The Rest of the Story

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We could BARELY BEGIN to fathom what it must have been like as we watched them climb down the jet stairways. In February and March 1973, 591 U.S. prisoners of war came home from Vietnam. As they knelt on the tarmac or even kissed the ground as they touched mainland U.S. soil for the first time in years, we heard their horror stories. And we saw close-up what the years in North Vietnam’s infamous Hanoi Hilton or remote prison camps had done to the captured Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps men.

They came home to what one of the POWs now politely describes as a “particularly contentious time.” What most of them did then, when all was said and done, was to get on with their lives—moving forward with a nod to the past and a concept of their futures molded by their horrific experiences. It is those futures—the rest of their lives—that are chronicled in a debut exhibit, August 29 through November 12 at the Coronado Museum of History & Art.

“Open Doors: Vietnam POWs 30 Years Later” is what writer Taylor Baldwin Kiland calls “the rest of the story.” She and partner Jamie Howren Quinn, both from third-generation military families, photographed and interviewed 30 former prisoners of war for a perspective on how they’ve lived—not in spite of their POW experiences, but because of what they learned about themselves.

“We were impressed with Taylor and Jamie’s concept of looking at the Vietnam experience from a positive angle, as well as presenting what amounts to oral histories,” says A. Page Harrington, executive director of the Coronado Museum of History & Art. Many of the returning POWs first touched mainland soil in San Diego. Some stayed for long careers and ultimately happy, productive lives. Nine of the 30 former POWs who were profiled and photographed for “Open Doors” remain county residents.

What surprised Kiland about her subjects was how many talked of childhood mentors whose words and actions kept them sane during their years of captivity, and how much their families are the cores of their lives today. “We think that’s a tremendous message,” Kiland says.

“I think [the exhibit] shows we were just ordinary people who went on to have a variety of lives,” says retired Navy Captain Render Crayton, now living in La Jolla. “Maybe we never gave up because we were a little older than most of the men in the war, perhaps with more education. We learned a lot from the men who had been POWs during the Korean war. I think most of the guys have very positive attitudes.”

That’s a message that will be delivered beyond Coronado. The Historical Association is managing the exhibit of still photographs and accompanying profiles as it goes to six other museums around the country over the next year and a half. Until November 12, it’s on view daily at 1100 Orange Avenue, Coronado (619-435-7242).

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