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American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

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"Where do we get such men?"
RAdm George Tarrant, "The Bridges of Toko-ri", James Michener

"When the shooting starts, they call for the sons of bitches."
Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King USN

"He is one of those people for whom everything is either black or white. It is wonderful to go through life like that."
Senator John S. McCain III

This is a story of where we get such men, what happens when the shooting starts and of a life lived in black & white - pure and simple. This is an odyssey of a Sioux City "River Rat" who became a Red River Valley "River Rat". This is a saga of a man who could have been, and might even now be, your neighbor - a fellow American.

There are some folks who are natural aviators, natural fighter pilots and natural warriors. Those of us who have been in recruiting know how difficult it is to identify such "naturals". Our psychologists, our educators, our training "experts" and our consultants all claim to have the answer and they repeatedly come up empty. The ones who come closest are the experienced Marine Drill Instructors, they know a warrior when they see one but even they find it difficult to codify it. George "Bud" Day is a natural - aviator and warrior.

The Marine Corps missed it, only because Bud spend so much time in sick bays that he never had a chance to bloom. The Army National Guard never had a chance. The Air Force never seemed to get the word despite repeated superb performance in a myriad of flying and non flying tasks from the beginning to the end of his Air Force career.

Using dedication to duty and perseverance he survived an endless progression of dead end assignments turning career ending bovine residue into promotion enhancing events. Surviving all sorts of narrow escapes in aviation related incidents he culminated his survival performance by initiating (and obviously surviving) a low level, high speed ejection sans open parachute.

In Vietnam, Bud's service as Misty One resulted from the Air Force having a brain fart and deciding to put airborne FAC's in surplus supersonic jet aircraft with no doctrine or concept of operations. They were not able to find a light colonel with the cajones to undertake the task and dumped it onto the most junior of field grade officers - a major, with direct orders to "just do it". To the surprise of all he did it.

Upon his shoot down, the Vietnamese communists thought they had captured a wimp, and a severely injured one at that, because they had just captured one prior to Bud. But Bud dug into his mid-western stubbornness and USMC field training and escaped captivity in North Vietnam only to be recaptured within sight of his beloved Marines in South Vietnam.

In prison Bud led when his seniors were too beaten up to continue or too faint of heart even to try. Bud had the instinct and brains to recognize that to "return with honor" meant an endless progression of days, one day at a time, in resisting the mind numbing, stultifying, endless efforts of his captors and American traitors, inside and out of North Vietnam, to turn American fighting men into Manchurian Candidates. He saw that the POWs' battle would be one of persistent resistance to every effort to undermine their dedication, patriotism and loyalty. He led despite paying horrible penalties in brutal torture and depravation.

Upon his return Bud found that the politicians and political military leaders did not know what to do with the sons of bitches they let loose to fight their war. The honesty, uncompromising integrity, the ethical mores and the steel wills forged in the fiery furnace (Hoa Lo) of the Hanoi Communist imprisonment were out of place in the pansy world inside the beltway. The Air Force bureaucrats could find no room in the General Officers' Mess for Bud despite his Medal of Honor, Air Force Cross and total of seventy decorations for service and valor, despite his Command Pilot Status, despite his law degree, and despite his unwavering loyalty on active duty during three wars. Go figure. Bud could take a hint; he retired.

Bud soon found that a "grateful nation" that claimed it cannot do enough for its gallant servicemen, the world's "greatest generation" was busy shafting them left and right. Starting under President Carter retired military were being denied medical care they had been promised upon their enlistment by their recruiters. Under Secretary Rumsfeld and his Deputy Dr. Chu, the Department of Defense made concerted effort to block Bud's every legal move to redress this disgrace. What is wrong with this picture? An American Patriot, recipient of the Medal of Honor is placed in the position of having to sue his government for a redress of grievances and the very Department of Defense he defended is taking up arms against him every step of the way. For shame!

In the communist prison system we found that the commonality we had in resisting and surviving came from our families, neighborhoods, schools and churches reinforcing common values of Americanism. We were granted a few extraordinary men to lead us out of that abyss with our souls intact. Bud Day is one of those extraordinary men; he is a prince among men. I am proud to call him "friend".

SUGGESTION -- Be sure to set aside a block of time to devote to AMERICAN PATRIOT: THE LIFE AND WARS OF COLONEL BUD DAY. The force of Bud Day's character and the flowing clarity of Robert Coram's writing will rivet you. In the process, America's moral strength sharpened by the Great Depression and by WWII set the stage for Bud's moral triumph over his vicious North Vietnamese communist torturers for over five and a half years. Each fierce lash of the "fan belt" on Bud's bloodied backside and legs strengthened his will to defeat the murderous goons. Each minute of the rope torture and each re-breaking of his bones reinforced his understanding and practice of the military Code of Conduct for POWs.

It is difficult for those not connected with the military, especially with the patriotism of WWII warriors, to understand not only how but why Bud suffered and persevered as he did for his fellow POWs and to preserve the secrets of his former "Misty" F-100 fighter unit. The sense of the matter presents itself through the clearly packaged facts and pace of the biography and Coram's craft in bringing alive each element of Bud's development as an individual and as a military "community" leader whose service spanned three major wars: World War II, Korea and Vietnam as an enlisted Marine, Army reservist, Iowa National Guard Officer and Air Force Officer.

Our Founding Fathers knew the exceptional nature of that community and enshrined that understanding in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution by declaring Congress prescribes the rules governing that society of warriors. As a rare fighter pilot lawyer, Bud knew and practiced the legal and social bonds of the warrior brotherhood.

Fortunately, his primary torturer, the "Bug" -- so named because one of his eyes aped Marty Feldman's -- did not know the object of his animal fury was a lawyer whose master's thesis defined the evils of communism which laid the groundwork defending the U2 spy plane overflights as a logical extension of America's real war with the USSR.

Sustaining Bud through the hideous "quiz" sessions were the memories of his childhood sweetheart and wife, Doris, and his four adopted, or in President Reagan's words of Michael, "chosen" children. In happier times, Doris and Bud constantly talked with each other about these four important decisions as well as the common daily events. They continue these close talks 60 plus years later and at various functions today can be seen holding hands under the dinner table.

During Bud's imprisonment, Doris helped form a POW wives group educating the country on their plight and even went to the N. Vietnamese delegation in Paris seeking freedom or humane treatment for Bud and his fellow POWs. She and her fellow POW wives were so effective that they got President Nixon's attention and emphasis.

He acted on that knowledge with Linebacker II heavy bombing raids from 18-29 December 1972 where the safest place in Hanoi was the POW prison where the North Vietnamese came to cower among the ecstatic POWs. The raids drove the N. Vietnamese back to the negotiating tables. The first prisoners were released 12 February 1973 and the last left Hanoi 29 March 1973. Bud was released 12 March 1973, victorious to America's military cause to the end.

His fellow POWs endorsed his victory by submitting him for the Air Force Cross for enduring such hideous torture and the Congressional Medal of Honor for escaping in North Vietnam and evading recapture although grievously wounded. He was within earshot of freedom at Con Thien, South Vietnam when he was recaptured.

Upon release, the actions of each POW were made known by the senior officer who rated them according to their actions and Code of Conduct. These evaluations caused immediate career halts for those POWs released "early" by the communists. At least one on the general officer promotion list never pinned on his star and soon retired from the Air Force.

Later, when John Kerry saluted the camera and said he was reporting for duty as a presidential candidate, the furor throughout the POW community and Swift Boat Vets was palpable and unrelenting. This goofy salute began the campaign to reveal Kerry the shallow phony he is. As Bud and his cohorts stopped careers of those who cooperated with the enemy and those released before Linebacker II, so did Bud and the Swifties stop Kerry's bid.

Bud continues to defend service members in his practice and carried on a mostly successful class action suit to reinstate free health care promise to those joining the military before 1956. This long proclaimed benefit was denied them by President Clinton and Congress. The biography describes that latest virtuous battles which has seen the health care 95% restored largely because of Bud's legal battles which moved Congress to establish the TRICARE For Life medical program.

Who knows if the last 5% will be reinstated and become free as formerly promised? Perhaps this biography signals the show is not over yet. After all, "free" an absolute statement - a black or white statement.

His former cell mate, John McCain summarized Bud this way: "He's one of those people for whom everything is black or white. It's wonderful to go through life like that. I wish I could." (p. 373)

While Bud and McCain may disagree on various issues, they remain close friends who seem to know when the other needs a friendly phone call to help lift low spirits. The bond of military loyalty is unshakeable.

American Patriot will help all gain an insight into that part of the military culture and martial spirit George Washington and the founders knew so well.

I suspect American Patriot will become a military classic.

George "Bud" Day is the most decorated officer in the modern history of the U.S. military, having won (this is a chest seriously full of medals and ribbons) the Medal of Honor, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal for Valor with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal for Merit, Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with nine Oak Leaf Clusters, National Order of Vietnam, Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and Prisoner of War Medal). His military career began in 1942 when, despite being under-sized and under-age, he managed to work his way into the U.S. Marines. He served for almost three years in the South Pacific, never seeing combat. After the war he returned home and studied law, eventually graduating with a degree in that discipline. In 1950 he joined the National Guard and, when called up a year later, applied to fly fighter jets. He soon became one of America's most skilled pilots and, after being promoted, decided to dedicate his career to the Air Force.

In 1967, with the war in Vietnam raging, he was made commander of a secret squadron of F-100 jets and was tasked with Forward Air Control. It was the job of this select group of pilots to fly low to the ground and to seek out and mark targets that other jets could destroy. On August 26 of 1967, his plane was shot down and he suffered serious injuries while ejecting. He was quickly captured but escaped at the first opportunity available and became the only soldier to journey all the way to South Vietnam. Sadly, just moments from reaching the safety of American lines, he was spotted by a North Vietnamese patrol and shot in the leg and hand. He was dragged back into captivity where, for five years he was held, constantly being brutally tortured. While in the "Hanoi Hilton" he met John McCain and the two of them developed a lifelong friendship. He was finally released in the spring of 1973. Three years later he was honored with the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States.

American Patriot, a new book by Robert Coram, tells the story of Bud Day's life. It begins with his upbringing in a harsh and poverty-stricken home in Sioux City, Iowa and continues to the present day (Day is, after all, still alive). Though Day is best-known for his contributions during the war, his years of public service continue even today. When President Clinton's government passed a law scrapping the life-long health insurance that had been promised to veterans, Day fought on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of vets and won a stunning victory. He also campaigned against John Kerry whom he regards as a traitor because of his inflammatory and untruthful comments during the Vietnam War (and it is worth nothing that Day's torturers used Kerry's testimony against Day when torturing him) and appeared in advertisements for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Even today, at the age of 82, Day continues to work as a lawyer in Florida, often representing members of the military.

To be honest, I read this book as a form of light distraction because of a good deal of heavy reading I have been doing. It served its purpose well. Day has lived a fascinating life and truly is a patriot. His highest belief seems to be in the value and importance of America and he looks with unforgivable disdain on anyone who would become a traitor to his nation. He has dedicated his life to serving his country and reacts with anger and outrage to those who violate her highest ideals.

While the book is largely well-written, it is clearly a favorable biography and may even almost dive occasionally into the realm of hagiography. The author turns too often to hyperbole and melodrama when considering Day's virtues while passing quickly over his vices. The Prologue may be the most melodramatic prose I've read this side of high school and made me wonder if I'd be able to finish the book. Thankfully it was short-lived and got much better after that. I should note that quite a number of words of the four-letter variety are used throughout the book (including a multi-paragraph exposition of the number of ways pilots use the word "s--t."). It is, after all, a book about a fighter pilot, a breed known for his arrogance, self-assuredness and foul mouth. Day is not the theologian or hero of church history I typically read about in biographies!

American Patriot was a good read and one that isn't entirely irrelevant as the 2008 Presidential campaign begins to heat up. Veterans played a critical role in the last election and Bud Day served as a leader. I wouldn't be surprised if his face and his name are in the news again as a new election nears. This book is a good and interesting read for anyone wit

As a former Misty FAC I thought I knew Bud Day, but after reading American Patriot I realized I was dead wrong. Robert Coram's book profiles a man with a seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of courage and an unimpeachable sense of honor---all of which he gladly placed at the disposal of his country throughout his life. The book is carefully detailed and written in a manner that even the "great unwashed" who were not fighter pilots can understand. The descriptive scenes involving his torture as a POW are painful to read at times, yet I know that they were not exaggerated---and that's what makes them all the more disturbing.

The words "honor", "integrity" and "heroes" have been trivialized in our society to the extent that few people know or care what they mean any more. In an ideal world these subjects would be addressed in school, or at least discussed at home. But we do not live in a perfect world, therefore, I suggest that American Hero be required reading in every high school and college in America. A profound and moving book.

I won't repeat the synopses you can read from other reviewers. I only comment on one thing. I understand Mr. Coram could be criticized for a "too-favorable" or even idolized view of Col Day. Apparently, Mr. Coram didn't expose enough dirt or a long enough list of Col Day's human failings or, just maybe, he exposed them all.

Frankly, I don't care that Mr. Coram didn't find womanizing or other misconduct in Col Day's history; I am satisfied to read about this true, by definition, American Hero. There certainly wasn't the "source material" for such negative things as there was in "Boyd," but these are obviously two different men.

In the end, I thank Mr. Coram for bringing Col Day to me in such a way. And Col Boyd before that. Don't stop, Mr. Coram.

In 1957 USAF Captain George "Bud" Day came TDY from Flying F-84s at Weathersfield, UK to Etain AB, France to check out in the F-100. He was assigned to the 562nd FBS where I was a first lieutenant also upgrading in the bird from F-86s. Bud was an affable guy and we casually started a friendly rivalry as to whom was amassing the most time in the Super Sabre. I, a bachelor, would see Bud from time to time in our scruffy green-painted cinder block Officer's Club.
Though we almost always wore flight suits in the Club, one night I was there in khakis and quite solemnly getting hammered all by myself while seated at the bar. For what reason, I don't recall but probably had to do with a Dear John letter I had received. I was doing a good job since I had started at the top of the bar's drink list and was working my way down ordering each one in turn. Though not noisy or rambunctious, I was pretty wobbly, bleary-eyed, and becoming rather disheveled. Several of my friends had approached and tried to draw me into a conversation, concerned over my apparent withdrawal. I would not respond and grew progressively more morosely smashed.
Then Bud Day came over, stood next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. Looking back, I recall he seemed rather large. In a friendly, confidential voice he began to speak some pretty serious words about what I was doing. Now we all know that TDY pukes have no business stepping out of line with we permanent party luminaries, rank not withstanding.. What nerve. But I began to listen.
"I'm not here to start a beef," he said in a kindly voice, "but I must tell you what I am thinking. First off, you are getting quite drunk. I really don't care about that. But," and he emphasized the `but,' "you are wearing the uniform of the service I love and not wearing it well. That I will not tolerate. Why don't you just go back to the Q, change into civvies then you can come back and pass out on the floor for all I care."
My first reaction was one of anger. Where did this guy, this TDY puke, get off telling me what I can or cannot do in my own Officer's Club. That thought died aborning. He had said exactly the right thing in exactly the right way. I straightened up, looked him in the eye, and said, "You are right," and left the Club immediately and never returned.
Perhaps in some people's eyes this was a trivial event that didn't necessarily reflect either heroism or conviction on his part. To me it was monumental. Obviously, since I remember it so well after 48 years, it had a profound effect on me. You know, we are all influenced in one way or another, small or large, positive or negative, by practically everyone we meet and everything we witness. Sometimes in a tiny way it changes our life in some obscure aspect we aren't even aware of. We may even, unknowingly, become a better person.
So what effect did Bud Day's action have on me? Two things; have firm convictions and have the courage to stand up for them at all times.
I doubt if Bud even remembers that long ago scene in an obscure O'Club. But I surely do, and have admired Bud from that day. So, though it was a shock as to what he went through as a POW it was no surprise that he carried himself so heroically. Macho be damned, there goes a real man.

With respect, I remain
Mark Berent
Author, Rolling Thunder Series

This will help you remember how this country was founded by heroes, not losers. The beginning was a little slow, but the time in Hanoi was just riveting, and I had to stop to cry more than once. It should be required reading for liberals, so that they can remember how the peace movement is seen by enemy nations.

This book belongs in a catagory by itself. It confirms what I aready suspected about the main stream media. It introduced me to a new Americian hero. God Bless Colonel Bud Day, his wife, and God Bless America

This book should be required reading for all Americans. A copy is ready for my 3 year old son to read when he's able to.

Why didn't I know about Bud Day before this book? The man is a hero and legend and yet I've never seen a glowing profile of this man in our mainstream media. Children in this country should learn about Bud Day and men like him as part of their curriculum.

I hope Mr. Coram is inspiring writers to follow in his footsteps. I also hope Mr. Coram has some books left in his clip. "Boyd" is a tremendous book in its own right and this book just has me wanting to read more about the people who have done far more for their country than ever imagined.

While some may point to the fact that Mr. Coram does not get into macro-political issues that overshadowed Col Day's life I think most readers understand that is not the point of this book. This book is about educating all of us about what a hero looks like, talks like and acts like.

This book will grab you and demand your attention. Thank you Colonel Day. You are an inspiration Sir.

This biography of Bud Day written by Robert Coram is an incredibly interesting, well-researched biography of a true American hero. Those interested in military history, as well as exemplary human traits, will not be able to put this book down. Despite numerous obstacles in life, Bud Day perservered. This book also gives insight into the human side of other well-known American personalities such as John McCain, John Kerry, Richard Nixon, Ross Perot,Jane Fonda and others.

A truly inspirational and fascinating book-one of the best non-fiction books to come along in several years!!!!!!!