A Hero in a Hot Tub

After spending some time hiking the shores of Table Rock Lake State Park south of Branson this morning, a trip to the outside hot tub where we are staying sounded pretty good.   The  temperature outside was near 80 degrees on this spectacularly beautiful late October day as my wife and I eased into the bubbling 100 degree water of the hot tub.  Except for one couple lounging on chaise lounges, the area was deserted.  My wife kept a wary eye out for wasps circling the water as I corralled the occasional leaves that floated on the surface. 

With about 3 minutes remaining on our 15 minute hot tub bubble timer, another couple joined us and put another 15 minutes on the timer. 

"Where you from?" I asked.

"Arizona" replied the man.

"Really?  I saw a license plate on the parking lot Monday that said "FORMER POW".   I thought it might be John McCain.  That wouldn't be you, would it?"  I asked.

Turns out it was. 

Not John McCain, but Jim Kula, former POW, and his wife, Jane.  And he was willing to share his story.

On July 29, 1972, five days after his first wedding anniversary with Jane, a missile removed the tail of the F-4 Phantom John was piloting over Vietnam.  He and his co-pilot ejected and were taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese when they hit the ground.  They were seperated and Jim was incarcerated at the Hỏa Lò Prison, better known as the "Hanoi Hilton".  Jim said he was never physically tortured, though the accomodations might suggest otherwise.  Later, he said, his captors told him his co-pilot didn't survive.  Turned out he did.  He was also told his wife was doing some things back home that were inappropriate for a faithful wife.  Turned out she wasn't. 

Jim was released on March 29, 1973, eight months of his life he would never get back.  He didn't dwell on that as we talked, but on the 8 YEARS some POW's were held.  Jim's fellow Arizona resident John McCain was released on March 14, 1973 after serving 5 1/2 years as a POW, including two years in solitary confinement.  Jim said the torture earlier POW's, including John McCain, had experienced,  had received international publicity that had embarrassed the North Vietnamese and resulted in more humane treatment for later POW's like himself.

Jim and Jane were in Branson for the first time, just like Joe & Terry, our Aussie relatives traveling with us.  In 2011, Joe and Terry had visited the North Vietnamese prison where Jim had been held. As we talked, more coincidences began to unfold.  Jim and Jane would be in Oklahoma City Saturday night for a wedding.  We would also be in Oklahoma City Saturday night on our way to the Grand Canyon for some hiking.  Jim & Jane live in Prescott, 129 miles from the Grand Canyon.  On their way to Missouri,  Jim & Jane stopped in the tiny Oklahoma town of Bluejacket where Jane once had relatives.  My wife and I visited the Bluejacket cemetery in 2009 to locate some the graves of some of my wife's relatives who had lived and died in Bluejacket.  There is no longer a store in Bluejacket so residents there shop in either Miami or Vinita.  My brother was born in Miami.  I was born in Vinita.  I expect if we had talked longer we would have discovered they were probably distant relatives. 

We invited them to visit Jefferson City.  It may never happen.  But then again, it just might.

If you'd like to read more about Jim's experience as a POW, here are a couple of links I found while I was writing this blog:

http://journalrecord.com/tinkertakeoff/2003/09/26/brothers-recount-pow-experience/

http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=27880

As we talked, the couple who had been at the hot tub when my wife and I arrived got up to leave. 

"Just thought you might want to know" said the wife.  "We're from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, not too far from Bluejacket."   Turns out my wife and I were in Bartlesville for a family reunion last March. 

The beat goes on.

 



Prisoner of War Medal awarded to Jim Kula