Introduction

In 1965, US Navy Commander Jeremiah Denton’s jet is shot down over North Vietnam and he is captured by the enemy who holds him in various brutal POW camps for more than seven years.

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Outline

When Hell Was in Session is a memoir by US Navy Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, recounting his experiences as an American prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War.

A Navy pilot, Denton’s jet was shot down over North Vietnam in July 1965. Denton and his navigator, Bill Tschudy, parachuted down and were soon taken prisoner. Both men spent seven years and seven months in North Vietnam as often-tortured POWs.

In 1979, the book was made into a television movie starring Hal Holbrook. It was adapted by screenwriter Jake Justiz, also known as Lee Pogostin.

Denton, James Stockdale (who graduated with Denton at the Naval Academy), Larry Guarino, and James Robinson Risner, distinguished themselves as members of the American POW resistance movement from 1965 to 1973, helping POWs accomplish their sworn goal to “return with honour”.

Return with Honour was later used as the title of a documentary film released in 1998 about American POWs during the Vietnam War, narrated and produced by actor Tom Hanks.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Paul Krasny.
• Producer(s): James T. Aubrey, Robert Hamner, and R.J. Louis.
• Writer(s): Eddie Brandt, Jeremiah Denton, Robert Hamner, and Jake Justiz.
• Music: Jimmie Haskell.
• Cinematography: Robert B. Hauser.
• Editor(s): John Woodcock.
• Production: Aubrey/Hamner Productions.
• Distributor(s): Lightning Video, NBC, and PolyGram Video..
• Release Date: 08 October 1979.
• Running Time: 98 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.