“I was in prison for 1,839 days, but the good news is I have been home for 48 years, two months and 28 days,” Larry Friese began to tell his story.
During the 1960-61 Huron High School class reunion held Saturday at the Huron Event Center, Friese was invited to tell his story as a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam, as he was held captive between February 1968 and March 1973. Friese was also presented the Key to the City by Huron Mayor Gary Harrington during the event. Both classes raised money for the DEX Compex on the S.D. State Fairgrounds. They plan to present the $8,000 they raised to the State Fair.
Friese was born and raised in Huron before beginning his career in the military that led to a series of experiences one may only imagine.
“I was 25 years old in a country called Vietnam,” Friese explained. “A lieutenant in the Marine Corps, a Bombardier/Navigator in Marine A-6. I was probably the proudest guy from Huron, South Dakota.”
“We flew mostly at night — we were night fighters,” he continued. “About every third round they fired would have a chaser that would glow a pretty color so the gunner would know where their shots were going. When they would detonate it would be a bright white light that would send a shock wave. That would come toward our airplane traveling at the speed of sound — about a mile every five seconds — I think about that a lot if a tire goes in the rumble strip on the highway.”
After being in Vietnam for seven months Friese had completed 137 missions, however the 138th took an unexpected turn that ultimately led to his five-year captivity.
“The night that we got shot down we were about ten miles west of Hanoi where they had an airfield, that night there was a very thick high overcast — all the stuff they were shooting at us was not so pretty,” recalled Friese. “Something went off close enough to us that we lost all electrical in our aircraft. The forward motion of the aircraft would spin the propeller blade and generate enough electricity for the pilot to see such things as fire warning lights.”
“He told me to eject three times,” Friese added. “Finally I watched him go, so I decided he must be serious.”
Friese noted that they were traveling at a speed greater than 300 miles an hour when they ejected from the aircraft, “a form of energy you don’t see every day.”
“A little shoot comes out and stops all the spinning, shotgun shells blow knife blades to separate you from the seat and it falls on down below you,” Friese explained. “All this happens very quick and it is very dark out. I looked up to my parachute, I couldn’t see it but I told it “thanks for opening,” I couldn’t see the ground coming up on me — the next thing I know I’m picking myself up off it.”
The next thing on Friese’s mind was to get to a SAFE (Selected Area For Evasion) area as the rescue helicopters did not go to where he landed. This led to four days of Friese walking at night and hiding out during daylight.
“There were several farmers out tending to their crops, so I hid out and walked at night,” Friese detailed his experience. “I did that for four nights. The morning after the fourth night I didn’t have a good place to hide and someone saw me, he got a posse to come capture me, tied me up and walked me down to their village. The next day an army truck came from Hanoi and threw me into the prison — it was an old prison the French had built when they were in Vietnam.”
Following his capture Friese spent the next 18 months in solitary confinement, before spending approximately three years and six months in a shared cell.
“It was the 18th of December 1972,” Friese remembered. “The tactical air command from the air force with their fighter and attack jets were all over Thailand, the navy had six aircraft carriers, the marines were on aircraft carriers and had their own land-based stations — everybody came to downtown Hanoi.”
“It started after dark of course,” he continued. “I was in a cell with 42 other guys. The light show was sensory overload for all five senses, the noise was horrendous and the ground shook all night long. The smell was just awful — it was so thick that it would get in your mouth and you could taste it. I like to say that it tasted like going home.”
Friese had earlier recalled a time during captivity when an officer had said, “contrary to what we would like to believe wars are never settled over a conference table, they are always settled on the battlefield.”
“That’s exactly what happened, this was settled on the battlefield and within 90 days we were all back in the USA.”
Upon coming home Friese explained what it was like to return, “I had been sitting in a cell for five years where there was very little going on, then to come back home and all of a sudden everybody is inviting you everywhere and there is so much to do.”
Friese was sent to be evaluated at the closest naval hospital to his registered home of Huron, which was located in Great Lakes, Ill., where he was reunited with family.
The ex-POWs were invited to parties including a dine-in at the White House under President Nixon. Friese noted that stars including John Wayne, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bob Hope attended such events.
“Uncle Sam gave us five dollars a day for each day in captivity,” Friese added. “I was talking to my pilot about it and he got more money than I did. We figured out he got captured the same night we were shot down — I spent four days trying to get picked up and it cost me $20,” he said as the crowd let out a laugh.
To those currently serving in the military Friese said, “Thank you and I hope you realize how important what you’re doing is by serving our country.”
“I would also like to say there hasn’t been one second of one minute of my life that I have not been hugely proud about my career in military,” he smiled.
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Huron native tells story of captivity - Plainsman
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