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 Photo courtesy of C.M. Readinger |
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| Name: | Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond |
| Rank/Branch: | E4/US Marine Corps |
| Unit: | 2D, CAG III, MAF |
| Date of Birth (DOB): | 26 April 1946 |
| Home City of Record: | Detroit, MI |
| Loss Date: | 08 February 1968 |
| Country of Loss: | South Vietnam |
| Loss Coordinates: | 155900N 1081200E (BT023703) |
| Status (in 1973): | Prisoner/Killed in Captivity |
| Category: | 1 |
| Acft/Vehicle/Ground: | ground |
| Refno: | 1042 |
| Other Personnel in Incident: | Joseph S. Zawtocki (remains returned) |
| Source: | Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998. |
| Remarks: | 700308 DIC - KUSHNER |
Synopsis:
For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema. The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S. troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes. Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.
In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten. The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.
From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed in more horrible ways.
Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.
continued on next page All Biographical & loss information on POWs provided by OpJC have been supplied by Chuck & Mary Schantag of POWNET.
Please check with POWNET regularly for updates.
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DENNIS WAYNE HAMMOND SSGT - E5 - Marine Corps - Regular 23 year old Single, Caucasian, Male Date of Birth - Apr 26, 1946 From DETROIT, MICHIGAN His tour of duty began on Feb 08, 1968 Casualty was on Mar 07, 1970 in QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM Hostile, died captured GROUND CASUALTY, OTHER CAUSES Body was not recovered Religion - PROTESTANT Panel 38E - - Line 29 |
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Source: The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page. |
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