Eight years in “Hanoi Hilton;” hear ex-POW at Freedom Museum on Sept. 8

As part of the Freedom Museum’s Prisoner of War (POW) month activities, Retired Navy Admiral Robert Shumaker, will speak at the Museum on Sept. 8, about his experiences as a POW in Vietnam. 

The free presentation will be from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. at the Museum, in the Manassas Airport Terminal, 10600 Harry Parrish Blvd., Manassas, VA 20110.

Admiral Shumaker, a US Naval Academy graduate, and Naval aviator, was shot down during a mission over North Vietnam. 

He spent eight years as a POW with the vast majority of that time in the infamous prison camp known as the “Hanoi Hilton.” 

After his imprisonment and suffering multiple torture sessions and solitary confinement, he returned to the USA to earn a doctorate degree in electrical engineering.

During his career, he was the project manager for tactical missiles, became the head of the Naval Postgraduate School, and then became responsible for coordinating the research efforts of the Navy’s air, surface, electronics and space activities. 

After retiring from the Navy, he became an assistant dean at the George Washington University and later associate dean at the University of North Dakota.  He retired in 1991 and then built an experimental aircraft in which he flew to Alaska and other exotic locations.

Admiral Shumaker’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, four Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. 

His POW experience has been documented in a book entitled “Defiant” by Alvin Townley. 

He and his wife now live in Fairfax Station, where his hobbies are golfing and flying. 

For further information and directions to the museum, visit http://www.freedommuseum.org