This collection represents 25 years of research by the Secretary of Defense Historical Office on the prisoner of war experience in Southeast Asia. Major topics include the historical and geographical background leading to the Vietnam Conflict; prisoner of war experiences in Laos, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam; treatment of prisoners of war including torture, psychological warfare, and the exploitation of the prisoners for propaganda purposes; negotiations for prisoner release; preparation for returning prisoners of war including readjustment for both the prisoners and their families; oral histories of numerous prisoners of war and analyses of their experiences. These materials were compiled by Frederick T. Kiley, Ph.D., from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and provided documentation for the publication of the Pulitzer Prize "runner-up" book in history entitled "Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973," which was co-authored by Kiley and Stuart I. Rochester, Ph.D., and published in 1999.
