The Epic Survival Tale of a Vietnam POW and the Secret Code That Changed Everything
Tap Code shares never-before-told details of
underground operations during the Vietnam War while weaving in an
inspiring story of true love, honor, and courage as husband and wife
endured the hardest circumstances they had ever faced.
When
Air Force pilot Captain Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was shot down over
Vietnam on April 4, 1965, he had no idea what horrors awaited him in the
infamous Hoa Lo prison--nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton." Harris was the
sixth American POW captured in the air war over North Vietnam, and for
the next eight years, Smitty and hundreds of other American
POWs--including John McCain and George "Bud" Day--suffered torture,
solitary confinement, and abuse.
Their dignity was taken, their
wills were challenged, and their bodies were bruised and battered. But
in the midst of the struggle, Smitty remembered once learning the Tap
Code--an old, long-unused World War II method of communication through
tapping on a common water pipe. He covertly taught the code to many
POWs, and in turn they taught others.
Simple and effective, the
Tap Code quickly spread throughout the prison and became one of the most
covert ways for POWs to communicate without their captors' knowledge.
It became a lifeline during their internment--a morale booster, a
vehicle of unity, and a way to communicate the chain of command--and was
instrumental in helping them prevail over a brutal enemy.
Back
home, meanwhile, Harris's wife, Louise, raised their three children
alone, unsure of her husband's fate. One of the first POW wives of the
Vietnam War, she became a role model for many wives, advocating for
herself and her children in her husband's absence.
Told through both Smitty's and Louise's voices, Tap Code shares
a riveting true story of ingenuity under pressure, strength and dignity
in the face of the enemy, the love of family, and the hope, faith, and
resolve necessary to endure even the darkest circumstances.
