A Tribute to Former Vietnam War POW Ted Guy
by U.S. Senator Bob Smith

April 29, 1999

In the Senate of the United States

TED GUY, AN AMERICAN HERO

MR. SMITH of New Hampshire: Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Retired Colonel Theodore Wilson Guy, United States Air Force, from Missouri. Ted Guy, nicknamed "The Hawk" by those who knew him best, was a genuine American hero. He was best known for having sacrificed his freedom for his country as a U.S. POW during the Vietnam War, but aside from being a hero, he was also a husband, father, brother, and a friend to many, including myself. Last Friday, April 23, 1999, he passed away only six-months after discovering symptoms associated with Leukemia.

I will always remember Ted Guy for the encouraging faxes and e-mails he used to send to my office, especially during the investigation conducted by the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs which I co-chaired in the early 1990s. I gained strength from the inspiring messages of this true American hero. Ted felt very strongly that our Government needed to do more to account for his missing comrades from the Vietnam War, and he traveled at his own expense to Washington D.C. to the halls of Congress to make his point.

Ted was right to be concerned about our Government's handling of the POW/MIA issue. And with his support, and the support of his fellow veterans and family members of POWs and MIAs, we've made significant progress in opening the books, declassifying records, and pressing foreign governments for answers over the last decade. However, as Ted continued to maintain up until his last days with us, there is still much work to do with our accounting effort, and I, for one, am committed to seeing this issue through, in part, because of people like Ted.

Let me say to the youth of America, if you want role models to aspire to, they just don't come any better than men like Ted Guy.

Ted joined the Air Force in 1947 and served his country as an Air Force fighter jock for the next 26 years. He served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, flying the F-84 in the Korean theater of operations, and the F-4 in the Vietnam theater. On March 22, 1968, while attacking an automatic weapons position near the Vietnamese/Laotian border during the battle of Khe Sanh, Ted's plane was shot down, and he was captured by communist forces.

Ted was subsequently marched up the Ho Chi Minh trail, and then held in several POW camps in the Hanoi area, to include the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He was brutally tortured by the North Vietnamese, to the point where he would pass out from severe beatings. He was also forced to spend nearly four years in solitary confinement.

When he was finally removed from solitary confinement, he was put in a prison with more than a hundred other U.S. military and civilian prisoners. He became the senior officer among them and was responsible for maintaining order, chain of command, and the code of conduct among his fellow POWs.

His leadership and guidance helped his fellow POWs survive their ordeal. Many of them referred to themselves as "Hawk's Heroes" in honor of Ted Guy.

To the code of conduct, Ted added his own personal code that consisted of two points. The first point was to resist until unable to resist any longer before doing anything to embarrass his family or country.

The second point was to accept death before losing his honor.

Ted once said "honor is something that once you lose it you become like an insect in the jungle. You prey upon others and others prey upon you until there is nothing left. Once you lose your honor, all the gold in the world is useless in your attempt to regain it."

Mr. President, Ted never, never lost his honor. What an inspiration he was to all Americans.

He leaves behind his wife Linda of 26 years, his four sons and two step daughters. He has touched so many more people, however, with his unselfish and patriotic sacrifices for America and his heartfelt concerns about efforts to account for his missing comrades from the Vietnam War who never made it home. I was proud to call him a friend, and I will miss him.

As with other POWs, Ted used a tap code in Hanoi to communicate through the walls with other POWs. It was an alphabet matrix, five lines across, five lines down. Ted used to end his messages by tapping the code GBU for "God bless you," and CUL for "see you later."

Today, I'd like to end my tribute with the same message to Ted, "GBU, CUL."

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that tributes to Ted Guy from his son, his POW/MIA supporters, and his dear friend and fellow POW, Swede Larson, be entered in the record immediately following my remarks, along with the obituary carried in his local paper.

Thank you, Mr. President.

POW-MIA INTERNETWORK TRIBUTE TO TED GUY

Re: Colonel Ted 'Hawk' Guy Passes
Date: April 25, 1999

From the flight lines of Korea and Vietnam, to a cell in the Hanoi Hilton, to the hallowed halls of Congress... Ted Guy never failed to speak his mind, do his job and command respect, awe and admiration from all who crossed his path.

And now he has passed on to a final freedom and peace.

After duty in Korea and stateside, he was transferred to Vietnam where he bailed out over Laos after one of his bombs prematurely exploded and was captured by the North Vietnamese. From the jungles of Laos, Ted was marched to Hanoi, repeatedly exposed along the way to Agent Orange. Upon reaching the Hanoi Hilton, he spent 3 years in solitary confinement and upon release to the general population, assumed his role as Senior POW Officer (SRO).

He was badly beaten, tortured and as a result of extreme mistreatment during captivity, he was retired shortly after his release during Operation Homecoming.

Ted rallied family members, activists and Ex-POWs the same way he rallied his men... With compassion, strength and passion. He openly spoke of his confinement, the politics of POWs and was a resounding voice of reason in an unreasonable issue and world.

The continued saturation of Agent Orange took its final toll... Ted was diagnosed with Leukemia as a result of AO exposure and within a scant 6 months, passed from this world.

There are no words to express how much he is respected and how much he will be missed. His voice may have been silenced, but his message will endure.

In closing he always signed his letters and emails to us with the POW tap code, GBU and CUL, and we were and we did... and we will, one day.

May your flight be swift and the winds carry you high Ted GBU -CUL

All of us in the POW/MIA issue will miss him. We have lost a dear friend and our POW's have lost a strong advocate.

A MESSAGE FROM COL "SWEDE" LARSON, FORMER POW -HANOI VIETNAM

It is with deep regret, that I inform you of the death of Col. Ted Guy. He passed away today, 23 April 1999, from complications associated with Leukemia. He only lived 6 months from the time of his first symptoms. He is survived by his wife Linda, two step daughters, four son's, and a brother.

Since most of you did not know Ted, and a few misunderstood him, I am going to ask your indulgence, and tell you a little about him, since I was his very close friend for 44 years.

We first met at Luke Air Force base in 1955 as young Captains instructing fighter gunnery. He had previously completed a combat tour in Korea, flying F-84's. He and I had three things in common. We both loved to fly, party, and fish. Over the years we stayed in close touch, and after his retirement, we fished together many times.

He was assigned to South Vietnam in F-4's while I was in Thailand flying out-country missions, in F-105's. When he showed up in Hanoi, I couldn't fathom how he had gotten there. After we were released, I learned that he was shot down during the battle at Khe Sanh, bailed out and captured in Laos by the North Vietnamese (they were never in Laos! -yah, right!). On the second day of his capture while he was starting his walk to Hanoi, he was heavily sprayed with Agent Orange.

In the ensuing days, he walked through many areas that had been previously defoliated.

As he was captured in Laos, he was kept away from the rest of us and spent his first 3 years in solitary confinement. He was then put in with the 100 plus, Army and civilian prisoners and was the Senior Officer. He had his hands full with a group of very young, non-motivated and rebellious enlisted men. Unlike our group, (after the death of HO), he was badly treated by his captors, almost up to our release. He was badly beaten during this time for acting as SRO and on one occasion, suffered severe head injuries, which several years later resulted in his being medically discharged from the service. He had been on the "fast track" prior to shoot down, and had been promoted to Lt. Col. below the zone. To my knowledge, he was the only POW promoted (to 06) below the zone while a POW. Those concussions he suffered forced his early retirement.

He was not an active member of our group, primarily because he did not know or serve with any of us in Hanoi. He also felt that even though our group elected to be non-political, we should have made an exception and taken a prominent stand as a potential powerful lobby group, to demand a full accounting of the MIA's. He was an individual of deep loyalties, and a boundless love of his country and flag. He stood up tall against those he felt were in the wrong.

His medical specialists felt that his Leukemia was a direct result of his repeated heavy exposures to Agent Orange. The Veterans Administration however, in their infinite wisdom felt otherwise, and denied his emergency claim for Agent Orange disabilities. (Hence no DIC for his wife).

He ended up loosing a promising military career and suffered an early end to his life, in his service to his country. I shall truly miss him. Thanks for your indulgence.

GBU Ted.
SWEDE LARSON

Memorials are suggested to the Leukemia Society of America.

Internment for Col. Ted Guy will be in Arlington on Friday, 18 June at 1100 hours.