Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Pig Penn, 10 Percent True Episode 79.

In this extraordinary episode of 10 Percent True, Mike “Pig” Penn—US Navy A-7 Corsair II pilot, Iron Hand aviator, and Vietnam POW—walks through a life defined by combat, captivity, survival, and purpose. Pig recounts flying alpha strikes and Iron Hand missions over North Vietnam, dodging SAMs at night, being shot down near Hanoi in 1972, and surviving an ejection, capture, and eight months inside the Hanoi Hilton. He describes the brutal realities of captivity, the tap code, the psychological battle to retain hope, and the moment B-52 strikes signalled that the war—and his imprisonment—was nearing its end. The conversation then shifts to Pig’s post-war life: returning to flight, confronting PTSD and alcoholism, and ultimately finding a new mission—helping others survive their darkest moments. It’s a raw, unfiltered account of air combat, resilience, and why hope is not abstract, but essential to survival.


0:00 Start
0:33 intro teaser
1:20 welcome “Pig”
2:55 ama question from Sedlo regarding Alpha Strikes
6:18 Route to Naval Aviation and background
9:07 Training pipeline and experiences
11:23 Buckeye at the boat
14:50 Hope and Courage
15:55 the reality of landing in the boat, scary, exhilarating?
18:40 going into combat knowing a night trap awaits afterwards
20:33 The SLUF
24:37 SAMS and dodging them
30:37 Iron Hand
32:53 finding SAMs and target prosecution by Shrike
39:13 validating success? BDA?
40:33 any tactic change through experience - when iron hand turns into RESCAP
43:08 psychological load?
45:08 shootdown
49:21 on the ground and to the Hanoi Hilton
53:23 cheating death
54:03 coming to terms with initial stages of the ordeal
56:33 any preconceptions/intel on the “Hilton” before arriving
58:23 initial phase at the Hilton
1:02:33 Heartbreak hotel, making (unexpected) acquaintances, eventually starting to eat
1:07:43 low down via tap code before leaving solitary and meeting fellow POWs
1:10:19 why group you together?
1:11:45 information flow, long sideburns and air raid drills preface December 18th (Linebacker II)
1:19:53 mindgames and release order hang ups
1:21:58 release day story
1:26:50 3 days in Clark and learning to sleep in a bed again
1:28:06 to Travis AFB and reuniting with family and friends
1:29:11 resentment? Return?
1:32:17 flight gear on display in Hanoi
1:32:43 what comes next? Returning to normality? Coming full circle on an incredible story.
1:35:58 F-4 orders turn sour so back to Lemoore and the A-7 RAG
1:38:38 getting out and into Continental
1:38:45 meeting Kissinger
1:40:06 psychological and emotional journey and the genesis of the book - Hope and Courage
1:47:48 meeting Marcus Luttrel and guesting on his podcast
1:51:44 how to find Pig on tour/find out more
1:53:03 philosophising on the experiences
1:55:17 Share this please