James Stockdale

By: Haley Sembaluk

Vice Admiral

Early Years Born in Abingdon, Illinois on December 23, 1923.

Participated in track, football, and basket ball.

Won a regional piano championship.

Graduated from high school second in his class.

James with his father Vernon

Military Career

Attended Monmouth College for a brief period in 1946

Attended Naval Academy, graduated 1947

Flight Training in Pensacola, Florida

In 1954 accepted into Navy Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland

Served as instructor at the Navy Test Pilot School

In 1962 earned masters degree in International Relations and Marxist Theory from Stanford University

1960, commanded a Navy Fighter Squadron

Vietnam Experiences

In August 1964 the Johnson Administration invoked attacks on U.S. navy vessels to justify a large scale military response.

Stockdale said, "I flew so low there was salt spray on the windshield, and I still didn't see a thing!" He maintained that he never saw enemy ships.

Soon after he was ordered to lead the first attack on North Vietnamese oil refineries.

On September 9, 1965 James’s Skyhawk was hit by antiaircraft and was forced to eject. He broke his back during the ejection and broke his knee on landing.

James was captured and held in Hoa Lo Prison for seven years. He was the highest ranking naval officer in the prison.

The Vietnamese wanted to use him for propaganda, and parade him in public, but he defiled his face so that he wasn’t recognizable.

He was kept in solitary confinement, was tortured and kept in leg irons for extended periods of time. He was also malnourished and denied medical care.

Stockdale drew from stoic philosophy (emotional indifference), which he learned in university, to help him through his ordeal. His promise to his father to become the best midshipman in the Naval Academy also helped him.

While in prison Stockdale managed to communicate with the other prisoners and provide support to them.

Later when he learned other prisoners had died during torture he slashed his wrists saying he would rather die than submit to his captors.

AwardsMetal of Honor - 1976Navy Distinguished Service Metal (3)Silver Star (4)Legion of Merit (with combat V)Distinguished Flying Cross (2)Bronze Star (2) (with combat V)Air MetalPurple Heart (2)Prisoner of War Metal

After his Release on Feb 12, 1973…

James and his wife, Sybil, co-authored In Love and War.

Served as President of the Naval War College.

Retired in 1987.Became a Senior

Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute of War for fifteen years.

Wrote numerous articles: Ten Years of Reflection, Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot, etc. He accepted eleven doctoral degrees and lectured on the stoicism on Epictetus.

In 1992 he ran as a vice presidential candidate of the Reform Party.

Conclusion James died at 81 on

July 5, 2005 due to Alzheimer's disease.

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

The Vice Admiral Stockdale Award is granted annually for the inspirational leadership.

The Navy honored him by naming a missile destroyer in his name. The U.S.S. Stockdale.

Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale

The Official Website for Admiral James Stockdale http://www.admiralstockdale.com

Academy of Achievement http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/sto0bio-1

Talking Proud!http://www.talkingproud.us/Culture072505.html

The Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/06/AR2005070600231.html

Bibliography

January 5, 2010