From Visalia Times-Delta: Korean War vet from Tulare writes memoir about his imprisonment
The Korean War may be known to many as the Forgotten War, but for one ambitious pilot, it was an experience he'll never forget. While stuck behind enemy lines, a young man from Tulare showed he had the perseverance to overcome even the most challenging odds.
Now at 84-years-old, Jack Doerty can recount his time flying 100-odd missions in Vietnam or as an enlisted airmen in World War II, but those wars are not most vivid in his mind. It was his 28 months as a prisoner of war in Korea that remains fresh. It was the time he spent on the ground, as opposed to the hundreds of hours he spent in the air, that this U.S. Air Force pilot will never forget.
"This was a forgotten war, but for the GIs that pulled it off, it's a remarkable story of resilience," Doerty said. "The Korean War caught us totally off guard. The U.S. military wasn't prepared. But we didn't give up."
Freedom is not free
In a matter of a few months, Jack Doerty had been issued three radios by the U.S. Air Force, none of which worked. As he continued to send his in for repair, he'd be given another that failed to communicate with the outside world. On more than one occasion, he had only his voice to seek help. The day he was captured was one of those days.
"If we had radios that worked, we could have signaled for air support. We could have destroyed their forces with one call," he said. "Instead, we folded. Five days later I was a POW."
The United States and South Korea took more than 100,000 prisoners of war during the Korean conflict, while North Korea and its forces took about 10,000 prisoners in less than five years.
Describing the circumstances as "terrible," Doerty spent 28 of his 30 months in Korea as one of those captured. His only free time outside was spent searching for leaves large enough to use as toilet paper. He had dysentery from the dirty water he drank and his one meal a day consisted of dry, raw grain.
Doerty went from 155 pounds before his capture in 1951 to 95 pounds as a prisoner. He was never issued medicine. The hope of survival flashed before his eyes as he contemplated an escape. An escape that ultimately failed.
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"I kept thinking to myself, 'I can't believe I surrendered. I can't believe I was captured.' I knew it was my duty to escape," he said. "But I got one thing wrong. I escaped the camp, but didn't evade the country."
Doerty was captured again and spent time in confinement with the man who had attempted escape with him. His morale was down and the outlook appeared grim. He kept hope, while thinking of being home where his mother and father and friends prayed.
"When my wife and I heard Jack had been captured, we got down on our knees and prayed. We prayed every day for him," said Ken Lange, a classmate of Doerty, who graduated from Tulare Union High School in 1945. "We were proud of him in school and even more proud of him then."
After peace talks, Doerty returned home and was given a choice of any U.S. Air Force assignment he wished. He was promised he'd never be sent to a communist country or be stationed in a region that bordered a communist country. He signed a waiver and a few years later would go to fight in Vietnam. His family and friends heard the stories that he told from memories as a prisoner of war; stories they urged him to eventually write down.
"It's a very exciting and very sad story, but an important one," said fellow classmate Pat Hillman. "It's not often you have a classmate become famous, even in a small way."
The bookThe Tulare Union class of 1945 was comprised of 150 students. Some of those went on to be successful business owners, local activists, doctors and lawyers. Many of the young men fought in WWII, and others, like Doerty, went on to fight in subsequent wars. Sixty-five years after he graduated, Doerty sat down and wrote his memoirs.
"I urged him to write it for his kids and his grandkids," said Doerty's wife, Carolyn, whose father, Tex Rankin, began the first aeronautical school west of the Mississippi in the early 20th century and later opened Rankin Field in Tulare.
"I was thrilled he was writing it. The first copy went to his grandson. It's an amazing story. Sometimes it makes you laugh and other times it makes you cry," she said.
The book wasn't supposed to go outside the bounds of his family and close friends. But it was a story worth sharing with the world, Lange said. He was one of a dozen members of the class of 1945 who gathered their money and helped the Tulare Historical Museum publish "Korean Prisoner of War Story — Freedom is Not Free."
Each member of the class chipped in $100 to pay a publishing firm on the central California coast to print and bind 100 copies of the book. The museum sold them all.
A second printing was needed and Lange, who is the former director of the Tulare Historical Museum, is hoping a third and fourth printing may be necessary.
"There are some grisly parts of this book, but it's real life," Hillman said. "We all remember it. And we need to take time to appreciate all our veterans have done for us."
"I kept thinking to myself, 'I can't believe I surrendered. I can't believe I was captured.' I knew it was my duty to escape," he said. "But I got one thing wrong. I escaped the camp, but didn't evade the country."
Doerty was captured again and spent time in confinement with the man who had attempted escape with him. His morale was down and the outlook appeared grim. He kept hope, while thinking of being home where his mother and father and friends prayed.
"When my wife and I heard Jack had been captured, we got down on our knees and prayed. We prayed every day for him," said Ken Lange, a classmate of Doerty, who graduated from Tulare Union High School in 1945. "We were proud of him in school and even more proud of him then."
After peace talks, Doerty returned home and was given a choice of any U.S. Air Force assignment he wished. He was promised he'd never be sent to a communist country or be stationed in a region that bordered a communist country. He signed a waiver and a few years later would go to fight in Vietnam. His family and friends heard the stories that he told from memories as a prisoner of war; stories they urged him to eventually write down.
"It's a very exciting and very sad story, but an important one," said fellow classmate Pat Hillman. "It's not often you have a classmate become famous, even in a small way."
The book
The Tulare Union class of 1945 was comprised of 150 students. Some of those went on to be successful business owners, local activists, doctors and lawyers. Many of the young men fought in WWII, and others, like Doerty, went on to fight in subsequent wars. Sixty-five years after he graduated, Doerty sat down and wrote his memoirs.
"I urged him to write it for his kids and his grandkids," said Doerty's wife, Carolyn, whose father, Tex Rankin, began the first aeronautical school west of the Mississippi in the early 20th century and later opened Rankin Field in Tulare.
"I was thrilled he was writing it. The first copy went to his grandson. It's an amazing story. Sometimes it makes you laugh and other times it makes you cry," she said.
The book wasn't supposed to go outside the bounds of his family and close friends. But it was a story worth sharing with the world, Lange said. He was one of a dozen members of the class of 1945 who gathered their money and helped the Tulare Historical Museum publish "Korean Prisoner of War Story — Freedom is Not Free."
Each member of the class chipped in $100 to pay a publishing firm on the central California coast to print and bind 100 copies of the book. The museum sold them all.
A second printing was needed and Lange, who is the former director of the Tulare Historical Museum, is hoping a third and fourth printing may be necessary.
"There are some grisly parts of this book, but it's real life," Hillman said. "We all remember it. And we need to take time to appreciate all our veterans have done for us."
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