Flying 650 mph and 50 miles above North Vietnam on a bombingmission, Congressman Sam Johnson’s plane was hit. Every lightcame on in the aircraft as Johnson ejected himself from theplane.
He landed in the middle of a full division of North Vietnamesesoldiers. There was no way for him to escape.
Johnson, a former Vietnam POW for nearly seven years and SMUalumnus, shared his experiences with a history class Monday.
“It’s not often you get to meet a real life Americanhero. He took time to share with us a very personal and difficultexperience,” senior history major Carl Blaha said.
Johnson, who chronicled his ordeal in Vietnam in hisautobiography Captive Warriors, said that one night the guards cameinto his cell and blindfolded him. They took him to a room that wasset up like a court with a jury and a judge.
The court convicted him as a war criminal and sentenced him todeath.
Johnson said that at the time he did not know the Lord, but whenthe soldiers pointed their guns at him, he began talking toGod.
When the soldiers shot off their guns, nothing happened.
“I praised the Lord, and then I laughed at the soldiers. Iprobably shouldn’t have laughed at them though,”Johnson said.
Olga Dror, history of Vietnam professor, asked Johnson how hefelt when the Vietnamese found him guilty.
Johnson said, “The only bitterness I felt was toward theguards who tortured me. The other soldiers were just doing theirjob.”
Johnson expressed his view of the Vietnam War by saying,”It was a totally political war run by the President of theUnited States, and there were enough mistakes to goaround.”
When Johnson was released from the Vietnamese prison, he metwith Henry Kissinger.
Kissinger told him that the biggest mistake the United Statesmade in Vietnam was not getting the American people more involvedin the war.
Johnson said that one way the United States could have gottenmore people involved was through gas rationing or foodrationing.
“It’s a situation I hope you guys never let happenagain,” Johnson said to the students.
After growing up in Dallas and attending SMU, Johnson, began his29 years of service in the U.S. Air Force.
He has been a member of Congress since 1991.
He serves on the Ways and Means Committee and the Committee onEducation and the Workforce.
On these committees, Johnson deals with the issues of economicsecurity, health care and education. Johnson is also the chairmanof the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee and is a member ofthe Social Security Subcommittee.
As a conservative, Johnson fights for lower taxes.
He has received numerous awards for his 29 years of service inthe Air Force.
