Unless you were there, one can only imagine the horrors which took place in the POW camps in North Vietnam.

Here are a few facts and the layout of the infamous "Hanoi Hilton". Check the "Zoo" out as well.

American nicknames: Hanoi Hilton, Camp One, Camp Unity, Heartbreak, Little Vegas, New Guy Village, West Court. (Some names apply only to specific locations within the prison - see map at right.)

Vietnamese name: Hoa Lo Prison.

The dates U.S. POWs were present:
 August 11,1964 to March 28,1973

The French built this prison near the turn of the century, with construction completed in 1901. The name, Hoa Lo, means "portable earthen stove". In the 19th Century, several families lived on the land where the prison was later built. They manufactured earthen-ware hibachis, called "hoa lo". Streets became known by the name of the primary industry or commerce conducted on the street. In this instance, it became known as "Pho Hoa Lo", or "Hibachi Street." After the French built the prison, they renamed the street "rue de la Prison," or in Vietnamese, "Pho Nha Tu". When the French departed in 1954, the Vietnamese authorities changed the name of the street back to "Pho Hoa Lo" and the name of the prison to "Hoa Lo." Hoa Lo Street is the only street in Hanoi that has only one address on it... the prison. Some of the aging leaders of the Communist government in Hanoi were imprisoned there during the French era.

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