“From the moment I was captured…I thought of little except escape,” wrote Day years after his ordeal. “The only impediments to escape were my injuries, the lack of shoes, and the possibility of a bullet in the back if I made the attempt.”

Before his capture, Day helped organize and became the first commander of an F-100 squadron called “Misty Super FAC’s (forward air controllers). Its task was to fly reconnaissance missions over the southern area of North Vietnam, seeking targets. They had to fly low and, therefore, they became targets themselves in this pre-smart bomb era. After Day was shot down, he faced the most difficult years of his life.

His heroism and incredible stamina are well-chronicled in his official citation. Here is how he described the ordeal of his imprisonment:

The food was bad, the living conditions were terrible. There was physical and mental mistreatment. There was basically little to no communication with our families. A bunch of our time was in solitary. I spent 38 months of my 67 months in solitary. All in all, it was a very difficult time. In a few words, that was what it was like. Cold Hungry Sick Lonely.

In his autobiography, he concludes that, “I did not let myself down, I lived up to the code of ethics I believe, and I was able to return with honor.”