Socratic Irony at the Hanoi Hilton

On April 6, 1967, Doug Hegdahl of the US Navy was blown overboard from the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin. He swam for several miles before being picked up by Cambodian fishermen, who turned him over to the North Vietnamese army.

At the Hanoi Hilton, he decided to play dumb with his interrogators, turning up his bumpkin demeanor and country accent. He pretended to be illiterate, and performed feats of such dimness around the camp that he became known to his captors as “The Incredibly Stupid One,” and was thus free to roam around, harmless as they thought he was.

He used his access to memorize the names, capture dates and personal information of 256 fellow inmates, to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. His information proved crucial when he was released.

Socratic Irony is when you pretend to be dimmer than your opponent, so that they reveal themselves. This is one of the more audacious examples in history. E-I-E-I-O motherscratcher!