Ralph Galati said it was the support and guidance of his senior officers that helped him survive being a prisoner of war.
WALLINGFORD, Pennsylvania --The U.S. Air Force veteran was shot down in his F-4 Phantom jet during the Vietnam War and became a prisoner of war in 1972."We were the new era of POWs. There hadn't been any in four years because of the ceasefire, so when I got to Hanoi, most of the POWs had been there for five-plus years," said Galati.
"When I got out of solitary confinement and we started having roommates, everybody outranked me. I was blessed to be connected with senior military officers, not just in the Air Force, but the Navy and Marine Corps that were senior to me, outranked me, and older than me," he recalled. Galati was released in 1973 and has dedicated everything in his life since to honoring that sense of brotherhood and helping others.
"They would go to any extent to help your fellow guy," said Galati about his fellow POWs. "And they did that to me. They took a risk to send me a message that I wasn't alone."
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