Maison Centrale in Hanoi, also known as Hoa Lo Prison and the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ housed Vietnamese revolutionaries and American POWs during the Vietnam War. The prison was built in Hanoi by the French, in dates ranging from 1886-1889 to 1898-1901, when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. The French called the prison Maison Centrale – literally, Central House, a traditional euphemism to denote prisons in France. It was located near Hanoi’s French Quarter. During the war, it housed the likes of Sen. John McCain, James Stockdale, Bud Day, and Bob Shumaker to name just a few. It is now common knowledge that the American POWs were regularly beaten and otherwise tortured during their tenure at the prison.
In an awards ceremony held in Rockwall, TX, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of their first mission, a few members of the former 6990th Security Squadron were awarded an actual construction brick from this infamous prison to recognize their significant contributions toward preventing many other young Americans having to suffer being imprisoned in this house of horrors. During the years 1967-1975, this highly decorated group of young airmen flew nearly 3,500 missions, amassing over 65,000 hours aboard US Air Force RC-135 aerial reconnaissance platforms designated Combat Apple. Most of these airmen were trained linguists and signals analysts. At the height of the war, it is estimated by the Defense Department that nearly 75% of the usable intelligence collected in Southeast Asia against North Vietnamese targets was done by the RC-135 Combat Apple.
A recipient of one of these bricks is a local Northwest Roanoke resident, Perry Keeton, who was a Vietnamese/Russian linguist credited with over 300 combat missions and 4,500 hours aboard the RC-135 platform. Keeton is a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 14 Oak Leaf Clusters. Mr. Keeton was made an honorary “Keeper of the Brick”.
The provenance of this brick recovered from the prison is as follows: In 1993, a senior American official in Hanoi was passing by the location of the prison, and noticed the ongoing destruction of a large portion of the prison to make way for new high-rise structures. Our benefactor stopped his car and proceeded to ask the demolition crew if he could have some of the bricks. The leader of the crew told him that he could have as many as he wanted because this unusable construction rubble was going to the dump anyway. It is an interesting case proving that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
The bricks themselves are common red-colored construction bricks measuring approximately eight inches in length, four inches in height, and three and a half inches thick. Each is marked by the abbreviation ‘F.C. & Cie’ and the word ‘Hanoi’. ‘F.C. & Cie’ was the trademark of a French silversmith and stands for the Foret Collin and Company. Since it is thoroughly documented that this company, Foret Collin and Company, manufactured all the metal features of the prison – doors and prison bars – it is apparent that it actually produced all the materials, including the brick molds needed to construct the Maison Centrale prison around the beginning of the 20′” Century. Based on the kiln marks and the French spelling of Hanoi, it is logical to presume that Foret Collin Company provided the molds to a local contractor to manufacture all of the bricks. Older Vietnamese people in the area interviewed when these bricks were recovered indicated that they had been told years ago that the actual brick kiln was located in the center courtyard of what became the Maison Centrale.
In selecting the bricks, our benefactor chose only those bricks with the visible kiln marks. Both Ambassador ‘Pete’ Petersen, the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam following the Vietnam War and Senator John McCain, who was a Navy pilot shot down over Vietnam, are recipients of one of these bricks as well as other former American POWs held in Vietnam, and a number of Air Force Vietnamese linguists.
These bricks are truly symbolic of the courage, service and sacrifice not only of our POWs, but also the millions of American veterans that answered their country’s call-to-duty during the Vietnam War including the more than three hundred Vietnamese linguists of the United States armed services that perished in the conflict.
Article submitted by Rick Hayes, Jill Walker, Tony & Kris Keeton
