Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale
Coronado Eagle & Journal
14 July 2005
Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale: December 23, 1923 to July 5, 2005
Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, 81, died July 5 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease.
He was a naval aviator, the senior Navy prisoner of war in Vietnam, a Medal of Honor recipient, author and academic.
Stockdale was born on Dec. 23, 1923 in Abingon, Ill. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946, he attended flight training in Pensacola, Fla.
He married Sybil Bailey in June 1947. In 1954, he was accepted to the Navy Test Pilot School. After Stockdale earned a master's degree at Stanford in the early 1960s, the couple moved to Coronado. They bought a house on A Avenue in 1963, where their four sons grew up.
Stockdale was carrier air group commander on USS Oriskany when his A-4 Skyhawk was hit by Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire on Sept. 9, 1965. He ejected, breaking a bone in his back. He badly dislocated his knee upon landing in a small village, where he was captured and beaten. Taken eventually to Hoa Lo Prison, the infamous "Hanoi Hilton," he spent the next seven years as the highest ranking naval officer and leader of the American resistance. He was kept in solitary confinement for four years, in leg irons for two years, physically tortured more than 15 times, denied medical care and malnourished.
Stockdale's actions eventually convinced the Vietnamese to gradually improve their treatment of POWs. He was released in February, 1973. Stockdale was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Gerald Ford in 1976 for his actions while a POW. He was the only three star admiral in the history of the Navy to wear both aviator wings and the Medal of Honor. He was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the Navy, wearing twenty six personal combat decorations, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, two Purple Hearts, and four Silver Star medals in addition to the Medal of Honor.
After serving as president of the Naval War College, Stockdale retired from the Navy in 1978. He pursued an academic career, including 15 years as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institute of War, Revolution and Peace.
In 1992 he graciously agreed to the request from his old friend H. Ross Perot to stand in as the vice presidential candidate of the Reform Party. Stockdale was the author of several books and numerous articles. He was awarded 11 honorary doctoral degrees.
Awards, academic positions and buildings have been named in his honor. The Vice Admiral Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership is presented annually in both the Pacific and Atlantic fleet. The Stockdale Leadership and Ethics Chair was established at the University of San Diego in 1998. A building at North Island is named in his honor. He has been named a distinguished graduate by the Naval Academy Alumni Association. Admiral Stockdale was a member of the Navy's Carrier Hall of Fame, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and an Honorary Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Although a national figure, he was also committed to public service locally. He supported traffic calming and the effort to build a tunnel in Coronado.
Stockdale died in his home on A Avenue, surrounded by family members. He is survived by his beloved wife Sybil; four sons, James of Beaver, Penn.; Sidney of Albuquerque, N.M.; Stanford, of Denver and Taylor of Claremont, and eight grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be sent to the U.S. Naval Academy and Monmouth College in Illinois.
A tribute to honor Vice Admiral Stockdale will be held on board USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on Saturday, July 16 at 10 a.m. to be followed by a memorial and burial on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on Saturday, July 23.
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