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Dr.
LIN CHOW, Wu Shu Lao Shih (LARRY PISTILLI, M.B.A., M.Min., Ph.D., Ed.D., D.R.ed.) |
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| Stolen Valor How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley 1998 BOGUS GUESTS AT THE HANOI HILTON PAGE- 507 ... and Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives: Solving the MIA Mystery, by Malcolm McConnell. (823) McConnell and I first met in 1993 when
we exchanged information Larry Pistilli, a California resident who
claimed he had been a POW in North Vietnam. Because Pistilli was a
member of the American Ex-POW Association, I already had his military
record, which I faxed to McConnell. Within a few Pistilli is liberally quoted in a book called Soldiers of Misfortune by James D. Sanders, Mark A. Sauter, and R. Cort Kirkwood.(824) The authors describe Larry Pistilli as a Marine working special classified missions, the kind where you have "no ID, dog tags or other identification." in the fail of 1963, on his way back to base after completing a clandestine mission in South Vietnam, Pistilli saw a group of nine Marines pinned down by Viet Cong forces. Because of heavy mortar fire, Pistilli waved off a chopper that came to evacuate the wounded. When a mortar blew up nearby, Pistilli sustained a concussion and shrapnel wounds. After Pistilli regained consciousness, VC hauled him off to an interrogation camp between Dong Hai and Ron Ron in North Vietnam. For several pages, the authors described what Pistilli saw at the interrogation facility: English-speaking Soviet and Red Chinese interrogators, not North Vietnamese, were running the prison camp. At their hands, Pistilli endured a month of "expert Communist interrogation and torture." He and the prisoners had only one future: "China, Soviet Union, or die." |
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captives were selected to be taken north by the Red Chinese. But
Pistilli and three other Americans staged a daring escape, commandeering
a truck and driving until an axle broke. They continued south on
foot until "the North Vietnamese finally caught up to us but lost
in some frantic hand-to-hand combat." Farther south, Pistilli and
his group eventually stumbled into some friendly troops who took them
back to an Army post in South Vietnam. There, the Americans
separated the men and took them each to a "classified
debriefing," in which techniques used were similar to the
Communists, only for a shorter period of time, "to ensure the
person being questioned revealed all classified information that he had
given to the enemy.-
Pistilli, the authors contend, had been taken to a camp that was preparatory to being taken to China, Russia, or even East Germany, and interrogated by Soviet and Red Chinese officers. After escaping, he was sworn to secrecy about his exploits. His colorful tale was actually cited as proof of Soviet abduction of American POWs in testimony before a Senate committee. Was Pistilli a reliable source? Was he even a POW? Pistilli, an Illinois native, often showed others a letter from Otto Kerner, the governor of Illinois, dated February 5, 1966, shortly after his supposed escapade. "I would like to take this opportunity to express the gratitude of the people of the State of Illinois for your courage and heroism as a prisoner of war," the letter said. "Your courageous escape has been read into
509 the records of the State Legislature here in Springfield. We look forward to your quick and safe return to the Great State of Illinois." Pistilli sent the American Ex-POW Association the letter as proof of his POW status. But a search of the Illinois State Archives revealed no such mention of Pistilli's heroics. (826) According to Pistilli's military record, he served with the regular Army as a specialist fourth class from June to, 1964 to May 31, 1970. A communications man, Pistilli was not Special Forces qualified, and he did not participate in secret missions. Pistilli's only overseas tour was in Korea, not Vietnam. And Pistilli most emphatically was never a POW. (827) The authors of Soldiers of Misfortune never bothered to check his record. Yet Pistilli's's tale is still being cited as reliable evidence that many American POWs were taken to the USSR and Eastern Europe... |
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Soldiers of Misfortune,
Washington's Secret Betrayla of American POWs in the Soviet Union SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE pages 242 - 243 ...The U.S. government would not have to wait long for confirmation that the Soviets had established an interrogation center in North Vietnam for select captured Americans. In the fall of 1965, Larry Pistilli was working special, classified missions, the kind where you have 'no ID, dog tags or other identification.' Having completed a mission in South Vietnam, he was on his way back to base when he 'saw a group of 9 Marines pinned down by Vietcong forces. Riding in I was able to make it to them while sustaining some injury. A single chopper came in to evac them but with all the wounded bodies and the VC walking in mortar rounds I waved the chopper off. A mortar round gave me a concussion and shrapnel wounds. When I came to I was roped up by the VC. Having no ID, dog tags or other identification, they took me to an interrogation camp between Dong Hoi and Ron Ron, North Vietnam,(8) which is south of Vinh in the northern panhancdle region. English-speaking Soviet and Red Chinese interrogators ran the center. After a month of expert communist interrogation and torture, Pistilli escaped during an air strike, along with three other Americans. They commandeered a French-made truck and drove it all out until "we broke an axle," then continued south on foot until "the North Vietnamese finally caught up to us but lost in some frantic hand-to-hand combat."(9) Continuing south they eventually
'stumbled onto a South Vietnamese Ranger outfit that took us all back to
an Army post." They were immediately separated and 'sent for a
classified debriefing." When asked to describe a "classified
debriefing," he would only comment that the techniques used by the
debriefers were similar to those used by the communists, only shorter in
duration, to ensure that the person being questioned revealed all
classified information that he had given to the enemy. (10) Three
of the escapees had already received their marching orders. They
had been selected by the Red Chinese and were preparing for the trip
north when the escape occurred. Like the other American POWs who
entered this interrogation center, Pistilli and his friends had a rather
bleak future: "China, |
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