[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WELCOME HOME COLONEL SAM JOHNSON

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 2015

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, flying in his F-4 Phantom over North 
Vietnamese was Air Force pilot Colonel Sam Johnson. On his second tour 
of duty in Vietnam, Colonel Johnson was flying with the fighter 
squadron called Satan's Angels, when his plane was shot down by ground 
fire. It was April, 16, 1966 and Colonel Johnson became a POW.
  Colonel Johnson was a career pilot who had already flown 62 combat 
missions during the Korean War and was on his 25th in Vietnam in his F-
4. On that fateful day in April, a foreign land claimed him captive. He 
was in the Vietnam prisoner of war camp for 7 years, but Colonel 
Johnson never wavered.
  He was put through serious torment for those 7 years; one can't even 
imagine the hell he lived.
  Because of the way he would not give in to torture and interrogation, 
the enemy moved him to the famous Hanoi Hilton, or ``Alcatraz,'' as it 
was appropriately coined. It was as bad a POW camp that ever existed. 
Alcatraz was where they put the most obstinate men. The POWs, calling 
themselves the ``Alcatraz gang,'' were so hard-nosed they had to be 
segregated. The North Vietnamese even had a name for Colonel Sam 
Johnson, ``Die Hard.''
  For 7 years, Colonel Johnson was beaten and tortured, but they got no 
information out him. He was a pillar of patriotism and strength. He 
never broke. All of his patriotic stubbornness landed him in solitary 
confinement, where he remained for 4 years. He was subjected to a cell 
that was 3- by 9-feet. During those 4 years, all that was in the cell 
was a light bulb above his head that the enemy kept on for 24 hours a 
day. During the nighttime, they put him in leg irons, and during those 
4 years, he never saw or talked to another American. It was brutal, it 
was harsh, it was cruel, it was mean.
  While he was in the POW camp, he and other POWs communicated with 
each other using a code by tapping on the wall. It was then, that 
Colonel Johnson memorized the names of the other POWs in captivity. He 
kept this memory close so that when he escaped or was released, he 
would be able to tell their loved ones who they were and where they 
were.
  The enemy laughed at Colonel Johnson. They made fun him. And his 
response ``Is that the best you can do?'' He entered the prisoner of 
war camp a strong and sturdy 200 pounds. On a diet of weeds, pig fat 
and rice, he lost 80 pounds, but never let it get to him.
  After 7 years of confinement, captivity and nightmare, he was 
released, 42 years ago, on February 12, 1973. Today we proudly 
celebrate his ``returnniversary.''
  After his release, Colonel Johnson continued to serve in the United 
States Air Force, serving for a total of 29 years. After he left the 
Air Force, he served in the Texas State House. He had his own business 
and in 1991, he came to the United States House of Representatives, 
where he still serves and represents the folks from the great state of 
Texas.
  He is tenacious, unyielding and more than anything he is patriotic. 
He was willing to risk his own life in a foreign land for people just 
like you and me. Not only is the Texas Delegation lucky to have such a 
man serving alongside them, but so is the House of Representatives.
  Just simply saying thank you could never suffice. I am honored to 
know such a man and call him my friend.
  To Colonel Sam Johnson and all who served in Vietnam: welcome home, 
welcome home, welcome home.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________