Admiral Jeremiah Denton Blinks Morse Code Warning as P.O.W.
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as the classic real-world use of Morse code to smuggle out a message under duress.
What it is
A short 1966 propaganda interview clip in which Jeremiah Denton, a US prisoner of war in Vietnam, blinks the word TORTURE in Morse code. Naval Intelligence later decoded the message.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2018 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends alexpotato · 2023-06 · on “Tapping Morse Code on a Wall – MRA”
One the most interesting uses of morse code was a Vietnam POW blinking the word "torture" during an interview. See here for the interview: [this video]
Cites jlgaddis · 2018-04 · on “Another Reason to Learn Morse Code: Kidnapping”
U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton, Jr., was a POW for ~8 years during Vietnam. He did something similar. > 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 "TORTURE"—and confirming for the first time to U.S. Naval Intelligence that American POWs were in fact being tortured. [0] You can see the video [1] on Youtube. [0]: [LINK] [1]: [this video]
Cites Stratoscope · 2022-07 · on “The Incredibly Stupid One”
This reminds me of Jeremiah Denton, a POW in that same war who was interviewed on TV to explain that the prisoners were being treated humanely. As he gave the verbal answers his captors expected, he blinked his eyes in Morse Code: – ––– •–• – ••– •–• • T O R T U R E [this video] [LINK] [LINK] Epilog: A few years ago, someone gave me a Fourth of July T-shirt. Made in Vietnam. It made me think how so few of us in each country really wanted to fight these wars.
Cites throwaway133766 · 2023-10 · on “They say I make $45K/month just by pure luck and just by posting my MRR on X”
Wikipedia provides some theories. Developer claims it was because it was addictive and not good for people. The Media, which of course is state-ran, claims is was because of intellectual property legal reasons. "Lawyers in Vietnam" denied that it was related to internet censorship. He was making $50k a revenue a day and like most businesses in China and Vietnam, not formally paying taxes. Even in Japan, most small businesses are not correctly paying taxes. The fact that the game itself is a rip-off makes it unlikely that the developer has the highest standard of ethics. Regarding intellectual property, even the government was found to be using bootlegged versions of Windows. Before companies