Bud Day: Vietnam War POW Hero

By Richard C. Barrett | Vietnam  | 9 comments  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

Navy Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III, who was shot down on October 26, 1967, looked anything but princely when Day first saw him: “I was confronted by a white-haired skeleton….He looked exactly like a survivor of Dachau.” In fact he was the son of Admiral John S. McCain Jr., who became the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command about nine months later.

Day, 12 years older than McCain, guessed his weight at 100 pounds or less. But he also remembers that McCain’s eyes “burned fever bright.” McCain wore a body cast that started at buttocks level and went all the way over his shoulder. “His right arm was propped up, sticking out of the cast like a broomstick protruding from a snowman,” Day remembered.

McCain’s right knee was torn up, and his left arm and shoulder were broken, but neither had been set or attended to. He was helpless and could not wash himself, relieve himself or do anything without assistance. Since no one had cleaned him at all, he was filthy from head to toe. But, after seven weeks of isolation, he was happy to have roommates. Air Force Major Norris Overly nursed both Day and McCain back to health, and they both credit him with their survival. McCain remembers emotionally: “Overly took care of us. He probably saved my life.”

The Vietnamese also wanted to improve McCain’s health—but with the hidden agenda of releasing him early to cause dissension in the ranks of the war’s supporters in the United States. The ploy failed when McCain refused to accept early return.

Day and McCain shared many hours in captivity. Both men remember one particular experience quite clearly. Day’s right arm had been broken, healed and then rebroken. It had atrophied and contained hardly any muscle. His left hand resembled a claw. He could barely hold a spoon. His left hand was 10 to 15 degrees out of alignment and only one bone had healed. Vietnamese doctors pronounced that the bone would heal itself. After a depressed Day returned to his cell following one so-called medical session, McCain offered to try to help. “I tied some splints to his arm and pressed his arm against the wall to regain strength,” McCain explained. “Bud was very badly hurt by the Vietnamese.”

McCain’s jury-rigged splint of rags and bamboo managed to squeeze together Day’s separated bones, which finally rejoined after about a month. Years later, an American doctor examining Day expressed admiration for McCain’s work under the circumstances, suggesting tongue-in-cheek that he should be awarded an honorary degree in practical orthopedic surgery. He also quipped that Day should sue McCain for medical malpractice, because the technique was unsanitary and amateurish.

In December 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II—the bombing of North Vietnam—and the morale of the American POWs improved dramatically. By early 1973, rumors began to spread of an impending release of prisoners. At the Paris peace talks, both sides finally reached an agreement on the release. Day’s name, however, was not on the supposedly complete roster of prisoners given to the American negotiators in Paris in December 1970. After the U.S. government protested, Day’s name suddenly appeared on a new version of the list.

Finally, on March 14, 1973, following five years and seven months of indescribable horror, Bud Day flew out of Hanoi on a C-141 bound for the Philippines, and then on to Honolulu and March Air Force Base in California. He returned home with honor, having bent but never broken to the enemy’s relentless demands.

Once a freed man, Day now faced a new set of decisions. Not the least of these was what to do with the rest of his life. Day was eligible to retire from the military, but he also had been promoted two grades while in captivity. Now a full colonel, he decided to remain in the Air Force, hoping he could achieve his general officer’s star. Upon his release he was too weak to resume flying, but after a year of physical rehabilitation and 13 separate medical waivers, he finally returned to the cockpit. He underwent conversion training on the F-4 Phantom, and was then assigned as the vice commander of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. On March 6, 1976, Day received the Medal of Honor from President Gerald Ford.

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Tags: Historical Figures, Vietnam War

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