ADM James Stockdale dead at 81

[SparrowHawk62]

War hero, politician James Stockdale dead at 81
POW, Medal of Honor winner ran for vice president on Perot ticket in ?92.

Updated: 8:49 p.m. ET July 5, 2005
WASHINGTON - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot?s running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer?s disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.

In the 1992 presidential election, Stockdale became independent candidate Perot?s vice presidential running mate, initially as a stand-in on the ticket but later as the candidate.

Stockdale was born in Abingdon, Ill., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947.

Highest-ranking Navy officer captured in Vietnam
During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

He endured more than 7 1/2 years as a prisoner, spending four of them in solitary confinement, before his release in 1973. He was tortured repeatedly, according to the Navy.

Stockdale received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation?s highest medal for valor, in 1976. A portion of his award citation reads: ?Stockdale ... deliberately inflicted a near mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated their employment of excessive harassment and torture of all prisoners of war.?

He retired from the military in 1979.

Survivors include his wife, Sybil, and four sons.

? 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[SparrowHawk62]

POW and VP Candidate Stockdale Buried

Updated: 4:13 p.m. ET July 23, 2005
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Retired Navy Vice Adm. James Stockdale, one of the country's most decorated Vietnam war veterans and a one-time vice presidential candidate, was buried Saturday at the Naval Academy.

About 500 people, including several Medal of Honor recipients and fellow former prisoners of war, attended the funeral for Stockdale, who died on July 5 at his home in Coronado, Calif. Stockdale, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was 81.

The 12 honorary pall bearers included Arizona Sen. John McCain, also a Naval Academy graduate and POW during the Vietnam War, and Texas billionaire Ross Perot, the third-party presidential candidate who chose Stockdale as his running mate during his run for the White House in 1992.

Stockdale endured 7 1/2 years as a POW at North Vietnam's infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison and spent four of those years in solitary confinement.

He received the Medal of Honor in 1976 for his resistance, which included beating himself in the face with a wooden stool so he would be too disfigured for the North Vietnamese to display on television.

"His resistance has become an example, a legend and a model" for young officers, said retired Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a friend of Stockdale's. "His captors soon learned they were dealing with a rather unusual man."

He retired from the military in 1979, one of the most highly decorated officers in U.S. Navy history, and became president of the Citadel, the military college in South Carolina. He left in 1981 to become a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

Stockdale is survived by his wife, four sons and eight grandchildren.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press

[Jerry D]

our condolances to his Family and RIP ADM James Stockdale