Jeremiah Denton
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Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. (July 15, 1924 – March 28, 2014) was an American politician and United States Navy two-star admiral who served as a U.S. Senator representing Alabama from 1981 to 1987. He was the first Republican to be popularly elected to a Senate seat in Alabama. During the Vietnam War, Denton spent almost eight years as an American prisoner of war (POW) in North Vietnam after the A-6 Intruder he was piloting suffered severe damage resulting from a defective bomb, which detonated as he released his payload in 1965. He was the first of the American POWs released by Hanoi to step off an American plane during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. As one of the earliest and highest-ranking officers to be taken prisoner in North Vietnam, 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 "T-O-R-T-U-R-E"—and confirming for the first time to U.S. Naval Intelligence that American POWs were being tortured. In 1976, Denton wrote When Hell Was in Session about his experience in captivity, which was made into the 1979 film with Hal Holbrook. Denton was also the subject of the 2015 documentary Jeremiah produced by Alabama Public Television. In 1980, Denton was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he focused mainly on family issues and national security, helping pass the Adolescent Family Life Act (the so-called "Chastity Bill") in 1981 and heading the Judiciary Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism. In 2019, the United States Secretary of the Navy announced that an upcoming Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer would be named in Denton's honor. Construction on USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129) began in August 2022 and the ship was launched in March 2025. Additionally, an airport on Dauphin Island was named the Jeremiah Denton Airport in honor of Denton and his service in the military.