found, Stratton spotted a set of barges one mile further upriver and rolled in to attack the craft with rockets. Stratton was forced to eject from his plane when he was shot down. He was captured shortly after parachuting to the ground. In 1967, American journalist Lee Lockwood arranged a trip to North Vietnam, making him the first Western journalist to visit the country in nearly a decade. While there, the North Vietnamese presented Lockwood with a confession read by Stratton, attacking the U.S. military action in the region. Lockwood described Stratton as "looking like a puppet" whose "eyes were empty". The photos that Lockwood took on the trip became the material for "North Vietnam Under Siege", an article that appeared in the April 7, 1967, edition of Life magazine, which included a widely distributed a picture of Stratton in prison garb bowing deeply as ordered by a North Vietnamese officer. Robert J. McCloskey of the U.S. Department of State cited Lockwood's material about Stratton as evidence that North Vietnam was brainwashing prisoners for propaganda. In the Department of Defense history of the Vietnam POW situation, "The Long Road Home", the author, Vernon Davis, in a section labeled "The Stratton Incident" recounts the worldwide revulsion engendered by the incident and the eventual decision of the USG to go public with POW mistreatment. A 1978 book by Scott Blakely, Prisoner at War: The Survival of Commander Richard A Stratton, explores the bowing incident and its complicated history. Stratton used the Lockwood press conference to perform in such a way that it would raise doubt and confusion regarding the so-called confession to the discredit of his captors. His nom de guerre, while attached to the 4th Allied POW Wing in Hanoi, changed frequently to confuse his captors: "Dick"; "Penis", "Wiz" (Wizard). He served under the direction of Cdr. James Stockdale (MOH), the Senior Officer Present - Navy. A full account of Stratton's prison experience is contained in Scott Blakey's biography. "Prisoner at War" and his oral history, U.S. Naval Institute. Operation Homecoming Stratton was released on March 4, 1973, at Hanoi's Gia Lam Airport as part of the 2nd DRV Increment, Operation Homecoming, comprising 108 POWs on three flights. He had been a prisoner for 2,251 days. While a prisoner, he had been promoted to the rank of commander. After being processed at the Clark Air Base Hospital, the Philippines, he arrived