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from the ....-.-.-.-.-/-.-.-.-.-/-..-.-..-.-.-/-.-..-..-.-....-...-.-.-. dept.
The LA Times reports on the passing of Jeremiah Denton, the US Navy pilot held by the Viet Cong, who let the world know in a TV interview that POWs were being tortured by blinking out the word "torture" in Morse code. From 1965 to 1973, Denton was held at the "Hanoi Hilton" and several other infamous Vietnamese prisons and was held in isolation for lengthy periods totaling about four years. At points, he was in a pitch-black cell, a cramped hole crawling with rats and roaches. His beatings opened wounds that festered in pools of sewage. Frustrated that Denton would not confess to alleged American war crimes or reveal even basic details of US military operations, jailers subjected him to horrific abuse.
Taking command of fellow POWs he usually could not see, Denton fashioned a secret prison communication system using the sound of coughs, hacks, scratching, spitting and throat-clearing keyed to letters of the alphabet. "When you think you've reached the limit of your endurance, give them harmless and inaccurate information that you can remember, and repeat it if tortured again," he told his men. "We will die before we give them classified military information." Thinking they'd broken him, Denton's captors allowed a Japanese TV reporter to interview him on May 2, 1966. "The blinding floodlights made me blink and suddenly I realized that they were playing right into my hands," he wrote. "I looked directly into the camera and blinked my eyes once, slowly, then three more times, slowly. A dash and three more dashes. A quick blink, slow blink, quick blink." While his impromptu blinks silently told the world that prisoners were being tortured, he was unabashed in the interview, which was later broadcast around the world, in his denial of American wrongdoing. "Whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it yes, sir," said Denton. "I'm a member of that government and it is my job to support it, and I will as long as I live."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by LaminatorX on Thursday April 03 2014, @01:00PM
I input Morse, but slash seems to have munged it.
It was supposed to be: "dash dotdotdotdot dot dotdashdot dot / dotdash dotdashdot dot / dotdotdashdot dashdashdash dotdotdash dotdashdot / dotdashdotdot dotdot dashdashdot dotdotdotdot dash dotdotdot"
(Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Thursday April 03 2014, @01:28PM
LaminatorX wrote:
I translates the Morse code to be, "THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS".
I'll leave it to others to explain what that is supposed to mean.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Soluzar on Thursday April 03 2014, @01:40PM
It is a reference to a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode about torture. Specifically one in which Captain Picard is the victim of torture after having been captured behind enemy lines.
(Score: 4, Informative) by zocalo on Thursday April 03 2014, @02:17PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Thursday April 03 2014, @01:47PM
I wrote:
I plead lack of coffee... meaning [wikipedia.org]
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 1) by Worchaa on Thursday April 03 2014, @02:15PM
I got "THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS" as well. Nice ST:TNG ref. Good to know there is more than one King Nerd on Soylent fluent in (Morse) code. Ha !
Up top, I sent "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE". It's too early in the morning to ask folks to break out their decoder rings.
- Marching Band: It's not just for breakfast anymore.