Ernest C. Brace

Ernest C. Brace was the longest-held civilian prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam.

Brace, a former Marine Corps pilot who had flown more than 100 combat missions in Korea, had been accused of deserting the scene of an aircraft accident and was court-martialed and discharged from the Marines.

Brace then worked as a civilian pilot and flew for a CIA-backed airline, on May 21, 1965 he was shot down over Laos. Captured he escaped 6 June 1965 for a few hours in Laos, but was recaptured. He escaped on 17 April 1966, and evaded for four days in North Vietnam before recapture. Next escaping on 17 August 1966 in North Vietnam, he was immediately recaptured, buried up to his chin for seven days, and eventually sent to a POW camp on the outskirts of Hanoi nicknamed the Plantation where he spent 3½ years in a bamboo cage with his feet in stocks and his neck in an iron collar, where he met with John McCain.

He was released on March 28, 1973, spending 7 years and 7 months in captivity, making him the longest-held civilian POW in Vietnam. President Gerald Ford issued Brace a full pardon for his heroic service as a POW.

See also

• Floyd James Thompson, the longest held POW in United States history, spending nearly nine years in captivity in Vietnam.
• Everett Alvarez Jr. the second longest-held POW in United States history, spending 8.5 years in captivity in Vietnam.

References

• Brace, Ernest C. (1988). A Code to Keep: The true story of America's longest held civilian prisoner of war in Vietnam. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0709035608. 

External links

• Bio at pownetwork.org
• Prisoner of war