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File: 120596_aaczf_14.txt14 could hear the bombs going off, too. Some of them had been pretty close and you could tell a close one from a far one. But really, we had no idea of anything. As I mentioned earlier, on the night of the 23 February, we were bombed out and I was put in a cell with ten other prisoners. One of those guys had been the latest shoot down on the 18th of February. Those of us who bad been shot down about a month earlier were very anxious for news so we said: "How's the ground war going?" And he replied: "It hasn't started yet." And I thought: "Oh, s---, I don't know how long I'm going to be here, but it's going to be a while if they haven't even started the ground war." I couldn't believe it hadn't been started yet. Of course, we had no idea it would only take 100 hours. It was depressing when I heard that. Q: How long did these interrogations last? A: I wasn't interrogated after 23 February, and was released on 4 March. Once we were bombed out of that prison, it seemed like events were happening too fast for them; they couldn't keep up with things that were going on. Q: Did you have any indication when this was going to happen, or did your release just suddenly crop up? A: We stayed in one prison from about the 23rd to the 28th of February. On the 28th of February we were moved to another prison that appeared to be back under the Army's control. When we arrived at this prison, they threw us in our cells, of course we were in solitary, and they gave us two blankets initially. Then a guy came around and said: "Do you want any more blankets?" I said sure! So be threw in about four more. I couldn't believe it, but I got some more blankets. That night there was no bombing and I thought maybe the weather was too bad. The next day, they started feeding us more and then again, that night there was no bombing. The day after that, they allowed us to wash, which was the first time I had done that in six weeks. They shaved us and the food kept getting a little better, and then they gave us new prison uniforms. So based on all those things and what I had read about Vietnam where the conditions improved prior to the release, and there was no bombing, I thought it was possible we were going to get released fairly soon. Either that , or something was afoot, I didn't know what. However, I thought they would come around to the cells a lot and ask you your name before they released you... because they weren't too good on English names and their bureaucracy was atrocious. So, I thought they would make sure they had the right guy. I was prepared that some thing was going to happen But that actual morning, a guy came to the cell, and said: "What's your name?" I
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