Scope and Contents

Two audio-cassettes that document Wilson Key's experiences in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam era. Particular emphasis is placed on his time as a prisoner of war from November 1967 to March 1973 as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.

Biographical / Historical

Wilson Denver Key was born in and grew up in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1963. Denver served in the Navy from 1963 until 1993, eleven of those years as a Navy pilot. In January 1967, after other assignments, he began service with VA-34, an A-4 Skyhawk squadron based at Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. VA-34 was assigned to USS Intrepid (CV-11) for deployment to Vietnam. Between June and November 1967, Denver flew bombing missions over North Vietnam in the A-4C Skyhawk. On 17 November 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam, captured, and imprisoned at various locations in and around Hanoi until March 1973 when he was released. Interview conducted by Muhammad M. Khan on 5 November 2004 as part of his coursework at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.