a potato chip.  Plus, it charred the sharp pointed bones so their edible and unable to stick into the mouth.  Plus, the bones provided calcium.  Eventually, the POWs were allowed to fish for bigger fish.  They used gill nets which proved very successful They caught so many fish with the gill nets that they sold the extra fish for spices,… They also used Fish Stake-Outs.

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14) Chicken Blood:  The POWs were lucky and given a chicken to eat.  Preparing the chicken, their captors told them to use the blood for cooking.  The entire chicken goes in the pot – everything except for feathers, stomach and lower intestines.  Even the feet were eaten.  The POWs ate the cooked chicken with vegetation.  The chicken had so much fat – grease in it that the POWs systems weren’t use to it and all POWs had renewed diarrhea.

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15) Fleas:  To pass time, entertain himself and for his health, 2nd Lt. Rowe killed fleas.  In one night he killed 85.  To prevent them from nesting in his head, he cut-off all his hair.  In 16-days, he killed 513 fleas, wounded 1,026+, and many more MIA (missing in action).

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16) Mosquito Repellent:  2nd Lt. Rowe was tortuously bit by more mosquitos than probably any 100 people in their lifetimes.  He fought mosquitos with a smoky fire and rubbing kerosene on his skin.  Throughout my Survival Programs, I give several insect repellents.

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17) Names:  Lt. Rowe had names for his captors according to what stood out about them.  He also had names for animals, places,…  Even though he kept the names to himself, this no doubt helped his morale, and gave him the Will To Live!  Here’s a sample of the names he used:

• Abortion——ugly guard
• Ajax———-eagle
• Alvin———chipmunk-cheeked
• Base———-2nd base joke
• Ben Casey—–physician
• Blue Shirt—-blue shirt
• Bud———–long hair
• Calhoun——-rooster
• Carpenter—–guard?
• Cheetah——-monkey face
• Chinh———revolutionary
• Clark Gable—guard
• Clem———-farmer
• Cyrano——–long nose
• Elvis———long hair
• Frank Buck II-guard?
• Frank Lloyd—guard?
• Goldie——–gold teeth
• Hanoi II——POW camp
• Herc———-eagle
• Ho Chi Pig—-pig food
• Hot———–name Hat
• Intern——–medic
• Kildaire——medic
• Killer Mouse–guard?
• Leo———–guard?
• Mafia———Captor leader
• Mice———-New recruits
• Miss Mouse—-guard?
• Miss Pris—–Hen
• Mom M———Muoi – guard
• Moon———-round face
• Mosquito
• Junction——Indoctrination area
• Mouse III—–guard?
• Music Kid—–guard?
• My————American
• Nam———–guard?
• Neverglades—POW Camp
• No-K Corral—POW camp
• Old Moon——guard?
• Plato———journalist
• Pock———-guard?
• Porky———chubby face
• Ri————guard?
• Shithead——brutal guard
• Short Sleeve—logistics
• Showboat——arrorgant guard
• Slim———-skinny
• Squeaks——-high voice
• Sun Hat——-round hat

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18) Vocabulary:  Lt. Rowe had wide vocabulary.  This is a small fraction of words and phrases he knew to help him survive and communicate with his captors:

• Anh nguoi My, Khong————-Are you an American?
• Bi am sat———Assassinated
• Bo no di———-Leave him
• Bot chua?———Is it better yet?
• Ca ro————-Fish
• Ca sac————Small fish
• Cai Khan———-Hand towel
• Ca tre————Medium catfish
• Chua————–No found
• Chaun bi di.——Prepare to go.
• Coi Ao————Take off your shirt
• Cong San———-Communist
• Cum lai———–Put on irons
• Da—————-Yes
• Da den————Black skin
• Dau, khong?——-Is there pain?
• Dep—————Beautiful
• Di ngay———–Go immediately
• Dung buon———Don’t be sad
• Dung lai———-Stop
• Dung noi———-Don’t speak
• Gap chua?———You found?
• Gao loc———–Grain rice
• Hieu, khong?——Do you understand?
• Khong ay chet—–No one is dead
• Khong co do an—-There is no food
• Khong so———-No sweat – no problem
• Lam gi day?——-What are you doing here?
• La do. Di.——-Pick up your gear and go.
• Ma khong———-I’m not sad and I’m not happy
• Mat Tang———-The Front
• Mau di————Go fast
• May bay———–Airplane
• Mot Chut———-Just a moment
• Nuoc Mam———-No food
• Pac time———-Nap (sleep)
• Sai anh di tron?–Why did you try to escape?
• Tat ca————Just me
• Them cui———-Put on more wood
• Toi chua buon?—-Are you sad?
• Toi khong hieu—-I don’t understand
• Truc-thang——–Helicopter
• Trung-uy———-Lieutenant
• Ua—————-Hurry

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19) Fish Stake-Out:  2^nd Lt. Rowe was allowed to build Fish Stake-Outs.  Instead of using a fishing pole with 01 single baited hook, a Fish Stake-Out increases the chances of catching fish because it has several baited hooks stretched-out horizontally across a river.

The fish stake-out also known as a trout line which consist of a main line (cordage) about ten feet in length; three to four shorter lines less than a foot long; three to four hooks or field expedient hooks; and two poles about five feet by inch in diameter.  These poles will secure the fish stake-out under water.

First tie-in the main ten-foot line to the top of each pole (six inches from the top).

Next tie-in all the hooks\field expedient hooks to their respective short line.  Now tie in the short line to the main line.

Evenly space the short lines on the main line so that no short line can touch or be tangled with any other short line or pole. Insure to mask the scent of all working pieces of the fish stake-out, including your hands.  Camouflage and bait, as necessary.

Insure that the fish stake-out is secured with some cordage to the shore to avoid a large fish from uprooting the fish stake-out and swimming off with it.  To place the fish stake-out in the water, firmly place each pole in the water and insure the poles are separated using the entire length of the main line.  Double check that the short lines are not tangled and that the hooks are still baited.

Fish Stake-Out

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20) Cattail Vittles:  2^nd Lt. Rowe with his captors were evading attacking ground troops and attack American helicopters.  On the go, one of his captors, Little Sau (12-year old Viet Cong), grabbed cattails on-the-run, stripped the outer cover on the root and ate the tuber on-the-run.  Little Sau ate the pulpy tubers and passed one to 2^nd Lt. Rowe.

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21) Attack Helicopters Uncover Hiding Viet Cong:  Viet Cong hiding in the thick reeds were practically invisible from the air and especially on the ground.  Invisible till one of the attacking Cobra Gunships hovered so low, that it’s powerful downwash from its blades separated the reeds revealing the hiding Viet Cong who were immediately engaged by the other Cobra Gunship.

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22) Malayan Gate:  Ltc. James N. Rowe (US Army Green Beret), a former Vietnam POW, wrote his book on his uncountable experiences as a POW – “Five Years To Freedom” – related a human trap & snare he was going to use on his captors while he planned his Escape & Evasion in early January 1969.

Nick Rowe like all POWs had a 24/7 motivation to escape.  But in this case, he had great motivation to Escape & Evade.  Nick Rowe’s cover story he initially told his captors was blown and he feared immediate execution.  Here’s a quote from his book:

With Nick Rowe wearing his issued black pajamas, he was ordered to the guard’s messhall one morning.  Mafia, one his Vietnamese captors translates from an older Vietnamese sitting at the head of the table:

“I am a representative of the Central Committee, having come to this camp to say a few words to you.  It is unfortunate for us that the peace and justice-loving friends of the South Vietnam Front for National Liberation in America have provided us with information which leads us to believe you have lied to us.”

“According to what we know, you are not an Engineer.  You are not assigned to the many universities which you have listed for us.  You have much military training which you deny.  …You were an officer of the American Special Forces.”

 Nick Rowe:  “I was working to make an escape in early January [1969], prior to a move by the VC.  I had selected the trail I had used in my second attempt as an initial route and had gotten away from the camp long enough on two wood carrying details to prepare a ‘Malayan Gate,’ the vicious, spike-tipped sapling, tied horizontal to the ground, bent back sharply next to a path, and triggered by a trip string across the path.  When an unwary pursuer hit the trip string, the sapling would be released and sweep in a deadly arc across the path, impaling the man on the sharpened stakes tied to the sapling.

 This attempt would be an all-out effort and if it required killing guards, I was willing to do it.  I had reached the point where I could not afford to be recaptured and the death or serious injury of one or more of the guards would deter the younger ones sufficiently to improve my chances”

In one of my other Survival Books – “American Elite Fighters – Are US Tax Payers Getting Their Money’s Worth!”, I related an incident my book titled “Flag Detail” where I thought Ltc. Rowe was having a flashback from his days as a POW and I thought he was going to kill me.

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23) Maggots:  Maggots are fly larvae.  If you see flies, no doubt, they’ll lay their eggs anywhere.  I worked with a Special Forces officer named Ltc. Nick Rowe who was held for 05 years in a North Vietnam POW camp known as the Hanoi Hilton.  He wrote the book Five Years To Freedom.  He related how he used maggots to heal & clean his wounds   called Maggot Therapy.

The maggots (preferably blowfly maggots) were debriding (cleaning) the wounds like a surgeon cuts out dead tissue from open wounds, but maggots do a much better job.  And the good part is they leave the live tissue alone!  Maggot Therapy was used during WWI.  Not only do the maggots eat the dead & decaying tissue, maggots are believed to excrete allantoin which is curing ingredient against decaying tissue.  Today a synthetic allantoin is used for fighting decaying tissue.

Maggots can do to bacteria what antibiotics can’t do – KILL IT!  There are more and more cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria which eventually causes death to the patient.  Maggots kill and EAT bacteria.  Those always hungry maggots eat all that nasty stuff like pus!

A V.A. doctor out of Long Beach, CA used maggot therapy on some of his patients.  He used the maggots to help patients with pressure ulcers.  Pressure ulcers are found on patients who are unable to move because of their paralysis.  Dr. Sherman found that those hungry maggots helped heal the pressure ulcers faster than conventional surgery.

Maggot Therapy is now being used more and more alongside conventional medicine.  It’s also being used when everything else has failed.  So if you find yourself in a desperate survival situation and doctorless and with open wounds, consider maggot therapy to help heal your wounds.  According to the studies of Doctors John Church, David Rogers, and Paul Embden you’ll need about 10 maggots for each square centimeter of open wound to do the job.

As far as eating maggots, American POWs actually ate maggots that were mixed in with their small portions of rice.  As far as I know there were no side effects.

Note:  Maggots may carry germs themselves.  If you have a sterilizing agent, apply it to those hungry maggots prior to applying them to the open wound.

Maggots come from flies:  Yes I know you already knew that.  Be careful if you have survivors down for the count.  Why?  Those germ carrying, egg carrying flies could lay their eggs in their eyelids, mouth,… anyplace they can find an opening.  They’ll look like small pieces of white grated cheese.  So check these areas all the time for that survivor who’s down for the count.

Here’s a neat trick to sneak up on those flies to kill em’ and catch em’ for fish bait.  According to a Norwegian doctor, Dr. Rene Bult, flies can barely see the color red if at all.  So if you want to go into the stealth mode to get them flies, wear red!

As a matter of fact, if you have a red fly swatter or make it yourself, make sure it’s red.  Those flies will never see it coming!  And the best time to get em’ is in the afternoon when they’re tired cause most of their energy is used seeing yes seeing with all those eyes it has!

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24) Vagus Nerve Strike:  When I attended the US Army SERE Instructor Course, they told us a POW can not kill their captors.  It’s a crime against the Geneva Convention.  If an American POW killed any of their captors, the American POW can be executed.  However, they told us there is nothing wrong with beating the tar out of the captor in order to escape and evade.

We were taught and actually employed:

• Nerve holds
• Choke holds
• Sleeper holds
• Vagus Nerve Strikes

on each other.

The Vagus Nerve Strike is a swinging strike to the side of the neck using the bony portion of the forearm.  When the vagus nerve is hit, immediately your knees buckle and you drop to the ground.  We were taught to strike the vagus nerve followed by the sleeper hold.  And I gotta tell you, they both work almost instantly.  Once you got the sleeper hold locked-in, in just 04 short seconds you’re sleeping.  You see BLACK BLACK at your far left & far right peripheral vision and the BLACKNESS quickly spreads towards the center of your vision and the next thing you know you’re waking up.

2^nd Lt. Rowe relates how he was contemplating taking out one of his captors named Porky.  Even though Porky was small in stature, Rowe wondered if he had the strength to fight Porky but knew for sure if he could ‘get one chop at his neck I could equalize the contest.’

He goes on to take-out Porky with some dead wood with a diameter of 02-inches which when the dead wood is exposed to the elements “tended to harden and would serve as a club.”  Walking behind Porky he struck him from behind hitting him at the base of the skull.  Porky dropped without a sound and to insure Porky was down for the count – “I dropped the club and chopped him twice with the edge of my hand, delivering the blows to the side of the neck below the jawbone.”

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25) Viet Cong Clandestine Camps:  December of 1968, American military forces escalated their attacks on VC (Viet Cong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) forces.  1^st Lt. Rowe and his small group of captors were constantly moving.  They used the canals to hide their movement.  When they stopped they hid in the thick forest or thick bamboo reeds along the canals.  They pushed over bamboo reeds to hide their sleeping areas.  Vines and tree branches were also used to conceal their positions.  To insure Rowe wouldn’t escape, Rowe was always wearing his leg irons when he slept.  His captors slept close enough near him and around him to insure they woke up if he made any unnecessary movements.

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26) Sword Grass Scrubber:  1^st Lt. Rowe used sword grass to clean his rice cup.  Rowe was already in a severe hurt, why take a chance of getting sicker by not cleaning the rice cup after each use.

Sword grass is exactly what it means.  The grass is loaded with sharp edges and thorns and cuts the skin in a New York second.  I relate a story in my book – “American Elite Fighters – Are US Tax Payers Getting Their Money’s Worth?” – when on a patrol where I was the point man.  We entered a patch of sword grass thinking we’d be out of it in a minute or so.  Turns out we were enveloped in a giant patch of sword grass.  I was cut -up all over my body trying to break a trail using my bayonet.

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1^st Lt. Rowe’s Evasion!

On 11 December 1968, the morning started with 1^st Lt. Rowe and his captors on the near receiving end of a B-52 strike.  The whistling sounds followed by the pounding of the bombs shook the ground.  Even heat from the bombs could be felt.

Automatically, Rowe and his captors grabbed their gear and started to evade the B-52 strikes.  Looking to the east they could see the bombs exploding and making a path towards them and getting closer.

Looking up, he saw 03 B-52s above the clouds so high, they never heard them coming.  The bombing ceased and the B-52s were turning to head back to their base.

Rowe and his captors evaded away from the strike area, away from their camp via a canal.  As soon as he was in the boat, they heard American fighter jets in the distance and closing.

Rowe knew that the B-52s were flushing out survivors into the path of the fighter jets.

The L-19 (spotter plane) is usually a spotter for the fighter jets but instead of dropping smoke he was dropping high explosive rounds.  Rowe hoped the L-19 would concentrate on other Viet Cong and not him and his captors because it was sure death if they were targeted.

Rowe and his captors tried to hide themselves and their boat from the wrath of the mighty US Air Force.  The L-19 called in the fighter jets, the F-100s.  This time, the L-19 dropped smoke marking the enemy target and 02 F-100 fighter jets.

The F-100s came down on their first pass and it was a dry pass as they confirmed their targets.  Then they followed-up with a 2^nd pass dropping their bombs.  Followed by a third pass launching their rockets, followed by a final passes spraying their massive stream of bullets down on their targets.  But Rowe’s captors were more worried about the L-19 spotter plane.

Rowe and his captors evaded until dark crossing the same canal twice or several times.  They made camp with Rowe grabbing his gear and finding his spot to bed down on his sleeping mat and anchor down his mosquito net.  His captor locked the leg irons to Rowe’s ankles.

12 December 1968, Rowe was woken-up by his captors and unlocked his leg irons.  It was still dark and they boarded the boats and travelled about 02 clicks (2,000 meters).  They made camp and camouflaged their site.  Just as the sun barely came up, they heard the drone of an L-19.  The thought of being killed by fellow Americans frightened Rowe.

After a while, Rowe was ordered back in the boat, the bottom of the boat where he was hidden by his gear and the gear of his captors and they floated away to find a more remote location to hide.

Reaching their new location, Rowe was ordered out of the boat and to the muddy bank.  His captors hurriedly unloaded their to camouflage it and hide it in the thick reeds as well as camouflaging their boats.

This continued evasion was a blur in Rowe’s mind and was non-stop for the next several days.  They hid in the thick reeds during the day and moving continuously to avoid civilian and the American airstrikes.

On 22 December 1968, Rowe’s captors were in a hurt.  There was more American military attacks all around them.  Fire fights could be heard in the distance, artillery moved in supporting American ground troops, B-52 strikes, but the worst was the shortage of rice.  As 1^st Lt. Rowe put it:  “Rice was running short and there was apparently no means of resupply, thus creating a severe problem.  The importance of rice cannot be understated, for without it the VC (Viet Cong) cease to function.”

Christmas was here.  1^st Lt. Rowe couldn’t celebrate or be happy about Christmas but in his diary, his spirits were high knowing his family was together.  What an absolutely great attitude after all the 05-years of shit he’s been through.

30 December 1968, it was nightfall.  Rowe and his captors maneuvered into a side canal and picked a hidden spot of bamboo reeds and cattails to make camp.  Rowe cleared a spot barely big enough to accommodate him.  He layed down his sleeping mat and anchored down his mosquito net using the bamboo.  Miss Mouse secured his leg irons to his ankles and a bit later, Porky checked them.  With his captors low on rice, Rowe went to sleep hungry that night.

With the escalation of American military forces nearby, Rowe figured his days were numbered.  If his captors were going to be killed, they’d make sure they do him in before they were killed.  Plus, their rice supply was getting lower.  No rice, no Rowe.

31 December 1968, it was still dark when Porky unlocked Rowe’s leg irons and took his rice cup.  There was a small orange fire with his captors huddled around it while cooking the rice.  Miss Mouse pushed through the reeds shoving Rowe’s cup of rice & a few nuggets of dirty rock salt at him saying “Khong co do an – There is no food.”

The minute portion of rice was gone real quick and the dirty rock salt tasted delicious.  “What I’d give for a piece of toast” he thought.

Mr. T.D. pushed his way through the reeds and tossed down Rowe’s pet dove on the ground.  Rowe was ordered to leave it behind when they evaded on the 11^th of December 1968.  Barely alive, Rowe fed his pet Dove his emergency rice he had in a small packet.  He added water to the rice and waited till the rice absorbed the water.  Rowe pushed each grain of rice in the bird’s mouth.  The sickly bird started showing life.  Minutes later, the bird was ‘snuggled’ in a cloth on Rowe’s pack being hit by a beam of warm sunlight.

At that time Rowe and his captors heard helicopters in the distance and they were headed in their direction.  Rowe glanced around knowing the locations of all his captors.  The VC (Viet Cong) guards re-checked their camouflage.  Rowe could hear 02 types of engines from the approaching heicopters.  Turns out there was a Huey UH-1H utility helicopter spotting for targets and 02 Cobra Gunships.

In the near distance, Rowe and his captors heard one of the Cobra Gunships fire its mini-gun shooting out hundreds of bullets in a single burst.  It found and killed its target with its rain of lethal steel.  The gunships wouldn’t fire unless they had a target.

Rowe heard a new sound, another aircraft with a high RPM (Revolutions Per Minute).  He observed what he called: “rotary-winged hot rod” and it was flying low – real low, so low its skids were just above the bamboo reeds.

As these low-flying “rotary-winged hot rods” were searching for targets, Sauser, one of the guards ordered all the guards to maintain ‘camouflage discipline.’

The “rotary-winged hot rods” were the new Cobra Gunships and there were four of them.  They were flying in pairs with one Cobra overwatching the one below with the Huey helicopter flying high overwatching everything.

Viet Cong hiding in the thick reeds were practically invisible from the air and especially on the ground.  Invisible till one of the attacking Cobra Gunships hovered so low, that it’s powerful downwash from its blades separated the reeds revealing the hiding Viet Cong who were immediately engaged by the other Cobra Gunship above.

1^st Lt. Rowe feared if he was discovered by the Americans, he would be mistaken for another VC (Viet Cong) and be engaged by the lethal weapons – thus killed by his fellow Americans.  Rowe was wearing his issued black pajamas like most of the VC and he had a dark tan.  He looked like a VC except for his beard.  Vietnamese have a hard time growing facial hair.

But worse yet, the guards had a standing order to execute 1^st Lt. Rowe or any American POW if they thought they’d lose control of him.

The Cobra Gunships flew over Rowe and his captors.  He could see the painting of shark with an open mouth painted over the front-end nose of the gunship. A LOH passed directly over Rowe and his guards and he knew Cobra Gunships were right behind ready to spit out a rain of lethal steel.  “Oh Lord, dear Lord, please don’t let me die now.  Not now!”

All this action, 1^st Lt. Rowe noticed his guards weren’t paying much attention to him.  Rowe courageously took off his black shirt, stood up and waved his black shirt hoping to gain the attention of the command ship overhead.  The guards didn’t catch Rowe waving his shirt.  Rowe sat down – “I have to get out of here.”

South Vietnamese infantry soldiers were now being inserted into the battle.  They were mopping-up the surviving VC.  Sauser, one of Lowe’s guards, he was so scared his face went pale.

Rowe and his guards grabbed their gear and started another evasion to safety.  The Vietnamese infantry would soon close on them and kill em’ all if they didn’t evade right now.  But first, 1^st Lt. Rowe made a quick nest for his pet bird and left it there, he couldn’t take the bird with him.

Rowe and his guards crossed the canal and kept evading putting as much ground as they could between them and the Vietnamese infantry.  Problem was, Rowe and his guards in their evasion were making a wide path through the vegetation anyone could see especially from the air.

And the helicopters were back in the hunt.  Sauser ordered another guard, Base to climb a tree and spot the position of the Vietnamese infantry.  That was a bad decision.  Base wearing his black pajamas stood out.  Anyone could spot him which meant Rowe and all his guards are now targets to not only the Vietnamese infantry but also the lethal Cobra Gunships.  Sauser’s leadership was now in question.

By extreme luck, the LOH and Cobra Gunships flying overhead had their attention in another direction and missed Lowe and his frightened guards.  Lowe and his guards evaded with Rowe and Porky falling behind the rest of the evading group.

Lowe and his guard Porky broke away from the main group at a perpendicular – 90-degree – turn.  Rowe thought “One against one” as he already started formulating a plan to escape Porky’s control and continue his evasion to friendly hands.

Porky was armed with a burp gun (PPSH-41), which has an extremely high rate of fire – thus the ‘burp.’  Rowe was moving to slow for Porky, so Porky handed him the radio and took a position ahead of Rowe.  Rowe took his white mosquito net out of pack.  He needed something to wave at the helicopters instead of a black shirt.  White means surrender.

Rowe and his guard Porky were bordered by canals on all sides.  He knew Porky was headed to link-up with the other guards so Rowe steered Porky in other directions telling him he sighted troops in helicopters to the north and west.  Changing directions, Porky was lost.

1^st Lt. Rowed followed behind Porky.  Rowe carrying the radio, tuned it to an American station and tuned into a song by Petula Clark singing “My Happy Heart.”  Listening to this song energized Rowe.  Porky turned around and told Rowe to turn off the radio.

Porky was now trying to tunnel through thick reeds.  As he did this Rowe closed on Porky and pressed the lever to release the magazine in the ‘burp’ submachinegun.  As Porky fought to go go forward through the reeds, the magazine dropped into the water.  Rowe stepped on the magazine burying it in the mud.  Porky soon discovered he lost the magazine of ammunition.  He had nothing to fight with.

Still evading, Rowe and his guard Porky trek on with Porky ahead of Rowe.  Rowe finds some dead wood with a diameter of 02-inches which when the dead wood is exposed to the elements “tended to harden and would serve as a club.”  Walking behind Porky he struck him from behind hitting him at the base of the skull.  Porky dropped without a sound and to insure Porky was down for the count – “I dropped the club and chopped him twice with the edge of my hand, delivering the blows to the side of the neck below the jawbone.”

2^nd Lt. Rowe was now evading on his own for his life and freedom.  Evading to a clear area, he started trampling the reeds to define his location.  Sighting the attack helicopters in the distance, Rowe started waving his white mosquito net attempting to attract the searching eyes of the pilots.

Luckily, one of the Cobra gunships passed over Rowe and made a circle coming back towards Rowe.  Then a 2^nd Cobra gunship arrived:  “They’ve seen me!  I’m OK, they’ve seen me.”

Unknown to 2^nd Lt. Rowe one gunship communicated to the other gunship:  “There’s a VC down there in the open.”  The other Cobra gunship replied with:  “Gun him.”

As the Cobra Gunships circled to make a firing pass, Major Dave Thompson, the flight commander from a UH-1H Huey helicopter interrupted the Cobra Gunships with:  “Wait one, I want a VC prisoner.  Cover me, I’m going down to get him.”

1^st Lt. Rowe continued to wave his white mosquito net.  Major Thompson’s descending helicopter was taking fire from hidden VC on the ground and the Cobra Gunships spit out rains of steel silencing the ground fire.

The command ship descended with one of the crew shouting over the headset “Wait one sir.  That’s an American.”

The Huey made a tight low turn and landed.  1^st Lt. Rowe made his last evasion to freedom – the inside of the helicopter.  Pulling himself into the Huey, he shouted “Go!  Go!”

The Huey climbed at its best possible speed.  1^st Lt. Rowe looked down at the landscape and said to himself “After five years, I’m out of the Forest of Darkness.”

The co-pilot patted him on the shoulder asking “Name?”  Rowe replied spelling his name “R…O…W…E.”  Relaying the information, the co-pilot asked “Are you Nick Rowe?”  Rowe nodded “YES!”

1^st Lt. talked to a classmate over the headset.  The gunner with a big smile offered 1^st Lt. Rowe to sit on the nylon seat and offered him an open C-ration can of fruitcake.  “Thank you, dear Lord.  Thank you for this miracle.”  Another crew member was opening C-ration cans.  1^st Lt. Rowe ate delicious fruitcake, pecan nut rolls, plum pudding, peaches and gulped down some clean water.

“O Lord, please don’t let me wake up and be back in the forest.”

1^st Lt. Rowe’s status was verified he was dead. So he was carried as Missing In Action for the last 62-months and was promoted along with his peers.  1^st Lt. Rowe is now Major James N. Rowe.

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Ltc. Rowe’s Assassination!

On 31 December 1968 after his rescue and return to friendly soil, 2nd Lt. Rowe learned he had been promoted to Major.  In 1971 he published his detailed accounts as a 5+ years as a POW in his book “Five Years To Freedom.”  In 1974, Major Rowe left the service.

In 1981, Major Rowe was recalled to active duty to create the US Army’s SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape) Program.

In 1987, Ltc. Rowe as reassigned to the Philippines where he was Chief of Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) which provided counter-insurgency training for Philippine military against communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA).  In February 1989, Ltc. Rowe learned of a serious threat to a top advisor – he was #02 or #03 on the terrorist’s list.  In mid-April 1989, Ltc. Rowe sent his bible and Green Beret back to his wife in the States.  On 29 April 1989, Ltc. Rowe was returning to the US Embassy when he was ambushed by hooded terrorists of the NPA.  Several rounds found their mark and Ltc. Rowe was assassinated as he predicted with his intelligence efforts.  Ltc. Rowe was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  On his grave marker reads a poem he wrote while a POW:

“So look up ahead at times to come, despair is not for us.

We have a world and more to see, while this remains behind.”

By Ltc. James N. Rowe

God bless Ltc. James N. Rowe and his family & friends.  May his assassins finally meet their horrible eternal fate when they leave this world.

All Evasion Blog Posts are dedicated to Ltc. James N. Rowe.

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE:  The Vietnam War was already won by the mighty United States military long before the US finally pulled out in 1975.  How can I say this?  Skirmishes, battles, wars are won on attrition.  The casualty rates (wounded and killed) between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) & Viet Cong versus the United States and Allies is severely lopsided – severely lopsided.  So severely lopsided, as far back as 1968, as you read, Little Sau, one of 1^st Lt. Rowe’s guards was only 12-years old – only 12 years old.  In other words, the 18+ VC were already being depleted as far back as 1968.  And that goes for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) too.  The NVA was being decimated.  They turned to recruiting younger teenagers to join the fight.

If President Nixon didn’t worry about his popularity rating with the American public and not worry about the shouts from the anti-war protesters who couldn’t find Vietnam on a map, he’d of continued the bombing of North Vietnam.  That bombing of Vietnam was bringing North Vietnam to its knees.  In my humble opinion, if President Nixon continued the heavy bombing of North Vietnam for just a few more months, Vietnam would have no choice but to surrender.  Let me give you some stats on the Vietnam War to prove my point.  See Vietnam War Statistics And Facts!

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