McConnell honors, remembers prisoners of war

Retired Air Force Capt. Guy Gruters endured five years and three months of torture as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

He had to pull worms out of his comrades’ mouths and tap out messages to fellow POWs on the walls without being caught by guards.

But he made it out.

Gruters spoke to service members at McConnell Air Force Base on Wednesday to commemorate POW/MIA Week on base.

“The impact came with Capt. Gruters – he changed the week completely,” said Master Sgt. Ieaka Olmstead, chief organizer of POW/MIA Week. “It puts a face to the name of what we’re doing here.”

Gruters was shot down twice while flying missions over North Vietnam and was captured the second time, in 1967. He said about one in seven prisoners of war returned home in 1973 – the rest died from the torture or starvation.

“They would tie your elbows behind your back with ropes where the elbows were touching,” he said. “This would always dislocate one of your shoulders and the other one would get torn up. As a result, you were in very, very bad pain.”

Sometimes ropes were then tied around the ankles so the head would be between the knees, leaving the person in “excruciating pain,” Gruters said.

Gruters said he was able to survive life in the prison camps by staying positive and turning to his faith.

“The basic thing that got us through was forgiving these people and not holding grudges against the torturers,” he said. “After three months I could say in my mind – I couldn’t out loud – ‘Lord, forgive them,’ and I didn’t mean it. After six months I meant it. I said, ‘Lord, I understand they’re your children. I understand I’m supposed to pray for them. I’m praying for them and I hope they go to heaven, Lord.’ The last three years, I had the greatest peace and joy in my life, in the prison camp praying for those torturers and interrogators.”

Gruters is now a motivational speaker. His website is www.guygruters.net.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is Sept. 18, but Olmstead said the Air Force Sergeants Association at McConnell wanted to “do it big.”

“Hopefully the local community can see that we eat, breathe just like everyone else,” she said. “It’s not a different level of resiliency … every human has that fight inside of them, whether they’re wearing the uniform or not.”

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, McConnell will host a 24-hour relay, in which at least one service member at a time will be running a route around the base with a POW/MIA remembrance baton.

The relay will end Friday morning on “Patriot Day,” Sept. 11. Service members will hold a ceremony where the U.S. flag is lowered and slowly folded and cannon shots are fired, Olmstead said.

Saturday is the Air Force Ball, capping a full week of activities at the base.

“McConnell is really unifying this week,” Olmstead said. “At the end of the day, we’re just basically doing a lot with each other, which I really enjoy.”

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "McConnell honors, remembers prisoners of war."