The incredibly stupid one, 1967

The incredibly stupid one, 1967

Douglas Hegdahl was in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. On April 6 1967, Hegdahl was on the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin, when he was knocked off the ship due to the blast of a large naval gun. He then swam to shore and was captured by Vietnamese militiamen, who beat him and sent him to Hỏa Lò Prison, an infamous prison for US personnel during the Vietnam War, which gained the name "The Hanoi Hilton Prison" by those incarcerated in it.

Interrogators initially believed that Hegdahl was a spy, as they didn't believe that he was blasted overboard. It was then that Hegdahl realised that he had to outwit his captors, and adopted an identity of someone who was moderately intellectually disabled. Hegdahl then pretended to not be able to read or write and even kept up the act after a tutor was hired to teach him.

His captors believed the act and labelled him as "The incredibly stupid one", and gave him full access to the prison. Hegdahl kept up the act of having lower cognitive abilities and used his free run of the prison to gather intel. He remembered the layout of the prison and communicated with other prisoners using a tapping code. He remembered the names and information of 256 US prisoners to the nursery rhyme of "Old McDonald". He also disabled 5 enemy trucks by putting dirt in the fuel tanks.

Hegdahl was released in August of 1969 and released the names of the 256 US prisoners and exposed the prison for its inhumane conditions. He is still alive today at the age of 77.