Richard A. Stratton

Captain Richard Allen Stratton USN (born October 14, 1931) is a retired Naval Aviator (No. V-11444) and clinical social worker. He served as a Lieutenant Commander during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1973. He was attached to the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14)/Air Wing 19/Attack Squadron VA-192 flying 22 combat missions earning two Air Medals and the Combat Action Ribbon. After capture by the North Vietnamese in January 5, 1967, he served with the Fourth Allied POW Wing, Hanoi, DRVN. He earned the Silver Star for his valor and leadership while a prisoner of war. His post service career was as a clinical social worker licensed to practice in Rhode Island and Florida and a national certified addiction counselor, Level I. He served as the Chairman, Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War from 1989 to 1995.

Early life and education

Stratton was born on October 14, 1931, in Quincy, Massachusetts. His father was Charles Arthur Stratton (1902–1975) of South Boston, Massachusetts, a veteran of WW I (U.S. Navy) and WW II (Massachusetts State Guard). His mother was Mary Loretta (Hoar) Stratton (1903–1989) of Somerville, Massachusetts. His brother was Charles A. Stratton Jr. (1930–1988), a Veteran of the Korean War Era (U. S. Marine Corps). Stratton attended the Quincy, Massachusetts public schools (1937–1948) and Our Lady of Hope Minor Seminary (1949–1951), Newburg, New York. He joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1951, completing his novitiate in Ipswich, Massachusetts in (1952). He studied philosophy at the Oblate College, Washington, D.C. (1952–1954). Leaving the seminary he graduated from Georgetown University (1955) with AB Degree in History/Government. He earned a Master of Arts degree (International Relations) from Stanford University (1964) and a Master of Social Work degree from the Rhode Island College School of Social Work (1988). He developed an early interest in aviation with initial visits in the mid-1930s to Dennison’s Airport (Squantum), Quincy, Massachusetts, the home of the Harvard Aero Club and host to such luminaries as Amelia Earhart. During his high school years this interest was further developed as he closely observed the intensive training activities of aircraft based at the Naval Air Station Squantum, (Quincy Massachusetts) during WW II, observed aircraft carrier launchings at the Fore River Shipyard (Quincy, Massachusetts) and maintained contact with neighbors then serving in the Armed Forces.

Military career

Pre-Vietnam

During high school Stratton enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard (1947–1948) [211 Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) – First Corps Cadets]. He served as mortar squad leader and was discharged as a private first class to enter the minor seminary.

Upon graduation from college (1955) he enlisted in the Navy as a naval aviation cadet commencing the U.S. Naval School of Preflight with class 19-55. He was commissioned ensign, USNR-R upon completing Preflight. He received his flight training with CNABATRA in the Pensacola Naval complex, making his initial carrier qualification on the USS Saipan (CVL-48) in the North American SNJ-5 on July 27, 1956.

He commenced his advanced flight training with CNAVANTRA, Corpus Christi, Texas, flying out of Naval Air Station Chase Field, Beeville, Texas, in TV-2, F9F-2 and F9F-8 aircraft. Upon receiving his wings in 1957, he received a regular commission and was retained in ATU-203 as an instructor. In 1958 he received orders to Attack Squadron Ninety-Four (VA-94) home ported at NAS Alameda, California. Flying the FJ-4 (Fury) and then the A4D Skyhawk he made two deployments to the Far East on board the USS Ranger (CV-61) attached to Carrier Air Group Nine. His squadron callsign was “Cyrano”. From 1962 to 1964 he was assigned to the NROTC Unit Stanford for postgraduate studies in International Relations under Professor James T. Watkins IV. He accomplished his proficiency flying at NAS Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, California, flying TV-2 and SNB aircraft.

Vietnam War (1964-1975)

Pre-deployment

In 1964 Stratton was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and assigned as Aide and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director, Joint Strategic Planning Staff, SAC, Offutt AFB, Nebraska. He maintained his aviation qualifications flying USAF T-33 aircraft out of Offutt. Upon completion of that tour of duty in 1966 he was ordered to VA-125, the light attack replacement air group, NAS Lemoore, California, for refresher training in the A4 Skyhawk.

That summer he joined Attack Squadron One Ninety Two (VA-192) as Maintenance Officer and light attack aviator. In October 1966, His callsign was “The Beak”. VA-192 joined Carrier Air Wing Nineteen on board the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) for a deployment to the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea. He left his family in Hanford, California, on October 11, 1966. During the squadron’s first forty days on the line in combat, he accumulated 21 combat missions.

Prisoner of war and “The Stratton Incident”

Stratton was flying an A-4 Skyhawk on January 5, 1967, as part of an armed reconnaissance mission over Thanh Hóa Province to bomb the My Trach ferry. When the ferry could not be found, Stratton spotted a set of barges one mile further upriver and rolled in to attack the craft with rockets. Stratton was forced to eject from his plane when debris was ingested into the engine. According to Stratton he was shot down when the missile he fired from his wing dropped away as it was designed however failed to ignite its engine until it was behind him. Then when the missile engine started the heat seeker locked onto his exhaust trail and he shot himself down. When telling this story he chuckled about adding this to his record of number of aircraft shot down. He was captured shortly after parachuting to the ground.^[1] Despite the fact that North Vietnam had marched captive POWs through the streets of Hanoi surrounded by a jeering abusive population, the State Department did not feel that it had enough proof to accuse the North Vietnamese of abusing the prisoners. There was enough evidence however to convince aviators that they would be subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Having obtained a visa while in Cuba, American photojournalist Lee Lockwood arranged a trip to North Vietnam in 1967, making him the first Western journalist to visit the country in nearly a decade. While there, the North Vietnamese presented a confession read by Stratton, attacking U.S. military action in the region. Lockwood described Stratton as "looking like a puppet" whose "eyes were empty". The photos that Lockwood took on the trip became the material for "North Vietnam Under Siege", an article that appeared in the April 7, 1967, edition of Life magazine, which included a widely distributed picture of Stratton in prison garb bowing deeply as ordered by a North Vietnamese officer.^[2][3] Robert J. McCloskey of the U.S. Department of State cited Lockwood's material about Stratton as evidence that North Vietnam was brainwashing prisoners for propaganda purposes.^[4]

In the Department of Defense history of the Vietnam POW situation, “The Long Road Home”, the author, Vernon Davis, in a section labeled “The Stratton Incident” recounts the worldwide revulsion engendered by the incident and the eventual decision of the USG to go public with POW mistreatment.

Stratton was not brainwashed or drugged. The tape recorded “statement” was the product of torture. Stratton used the Lockwood press conference to perform in such a way that it would raise doubt and confusion regarding the so-called confession to the discredit of his captors. His nom de guerre while attached to the 4th Allied POW Wing in Hanoi changed frequently to confuse his captors: “Dick”; “Penis”, “Wiz” (Wizard). He served under the direction of Cdr. James Bond Stockdale (MOH), the Senior Officer Present - Navy. A full account of Stratton’s prison experience is contained in Scott Blakey’s biography. “Prisoner at War” and his oral history, U.S. Naval Institute.

Operation Homecoming

Stratton was released on March 4, 1973, at Hanoi’s Gia Lam Airport as part of the 2nd DRV Increment, Operation Homecoming, consisting of 108 POWs on three flights. He had been a prisoner for 2,251 days. While a prisoner, he had been promoted to the rank of commander. After being processed at the Clark Air Base Hospital, the Philippines, he arrived back in the United States on March 8, 1973. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with V, the Bronze Star Medal with V, the Navy Commendation Medal with V, the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal for service as a prisoner of war.

Completing convalescent leave, he refreshed in the A4 at NAS Lemoore, California, and then reported for duty as Executive Officer, Naval Plant Representative Office, (Strategic Systems Project Office), Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California. He was selected for captain during this assignment.

Post Vietnam War

Stratton was assigned as Commanding Officer, Navy Recruiting District New York, East Meadow LI, New York, in 1975. From 1977 to 1979 he was Commander, Recruiting Area Five, Great Lakes NTS, North Chicago, Illinois. From 1979 to 1981 he was Deputy for Operations, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. His final active duty assignment was as Director, Naval Academy Preparatory School, NETC, Newport, Rhode Island, from 1981 to 1986.

Post retirement – second career

Upon his retirement in 1986 Stratton matriculated at the Rhode Island School of Social Work in pursuit of a career as a clinical social worker. He graduated in 1988, became licensed to practice in Rhode Island and specialized in children and families, addictions and PTSD. He qualified as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers and a national certified addiction counselor, Level I. Moving to Florida in 1993, he became licensed to practice in Florida and worked as a contract counselor retiring in 2001 after four years counseling sailors and their families at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, and Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

Family

Stratton and Alice Marie (Robertson) Stratton (1934- ) were married at the NAS Alameda, California, chapel April 4, 1959, with Dennis Kerrigan OMI as the celebrant. Alice, a graduate of the University of Michigan (MSW; 1957) and the University of Maryland (MS; 1982), is a career clinical social worker and was the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Personnel and Families (1985–1989), appointed by President Ronald Reagan and serving under Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Chase Untermeyer. Their oldest son Patrick Thomas Stratton (1962- ) is a graduate of the US Naval Academy (1987), a former Marine and veteran of the Persian Gulf War. Michael Francis Stratton (1963- ), their second son, is also a graduate of the US Naval Academy (1986), a former Marine and veteran of the Persian Gulf War. Their third son, Charles Arthur Stratton (1965- ) is a graduate of St. Anselm College (1988) and is 4th Degree Knight of Columbus. Richard and Alice have six granddaughters.

Additional facts

Stratton holds a FAA Commercial Pilot License (Single & Multi-Engine Land, Instrument and Glider ratings). He has accumulated over 3,000 single-engine jet flight hours and 300 carrier landings. He is a member of the following professional organizations: Association of Naval Aviation (#2479); Order of Daedalians (Named – 2153); Quiet Birdmen (#20441); The Tailhook Association (#2112); Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association; Naval Aviation Museum Foundation; Naval Academy Alumni Association (Associate). He is a member of numerous veterans’ organizations.

Notes and references

Documentary films

American Film Foundation Sanders + Mock Productions; 345 Adelaide Drive, Santa Monica, California, 90402; 1998 Return With Honor - Documentary; Freida Lee Mock & Terry Sanders http://www.americanfilmfoundation.com/order/return_with_honor.shtml

PBS KQED-TV, San Francisco, California; 1973 2,251 Days - Documentary; Scott Blakey, Joseph M. Russin & Blair Staap

Discovery Channel Normandy Films, 66 Dundee Drive Cheshire, Connecticut, 1997 Vietnam POWs: A Story of Survival – Documentary; Brian Leonard http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177338/

Resources

Anchor Press/Doubleday Garden City, New York 1978 Prisoner at War The Survival of Commander Richard A. Stratton; Scott Blakey

Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305 Richard A. Stratton papers 1953-2002: Stratton, Richard A. 1931 - ; Hoover Archives #75044 http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4088723

Library of Congress The Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE, Washington D.C. 20540-4615; 2003 Richard Allen Stratton Collection; (AFC/2001/001/31240), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/31240

P.O.W. Network Mary Schantag: P.O.W. Network, Box 68, Skidmore, Missouri, 64487 Stratton, Richard A. “Beak” http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/s/s122.htm

Veteran tributes Erich Anderson: Veteran Tributes, P.O. Box 3012, Gulfport Mississippi, 39505 Richard A. Stratton http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.asp?ID=10

U.S. Naval Institute - oral history U.S. Naval Institute, U. S. Naval Academy, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21402 1975 Vietnam POWs Interviews; Volume I; Stratton, Richard A. (1931- ); Commander, U. S, Navy http://www.usni.org/heritage/pow

Bibliography

Davis, Vernon E. The Long Road Home: U.S. Prisoner of War Policy And Planning in Southeast Asia Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington D.C. 2000

Hubbell, John G. in association with Jones, Andrew and Tomlinson, Kenneth Y. P.O.W.: A definitive History of the American Prisoner-of-War Experience in Vietnam, 1964-1973 Readers Digest Press, Distributed by Thomas Y. Crowell Company., New York 1976

McGrath, John M. “Mike” Prisoner of War: Six Years in Hanoi Naval Institute Press; USNI Annapolis Maryland 1975

Rochester, Stuart I and Kiley, Frederick Honor Bound: The History of American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973 Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington D.C. 1998

Rochester, Stuart I. The Battle Behind Bars: Navy and Marine POWs in the Vietnam War Naval History & Heritage Command, Department of the Navy, Washington D.C. 2010 The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War Marolda, Edward J. and Doyle, Sandra J. Series Editors

Wyatt, Frederick & Barbara We Came Home P.O.W. Publications, Toluca Lake, California, 1977