Sponsored by Zondervan Books
D
uring the Vietnam War, Air
Force Capt. Carlyle “Smitty”
Harris was shot down while fly-
ing a combat mission in April- The sixth American to be captured
in North Vietnam, Harris spent eight years
at Hỏa Lò Prison—nicknamed the Hanoi
Hilton—while his wife, Louise; two daugh-
ters; and a son he had never met waited
for him back in the U.S.
In Tap Code: The Epic Survival Tale of a
Vietnam POW and the Secret Code That
Changed Everything, Harris recounts how
an old method of communication helped
him survive 2,871 days of torture and iso-
lation. Used by Royal Air Force POWs dur-
ing World War II, the tap code was not
routinely taught during Vietnam War Air
Force training. But after being captured,
Harris remembered that an instructor had
shown it to him.
“The first time I was put in a cell with
other POWs, I immediately taught them
the tap code,” Harris says. Each letter is
communicated by two tapped out num-
bers. The first number indicates which
row to follow from a column lettered A F L
Q V, and the second tells the recipient
which letter is intended. C is substituted
for K, to make the alphabet fit the five-by-five matrix.
“We used it once we were put back in
solitary confinement, and morale went up
as we gained guidance from whomever
was the senior ranking POW and defeated
our captors’ efforts to turn us against one
another,” Harris says. Fellow Hanoi Hilton
prisoner John McCain also used the tap
code to communicate news about col-
leagues, families, and current events, andLouise had the opportunity to meet
McCain’s father after a Pentagon briefing
for families of POWs. “Smitty had been a
POW for two and a half years before John
was shot down,” Louise says, “and Admiral
McCain’s concern was evident as he took
my hand and assured me and each of the
others that he would do ‘all in his power’
to bring our men home.”
The book alternates between Harris’sstories of imprisonment and Louise’s tes-
tament of faith that her husband would
return as she raised their three young
children alone. Louise was eight months
pregnant with their third child when she
was told that her husband was shot down
and his squadron did not see a parachute.
Despite the devastating news, Louise
never mourned Harris, because, she says,
“I believed with all my heart that he was
alive.”
Confirmation came five months later,
when Louise and her three children were
living in Tupelo, Miss. “The postmaster
called me at home and said, ‘I think I have
a letter from your husband in my hand,’ ”
Louise says. “I jumped in the car and raced
there. I recognized Smitty’s handwriting
immediately.” In the eight years that her
husband was imprisoned, Louise sent him
100 packages. He received just two of
them, but Louise remained devoted and
kept a positive attitude for her children.
“I knew in my heart that Smitty was
alive, and if he could endure his chal-
lenges, I could as well,” Louise says. “A
very good friend in Okinawa told me, ‘You
will never be tested beyond your power to
endure.’ Each time I felt I was at the edge,
some special gift was given—a bit of
news, a special moment with the children,
a letter from him.”
When Harris finally came home from
Vietnam, he dedicated himself to recon-
necting with his family. Four decades later,
his children, now adults, asked their father
to put his story on paper. With the help of
coauthor Sara W. Berry, Harris did just that.
“I can recall most of the bad times
when I was in the hands of my North
Vietnamese captors, but I don’t dwell on
those times,” Harris says. “The most
important benefit for me was a renewed
and strengthened faith in God. I knew that
I would never be alone under any circum-
stances in my life.”Spotlight on Col. Carlyle
“Smitty” Harris (Ret.)
A MESSAGE OF FAITH:
A husband and wife share their story of love, courage,
honor, and commitment to family and countryThe postmaster
called me at home
and said, ‘I think
I have a letter from
your husband in
my hand.’
—Louise Harris