Former Senator, POW Jeremiah Denton Dies

(AP Photo/Mobile Register, Bill Starling, File)

Former U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton has died. He’s the man who, when as a prisoner of war, informed the public about the brutality of Vietnamese prison camps.

Fox News Radio’s Eben Brown looks back at his life:

Jeremiah Denton served one term in the United States Senate, from Alabama, but he also spent seven and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. It was the interview he gave as a POW that alerted U.S. officials to the harsh conditions he and other imprisoned servicemen were enduring.

(AP Photo)

Denton: “I get adequate food and adequate clothing…”

In the midst of the interview, Denton blinked out the word ‘torture’ in morse code. His family says he recently suffered pneumonia. He was 89.

Eben Brown, FOX News Radio.

Read a statement below from AZ Senator John McCain on the passing of former U.S. Senator Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr.:

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing today of my friend and mentor, retired Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, Jr. As a senior ranking officer in prison, Admiral Denton’s leadership inspired us to persevere, and to resist our captors, in ways we never would have on our own. He endured unspeakable pain and suffering because of his steadfast adherence to our code of conduct. Throughout his seven years and seven months in prison, and for his decades in public life after he was released, Admiral Denton exemplified our POW slogan: ‘Home with honor.’ My thoughts and prayers are with Admiral Denton’s family as our nation bids farewell to this true American hero.”