Operation KINGPIN: the Son Tay Raid succeeds

[Matt Wiser]

Operation KINGPIN was the code name for the famous Son Tay Raid in NVN on 21 Nov 1970, with the objective of raiding the Son Tay Prison and freeing the 55 POWs held there. Although no prisoners were rescued (they had been moved several weeks earlier, and U.S. intelligence hadn't picked up the move), the raid forced the NVN to close outlying POW lockups and move all POWs to three prisons in Hanoi proper. But WI the raid had succeeded? While the peaceniks could claim that claims of torture by two POWs who had accepted early release were "exaggerations or fabrications", how about 55 USAF, USN, and USMC aircrews going in front of the cameras within a week of being rescued, and telling not only what had happened to them, but what they knew had happened to others in other prisons? Certainly the NVN will be on the spot internationally, and the "useful idiots" will have to either admit they've been falling for NVN lies hook, line, and sinker, or they will have to shut up. Any thoughts?

 

[Orville_third]

It may not change much of the opinion about the war in regards to torture. While torture could be documented, the war opponents could potentially point to torture on the other side.
What it would do would provide a boost to the morale of the general public in regards to Vietnam, and give a number of former prisoners a chance to return home to a hero's welcome. In addition, it would improve the chance of funding for Special Operations.
One thing that could go either way would be the situation for the remaining prisoners. They could get moved to Hanoi, or someplace even more secure. (They may also suffer reprisals...) And, after Vietnam, the Army may ask "Bull" Simons to stay on, which could result in Ross Perot looking for someone else... and possibly no Gasr Prison breakout.

 

[Matt Wiser]

The NVN did react to the raid by moving all the POWs held outside Hanoi into lockups in the city proper, but reprisals after a successful mission, I doubt it, as torture had by and large ended for most POWs after Ho died in Sep '69. The NVN did in 1972 move some 200 POWs to a prison only five miles from the PRC border, after LINEBACKER I got going, but treatment for the most part was good, compared to the horrors of 1965-69. The prison for POWs moved up the trail from SVN (Plantation Gardens or Citadel) was the exception: torture remained in vogue until Jan '72. As far as Bull Simons, he reached retirement age in 1974, so Ross Perot would've still had him available for his Iran caper. If Simons hadn't died of a heart attack in the Summer of '79, he would have been consulted for EAGLE CLAW, the hostage rescue in Iran, though. The Peaceniks and the NVN would've been on the defensive, as the rescued POWs tell their stories, and it might have convinced the NVN to allow Red Cross inspections of the POW prisons.