DOUGLAS BRENT HEGDAHL

Good people, in 1965, the Vietnam war had really propelled. There was a team in the Pacific, American troops. The sailors were there going about their business, unfortunately, in the midst of the war, as they are firing their cannons, from their warships, a cannon was fired, throwing one of the servicemen overboard. From the ship into the waters. This was a young soldier by the name Douglas Brent Hegdahl. Douglas Hegdahl, was thrown into the waters, but I guess visibility was not at hundred percent. They really tried looking for him, nothing, they didn't find him. They accepted the outcome, and they accepted that they had lost one of them. And they went on with their business. Douglas Hegdahl would float on water, for the next 12 hours. Until, Cambodian fishermen found him there. They got him from the water and put him on their boat, and they rushed him to the shores. Unfortunately for Douglas, after the Cambodians rushed him to the shores, they handed him over to the Vietnamese Army. And they were the enemy. So of course the Vietnamese took him and questioned him. Of course he gave the story of how he fell into the water. But they didn't believe him. They knew he was a member of the CIA spying on them. They tried to force him to write statements and the like. But Douglas was smart. He pretended to not be fully sane. He would hold the pen in a funny manner, he couldn't read or write. By the way one of the soldiers observed Douglas and told his colleagues, this guy, is not hundred percent sane. Let's try teach him how to read and write. The we will use him as our propaganda tool. A tutor was assigned to him while there. The Vietnamese tried his best with Douglas. The guy was one step away from drooling. His IQ was very low. Extremely low. The tutor reported that, Your American soldier is not fully sane. Clinically, he is not okay. we will have to throw him in prison, so he can help with the odd jobs. Maybe sweep around. Because that's the only thing he can do. He can't be tasked with a job that requires one to be sound of mind. And that was it. He became one of the prisoners of war. He was put in one of the prisons in Vietnam that was housing other American soldiers, who were in captivity. While he was in there, the guy was not sleeping. He mastered all the American soldiers that were in that prison. Him not being able to write was all a lie. The guy was at work, a brilliant actor. And a very sharp one at that. This guy memorized the names of 256 soldiers of American origin in the prison. And what kept him adding these names is, he came up with mnemonics. Mnemonics are the things we used to cram things, like composing a song. The mnemonics he used are from the song - Old MacDonald. ♪Old MacDonald had a farm Ee i ee i o♪ He changes the lyrics and replaced them with the names of the soldiers. All 256 of them. That is how he memorized all the people. So after sometime, the Vietnamese had to release him because he was of no use. He was not mentally well. Or so they thought. So, they let him go. At first, there's a pact among the American soldiers that, when captured, you can't release some and leave others behind. If you're releasing one, you'll have to release the rest. If that's not possible, don’t let others go, hold them all. When he was released, he refused, he didn't want to leave his people. But eventually, I think he thought that, By the way, it would be of much more benefit, to these other soldiers if I were the one to leave. Because I have their information and I'll inform the others. He was released, he was returned back to the States and he presented the names of all the 256 men. And that is exactly how those men were able to be saved from the Vietnamese Army. Thanks to Douglas Hegdahl. One genius. Shout-out to him.