Editing When Hell Was in Session

{{Short description|Memoir by Jeremiah Denton}}
{{Infobox book
| image             = When Hell Was in Session.jpg
| author            = [[Jeremiah Denton]]
| isbn              = 9780883491126
| pub_date          = 1975
| publisher         = [[Reader's Digest]]
| caption           = First edition cover
| language          = English
| country           = United States
| genre             = Autobiography
}}

{{italic title}}
'''''When Hell Was in Session''''' is a 1975 [[memoir]] by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral [[Jeremiah Denton]], recounting his experiences as an American [[prisoner of war]] (POW) during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Denton (Jr.) |first1=Jeremiah Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eljdAAAAIAAJ |title=When Hell was in Session |last2=Brandt |first2=Ed |date=1976 |publisher=Reader's Digest Press |isbn=978-0-88349-112-6}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
A [[United States Naval Aviator|Navy pilot]], Denton's jet was shot down over [[North Vietnam]] in July 1965. Denton and his [[navigator]], Bill Tschudy, parachuted down and were soon taken prisoner. Both men spent seven years and seven months in North Vietnam as often-tortured POWs.<ref name="scheck"/> In May 1966, the North Vietnamese allowed a Japanese TV reporter to interview him, where he blinked out the word "torture" in Morse code, confirming the United States suspicions that prisoners were being mistreated during the Vietnam War.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chawkins |first1=Steve |title=Jeremiah Denton, 1924 - 2014; POW who blinked 'torture' in Morse code |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 29, 2014 |page=A1}}</ref>

==Film adaption, documentary and updated version==
In 1979, the book was made into a television movie starring [[Hal Holbrook]]. It was adapted by screenwriter Jake Justiz, also known as Lee Pogostin.<ref name="carter">{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Rusty |title=Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam War Hero, Dies At 89 |work=[[Daily Press (Virginia)|Daily Press]] |date=April 1, 2014 |page=A6}}</ref>

Denton, [[James Stockdale]], [[Lawrence N. Guarino|Larry Guarino]], and [[James Robinson Risner]], distinguished themselves as members of the American POW [[resistance movement]] from 1965 to 1973, helping POWs accomplish their sworn goal to "return with honor".<ref name="doc"/> ''[[Return with Honor]]'' was later used as the title of a [[documentary film]] released in 2000 about American POWs during the Vietnam War, narrated and produced by actor [[Tom Hanks]].<ref name="doc">{{Citation|title=Return with honor|date=2001|others=Hanks, Tom, Mock, Freida Lee, Sanders, Terry, Wiser, Christine Zurbach, American Film Foundation, Sanders & Mock Productions.|publisher=PBS|isbn=0780634292|oclc=48583518}}</ref> In November 2009, an updated version of the book was released with the following epilogue from Denton:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sizemore |first1=Bill |title=Vet Aims To Change Culture Tide |work=[[The Virginian-Pilot]] |date=November 15, 2009 |page=A4}}</ref>
{{Blockquote
|text=There was the shock at the difference between 1965 and 1973 in terms of cultural standards, I saw the appearance of X-rated movies, adult magazines, massage parlors, the proliferation of drugs, promiscuity, premarital sex and unwed mothers. 
|author=Jeremiah Denton<ref name="carter"/>
}}

==Reception==
The ''[[Library Journal]]'' said that "while the nature of the material is well calculated to hold the reader's interest, the narrative skips and jumps in a disruptive manner". They also noted that "the author at time becomes overbearingly righteous in his presentation, and the overall impression is one of haste".<ref name="scheck">{{cite magazine |last1=Scheck |first1=George F. |title=When Hell Was In Session |magazine=[[Library Journal]] |date=November 1, 1976 |volume=101 |issue=19 |page=2271}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Denton, Jeremiah (1976). ''When Hell Was in Session''. [[Reader's Digest Press]]. {{ISBN|0-88349-112-5}}.
*{{IMDb title|id=0080127|title=When Hell Was in Session}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0176093|title=Return With Honor}}

[[Category:1976 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Military autobiographies]]
[[Category:Vietnam War books]]
[[Category:Memoirs of imprisonment]]