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Cmdr. Porter Halyburton Will Present “Reflections on Captivity”
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will host its annual Amelia Earhart Lecture in Aviation History Wednesday, May 21, from 8–9 p.m. at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, and online. This year’s presenter is Cmdr. Porter Halyburton, a naval officer during the Vietnam War who will give a candid talk about his seven years as a prisoner of war.
Sixty years ago this fall, Halyburton’s McDonnell F-4B Phantom was struck by anti-aircraft artillery while flying over North Vietnam. The pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Stan Olmstead, was killed, and Halyburton, the radar intercept officer, ejected over enemy territory. Halyburton spent most of his seven years and four months as a POW in Hỏa Lò prison, infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton. Despite the physical and mental torture, meager diet and inadequate medical care that characterized life for the POWs, Halyburton and the hundreds of American pilots and aviators held at the prison formed a community, supporting each other and creating bonds that lasted long past their release in 1973.
Following the talk, Halyburton will sign copies of his book, Reflections on Captivity: A Tapestry of Stories by a Vietnam War POW, available for purchase from the museum’s store.
This program is made possible by the support of Pratt & Whitney: An RTX Business. For more information about the Amelia Earhart Lecture and to register, visit the museum’s website.
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Jefferson Drive between Fourth and Seventh streets S.W. and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but timed-entry passes are required to visit. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, timed-entry passes are not required, and parking is $15.
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