Kamas Valley History Group Hosts Oakley Local Sid Stockdale

The Kamas Valley History Group is excited to be hosting their quarterly Library Talk on Friday, September 8th at 7pm at the Kamas Branch Library. This Library Talk features Oakley resident Sid Stockdale as he discusses his experience as the son of a Vietnam POW.

Stockdale was only eleven years old when his father, Vice Admiral James Stockdale, was shot down and captured in North Vietnam in 1965 and was held in the “Hanoi Hilton” for seven years.

Back home, Sid’s mother, Sybil, was left to raise four boys and await his return. As the war progressed, she founded the National League of POW/MIA Families, and also began working secretly with Naval Intelligence.

Sid was thrown headlong into an emotional and political cauldron in a world he barely understood; a boy forced to deal with adult traumas and struggle. 

After his mother’s death, Sid was sent a copy of her missing diary from those years, which began “Written

as if addressing our four boys.” This led him to start work on his own book: A World Apart: Growing Up

Stockdale During Vietnam.

The book celebrates his parents and tells his journey “inside of [their] story.” Sid finds: “In understanding what happened to me, I wanted to explain something to my daughters and future generations: children whose parents leave home to serve our country are part of our national sacrifice to ensure the world remains safe.”

For more information contact Deborah Lambert at 435-640-0928.