Longest Held Pow Dies

[Advisor]

KEY WEST, Fla., July 17 (UPI) -- Retired Col. Floyd "Jimmy" Thompson, a Vietnam prisoner of war who was held longer than any other U.S. POW in history, died at his Key West apartment. He was 69.

The cause of his death Tuesday was unclear.

Thompson was a prisoner of war for nine years, from 1964 until 1973, but it took him 16 more years to be recognized as the nation's longest-held war prisoner.

He was captured in the north of South Vietnam while leading a 12-member intelligence mission. He took a reconnaissance flight, and his plane was shot down, said Charles Ingraham, a friend and director of the Veterans Affairs office in Key West.

The pilot was killed and Thompson was captured. He tried to escape five times but on the occasions he fled into the jungle, he was recaptured and tortured.

A book on his life, "Glory Denied" by Tom Philpott, said Thompson's wife and four children thought he was killed in action until military intelligence heard his voice on North Vietnamese radio. His wife continued to deny he was a prisoner and that led to a lack of recognition for the length of his imprisonment even after he was repatriated.

He also remained bitter about the opposition in this country to the Vietnam War.

Finally, in 1988 he was recognized by President Ronald Reagan at the White House and since then has been honored several times by Florida Govs. Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush.

"I was saddened to hear today about the death of our country's longest-held prisoner of war," Bush said Tuesday. "Col. Thompson's undying patriotism to his country will always be remembered."

Thompson was divorced upon his return from Vietnam and remarried, but that didn't work out, either.

Thompson is survived by his daughters Laura, Ruth and Pamela, and his son Floyd James Jr. Funeral arrangements are pending.