HackerTube
HomeLongsLikedHistoryWatch laterCategoriesPlaylistsSettings

Admiral Jeremiah Denton Blinks Morse Code Warning as P.O.W.

Audie Murphy American Legend 1 HN recommender · recommended in 1 month, 2018-2023
YouTube
11.7M views · 12 years ago · news · evergreen

A short 1966 propaganda interview clip in which Jeremiah Denton, a US prisoner of war in Vietnam, blinks the word TORTURE in Morse code. Naval Intelligence later decoded the message.

Cited as the classic real-world use of Morse code to smuggle out a message under duress.

Military history & warfareWorld historyCryptography#morsecode#jeremiahdenton#vietnamwar#prisonerofwar#covertsignaling

5 comments from Hacker News

@throwaway1337662023 · in “They say I make $45K/month just by pure luck and just by posting my MRR on X”

Wikipedia provides some theories. Developer claims it was because it was addictive and not good for people. The Media, which of course is state-ran, claims is was because of intellectual property legal reasons. "Lawyers in Vietnam" denied that it was related to internet censorship. He was making $50k a revenue a day and like most businesses in China and Vietnam, not formally paying taxes. Even in Japan, most small businesses are not correctly paying taxes. The fact that the game itself is a rip-off makes it unlikely that the developer has the highest standard of ethics. Regarding intellectual property, even the government was found to be using bootlegged versions of Windows. Before companies like Adobe realized they needed to move to a SaaS model, there were entire streets selling cracked version of software like Photoshop for 50 cents a pop. Same with Playstation games. Nintendo used hardware medium to make the economics of bootlegging harder, but it was much easier to burn CDs. You simply couldn't buy authentic versions of Playstation games if you wanted to. I don't think the government had any clue on how to regulate, control, and tax digital services. Regardless, it is guaranteed that government officials paid the developer a visit that day and brought him back to the police office in a police truck. Somebody there would have hassled him for money. Whether he paid or not, there will just be more vultures coming and will just leave him the leftovers. He probably just rage

CitesView on HN
@alexpotato2023 · in “Tapping Morse Code on a Wall – MRA”

One the most interesting uses of morse code was a Vietnam POW blinking the word "torture" during an interview. See here for the interview: ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@analognoise2023 · in “Layoffs push down scores on Glassdoor: this is how companies respond”

>> terse "good company" type reviews >"I am in good health and have been well treated and fed since my abduction" I make sure to watch for blinked messages, like T-O-R-T-U-R-E ▶ this video

JokeView on HN
@Stratoscope2022 · in “The Incredibly Stupid One”

This reminds me of Jeremiah Denton, a POW in that same war who was interviewed on TV to explain that the prisoners were being treated humanely. As he gave the verbal answers his captors expected, he blinked his eyes in Morse Code: – ––– •–• – ••– •–• • T O R T U R E ▶ this video link link Epilog: A few years ago, someone gave me a Fourth of July T-shirt. Made in Vietnam. It made me think how so few of us in each country really wanted to fight these wars.

CitesView on HN
@jlgaddis2018 · in “Another Reason to Learn Morse Code: Kidnapping”

U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton, Jr., was a POW for ~8 years during Vietnam. He did something similar. > Denton was forced by his captors to participate in a 1966 televised propaganda interview which was broadcast in the United States. While answering questions and feigning trouble with the blinding television lights, Denton blinked his eyes in Morse code, spelling the word "TORTURE"—and confirming for the first time to U.S. Naval Intelligence that American POWs were in fact being tortured. [0] You can see the video [1] on Youtube. [0]: link [1]: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
Ben Marking's Fake BBC Nuclear Attack Broadcast (Full Resolution, Uncut, Unedited)55:43

Ben Marking's Fake BBC Nuclear Attack Broadcast (Full Resolution, Uncut, Unedited)

Tooth
108K views • 5 years ago
The Secret War4:55:46

The Secret War

Sergio IQ
552K views • 12 years ago
Max Headroom WTTW Pirating Incident - 11/22/87 (Subtitled)2:06

Max Headroom WTTW Pirating Incident - 11/22/87 (Subtitled)

jonrev
9.3M views • 19 years ago
Former CIA Operative Explains How Spies Use Disguises | WIRED9:25

Former CIA Operative Explains How Spies Use Disguises | WIRED

WIRED
17.4M views • 8 years ago
Flaw in the Enigma Code - Numberphile10:58

Flaw in the Enigma Code - Numberphile

Numberphile
5.4M views • 13 years ago
Gulf of Tonkin:  McNamara admits It didn't happen.3:34

Gulf of Tonkin: McNamara admits It didn't happen.

compelled2283
169K views • 18 years ago
Ralph Langner: Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon10:41

Ralph Langner: Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon

TED
323K views • 15 years ago
America's Nerve Gas Arsenal35:06

America's Nerve Gas Arsenal

Peter Klusman
182K views • 13 years ago
U.S. NAVY  BASIC MECHANISMS OF FIRE CONTROL COMPUTERS  MECHANICAL COMPUTER INSTRUCTIONAL FILM  2779419:43

U.S. NAVY BASIC MECHANISMS OF FIRE CONTROL COMPUTERS MECHANICAL COMPUTER INSTRUCTIONAL FILM 27794

PeriscopeFilm
225K views • 8 years ago
Criminal Conspiracy Notes0:09

Criminal Conspiracy Notes

PsychoInaCan
451K views • 13 years ago
Former CIA Chief of Disguise Breaks Down 30 Spy Scenes From Film & TV | WIRED27:54

Former CIA Chief of Disguise Breaks Down 30 Spy Scenes From Film & TV | WIRED

WIRED
24.1M views • 7 years ago
Celestial Navigation (instruction video)45:54

Celestial Navigation (instruction video)

NathanielsCAD
190K views • 10 years ago
Moxie Marlinspike, Next Generation Threats 201431:46

Moxie Marlinspike, Next Generation Threats 2014

Techworld Sverige
30K views • 11 years ago
The Computer Designed To Die In Microseconds14:03

The Computer Designed To Die In Microseconds

Scott Manley
408K views • 3 years ago
How Kodak Exposed Nuclear Testing13:20

How Kodak Exposed Nuclear Testing

Veritasium
6.7M views • 6 years ago
Black Hat USA 2013 - OPSEC failures of spies25:11

Black Hat USA 2013 - OPSEC failures of spies

Black Hat
54K views • 12 years ago
Forgotten wrecks are a time bomb | DW Documentary42:26

Forgotten wrecks are a time bomb | DW Documentary

DW Documentary
1.9M views • 6 years ago
The moiré effect lights that guide ships home3:54

The moiré effect lights that guide ships home

Tom Scott
3.1M views • 8 years ago
The Future of War, and How It Affects YOU (Multi-Domain Operations) - Smarter Every Day 21128:11

The Future of War, and How It Affects YOU (Multi-Domain Operations) - Smarter Every Day 211

SmarterEveryDay
2.6M views • 7 years ago
Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs13:48

Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs

60 Minutes
13.2M views • 5 years ago