THE PARTY DOLLS

ABOUT THE BOOK

On 10 May 1969, two American prisoners of war escaped from a brutal Hanoi prison camp called the Annex. Their story is one of incredible bravery against the longest of odds. It’s also one of bitter conflict. Air Force Captains John Dramesi and Ed Atterberry escaped with help from their fellow prisoners, but that help was not given freely. The suffering it brought killed Atterberry, and scarred others for life.

THE PARTY DOLLS is the riveting, award-winning* true Vietnam War story of a failed escape code-named “The Party,” told by the former POWs who planned it. Author and former Air Force journalist George Hayward wrote it based on interviews he did between 1995 and 2002 with those POWs, and never released until this book.

This is the most detailed account ever released of a heroic yet divisive and little-known episode from a divisive American conflict.

Available in paperback and e-book, and as a 10-episode podcast, using actual audio from the original POW interviews! Click the links to the left to find your version!

INSPIRATION

George Hayward first learned of the Party while serving in the U.S. Air Force, where he was recognized as one of the service’s top journalists in the 1990s. Among his two dozen military journalism awards, he won the Department of Defense’s Thomas Jefferson Award for editorials and commentaries in 1991 and was the Air Force’s journalist of the year in 1993.

KEY PEOPLE IN THE STORY

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Edwin Lee “Ed” Atterberry

No one knows for sure why he chose to escape from the Annex with John Dramesi, or how he died in the aftermath. But this is the story of how they did it.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Alton “Al” Meyer

”John Dramesi was the first American I saw in North Vietnam… He took care of me and he wiped my behind when I couldn’t wipe it myself.”

U.S. Air Force Col. William “Bill” Baugh

“The escape was called ‘the Party’ because if any communications were compromised, it wouldn’t be an escape, it would be a ‘party.’ Room 6 became the Party Committee, or ‘PC.’ The two escapees were ‘the Party Dolls.’”

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Wallace “Wally” Newcomb

“It was fairly obvious that you could probably pry the barbed wire out of these four little circular vent holes, and hoist people up on shoulders and get out to the tile roof.”

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael McCuistion

“I’d give you 50/50, maybe even 60 percent to get out of the camp. But after that, you won’t make it until noon tomorrow.”

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lauren “Laurie” Lengyel

“I’d just as soon take the chance at getting the hell out of here, as slim as it is, then sit here and just take the beatings while somebody else goes.”

U.S. Air Force Col. John Dramesi

MASTERMIND OF THE ESCAPE

“Sure, there were going to be reprisals. There was no doubt about that. But the question, is, is the benefit worth the risk? You can’t tell me the benefit or objective of being free is not worth the risk of death.”

U.S. Air Force Colonel Glenn “Red” Wilson

“You don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making this work! You don’t even know where you are!”

U.S. Navy Capt. John Michael “Mike” McGrath

“We played bridge until 2 or 3 in the morning, thinking tomorrow the shit’s going to hit the fan. We’re not ever going to be playing bridge again.”

U.S. Air Force Col. Konrad “Konnie” Trautman

SENIOR-RANKING AMERICAN OFFICER IN THE ANNEX

“I anxiously tapped on the wall, ‘Did they go?’ I get the frightening words back, ‘hot poop red.’ That was the code word, ‘escape in progress.’ When I got that message, an icy shiver went down my spine.”

U.S. Air Force Col. Donald “Don” Heiliger

“It was light out. It was early morning hours, maybe 5:30 or 6. … [Ratface] asked me, ‘Where are they?’ I said, ‘They left.’”