Mormon Prisoner of War Tells of Experiences During 7-Year Captivity

Among the first prisoners of war released by the North Vietnamese following the ceasefire in Indochina was Captain Larry J. Chesley, a Latter-day Saint from Burley, Idaho.

Captain Chesley, 34, was a prisoner for almost seven years. He has been in the United States Air Force for more than thirteen years, and had been in Vietnam for four months when his aircraft was shot down and he was captured. He was stationed at Ybon where he served as a Sunday School teacher.

On his return to the United States, Captain Chesley underwent a period of recuperation at Travis Air Force Base in California. He was joined there by members of his family, and it was from there that he spoke to the Ensign.

“I was a prisoner for 2,498 days, almost six years and ten months. The thing that really kept me going was my family, knowing that they loved me and that they cared for me.

“It was also a great comfort to reflect on the patriarchal blessing I received when I was fourteen. I was promised then that should I be called into the service, no matter what may come or what may go, I would be returned to my family.

“I was sustained also by the memories of the leaders I had had in priesthood and in Scouting. Among those who meant a great deal to me are Lee Gamble, Jimmy Page, Robert Ramsey, and, of course, my father. I could recall those days as the most enjoyable of my life as a young man.”

Captain Chesley said that he was on an early evening mission over southern North Vietnam when his aircraft was hit.

“I was captured immediately, but it took 21 days for the North Vietnamese to get me to Hanoi. I remained in that area all the time I was a prisoner. It took a long time to get to Hanoi because we only traveled at night, in trucks over bad roads.

“At the beginning I was in a room by myself, but later, as more prisoners moved into the camp, we began sharing prison space. Even when we were individually confined we would hold church services together. With the person on the other side of the wall, I would kneel and we would say the Lord’s Prayer or the Twenty-third Psalm together, and then the pledge of allegiance to the United States.

“As more prisoners came into the camp, we were able to get together as a group for church services. We had a mixture of faiths there—Jews, Protestants, Catholics, and Mormons—and we took turns in presenting sermons. They were some of the most inspiring services I have ever heard.

“We shared something in common; we had a belief in God, and we had a belief in our country and in our leaders. When these boys come back and give thanks for their country, they really mean it. It was a sustaining influence in our lives.

“When I first arrived at the camp, I was the only Mormon, but later I did get to meet others. One of the greatest men I have ever met was Major J. Criddle Hess, a member from Bountiful, Utah. Every POW I spoke to said that Major Hess was the only person whom they had met in their entire life that they couldn’t make angry. He was always calm, no matter what happened.”

[At press time, Major Hess was not listed among those prisoners released by the North Vietnamese.]

Captain Chesley said that he prayed night and morning, and observed the Word of Wisdom “as far as possible. We were given tea to drink so it was a matter of having to, but otherwise I kept the Word of Wisdom.”

Captain Chesley said that for use in the nondenominational church services the prisoners held, he made a cross out of a towel and some handkerchiefs sewn together using a homemade needle and thread pulled from a blanket.

“That cross was uplifting for some of the men, and we would hang it up every time we met together for our church services. It has been turned over for possible display in the Air Force Historical Museum.”

Being out of touch with the world, Captain Chesley said he had a lot to catch up on. “I knew from my parents’ letters that President David O. McKay had died, and that made me feel very sorrowful, but it wasn’t until I got home that I learned that President Smith had died.

“The temples at Ogden and Provo will be new to me too, as well as the Church Office Building.”

Captain Chesley said that if there was one thing that sustained him during his seven-year ordeal, it was his family.

“Just to know that they loved me was a great strength. And I never questioned my patriarchal blessing. Even though it took almost seven years, I knew I would be back with my family some day.”

Of the reception that he and his colleagues received on their return to United States soil, Captain Chesley said, “This homecoming that we have received is almost beyond description. The love and care that we are receiving is just wonderful, and I can’t help thinking how much greater that love and care are going to be when we return to our Heavenly Father.”