The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War Pow's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton -- Marc Leepson, Hardcover

This is the incredible tale of the youngest and lowest-ranking American POW captured in North Vietnam. Doug Hegdahl convinced his captors he was stupid, then spent the next two years memorizing the names of 254 fellow prisoners and other details of POW life. Upon his release, that information helped improve POW life for those still in captivity.

About the Author

Marc Leepson graduated from George Washington University with a history degree in 1967, served in the U.S. Army for the following two years, including a tour in Vietnam, and earned an MA in history from George Washington. He was a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly for ten years before becoming a full-time freelancer. His work has appeared in magazines such as Smithsonian, Military History, Civil War Times, American History, Vietnam, and World War II, and in newspapers such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He is senior writer, arts editor, and columnist for The VVA Veteran (the magazine of Vietnam Veterans of America) and has written reviews for Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. He has been interviewed on The Today Show, the History Channel, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, and many other TV and radio shows. His previous books are Ballad of the Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler from the Vietnam War and Pop Stardom to Murder and an Unsolved, Violent Death; What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, a Life; Lafayette: Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General; Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History; Flag: An American Biography; and Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built. He lives in Middleburg, Virginia.