Vietnam POW who survived 7 years of captivity leads mission to give veterans a welcome home at last

RICHMOND, Va. — Paul Galanti is living proof the human spirit can overcome just about anything.

The 87-year-old Navy veteran was shot down in Vietnam on June 17, 1966, and taken prisoner — the beginning of a nightmare that would last seven years.

"I was in solitary confinement for about two years," Galanti said. "That interrogation that night was awful."

Watch: How Paul Galanti survived 2,432 days as a Prisoner of War

Galanti and his fellow POWs were paraded through the streets surrounded by angry mobs in what became known as the Hanoi March.

"It was called a Hanoi March. They marched a bunch of us straight down and we really got the daylight beat out of us so the crowds probably 500,000 people were throwing rocks," Galanti said.

The prisoners' destination was a place where guests check in but rarely leave. Galanti endured two years of isolation and repeated torture at the Hanoi Hilton.

"It was hard in Hanoi," Galanti said. "It was really about four or five days of really rough treatment."

"They put rope around my shoulders above the elbow and pulled back that popped out a joint," Galanti said. "The bottom of my arms would turn black. Just totally black."

The POWs' plight was splashed across the cover of Life magazine. At one point, Galanti's weight had dropped dramatically.

Provided to WTVR

"There was a scale. And I got on it and I had gone on from [1]65 pounds which was pretty good shape down to 110," Galanti said. "The good news is, is that you don't need as much food when you are skinny."

Freedom finally arrived in February 1973, when Galanti and other American prisoners were released and flown to the United States.

"I think it was the loudest cheer I had ever heard," Galanti said. "We were in the Portsmouth Naval hospital and they brought a Newsweek and (my wife) Phyllis and I were on the cover."

The pilot was treated to a hero's welcome on the streets of Richmond.

"It says there's no such thing as a bad day when there is a door knob on the inside. That is really true," Galanti said.

But not every Vietnam veteran received such a warm reception returning stateside.

"Because their country ask them to do something that was not palatable. They went and did it and did it well," Galanti said.

Now Galanti and his son Jamie are leading the charge to change that. The two are co-chairs of the Virginia War Memorial Foundation's Salute to Service in April.

WTVR

"We want this memorial to be a homecoming for them of sorts and that is the theme of our event. Next year is 'Coming home,'" Jamie Galanti said.

"I'll tell you if there's something that we as a the Virginia War Memorial Foundation and as a world can do to write some of those wrongs from the way that these guys were treated when they came back, boy that would just be some small token that we could offer these guys because they are true heroes," Jamie Galanti said.

Vietnam veterans and their families are welcome for a full day of reverence, reflection and a wreath laying at the Virginia War Memorial on April 3, 2027.

"It will be a fun time and we'll get to remember a bunch of stuff," Paul Galanti said.

The father and son agree the event will be a time for healing, too.

"There are some really incredible moments when those guys get together and talk," Jamie Galanti said.

For the Galantis, it is a proper welcome home more than a half century in the making.

"It is a time for you to come here and connect. We will honor your service. We will honor those who did not come home. You are welcome here and we want you here," Jamie Galanti said.

The event will be led by one Vietnam veteran who sacrificed so much.

"You may or may not have volunteered to do it, but you did it well. So thanks for keeping us going," Paul Galanti said. "Thank you. That's what I'm gonna tell them. 'Thank you for doing what was right and what you're supposed to do.'"

To register for the free Salute to Service event, visit: https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=880662&language=eng