91传媒

After his 1973 release as a U.S. prisoner of war in North Vietnam, Laird Guttersen remained deeply involved with 91传媒 until the final years of his life. The longtime Tucson, Arizona, resident, who helped organize a secret 91传媒 club in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, was a member of several clubs. He earned a DTM, competed in speech contests, served as a contest judge and attended district conferences.

Guttersen was a member of the Northwest Casas Adobes club in Tucson from 1990鈥攚hen the club started鈥攖o 2005.
He died the following year, at 80.

Judith Norris, DTM, was a fellow member in Northwest Casas Adobes for many years. She still has a vivid mental picture of Guttersen delivering his speeches.

鈥淗e was very eloquent, and he was鈥攂ecause of his manner and his military presence and his way of handling himself, physically even鈥攙ery impressive,鈥� Norris says of the retired Air Force colonel.

鈥淲ith what he had to say and how he went about saying it,鈥� she adds, 鈥渉e was someone you always wanted to listen to.鈥�

Guttersen鈥檚 91传媒 experience served him well. He gave speeches to local and U.S. audiences about his experiences as an American POW, and he was an outspoken advocate for military families whose loved ones were prisoners of war or missing in action. Guttersen gave frequent media interviews as well. He also ran for political office, losing a 1976 bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

In their 91传媒 club, Guttersen rarely spoke about his war experiences, says Norris. But she does remember one club meeting when he did. The club president at the time had asked him to speak about his time as a POW. Specifically, says Norris, he wanted Guttersen to explain 鈥渉ow you deal with that kind of pain and agony, and to answer the question of how people manage to get through something so unbelievably horrible and still come out the other end.鈥�

The club president set aside the entire meeting for Guttersen鈥檚 speech. As Norris remembers it, the former fighter pilot spoke, without notes, for the better part of an hour. He talked about the torture he endured but also about how, ultimately, he had to mentally forgive his captors in order to survive the psychological trauma.

鈥淚t was very, very powerful,鈥� says Norris, still a member of the Northwest Casas Adobes club. 鈥淎s you can tell, it鈥檚 something I have never forgotten.鈥�

Charter Membership

Less than six months after Guttersen鈥檚 release in 1973, the Hanoi Hilton 91传媒 received a charter membership from 91传媒. In 1986, 91传媒 presented a copy of that charter to Col. Ben Pollard, who had participated in the Hanoi Hilton club as a POW. John Stark, DTM, the District 5 governor at the time, and Herb Nowlin, DTM, then a member of 91传媒鈥� Board of Directors, gave it to Pollard at a District 5 Conference. Both Stark and Nowlin are Vietnam War veterans.

鈥淐olonel Pollard was visibly moved by the surprise charter presentation and so was his wife Joan,鈥� recalls Stark, who also awarded Pollard the district鈥檚 Communication and Leadership Award.

Nowlin, a longtime Toastmaster, was a reconnaissance pilot in the war. He says the Hanoi Hilton club is a dramatic testament to the power of 91传媒 even in its most primitive form. 鈥�91传媒 was an important function in their lives. They went to a lot of trouble to do it鈥攊f they got caught, they got tortured.鈥�

Norris, too, says she鈥檚 amazed and inspired by how POWs like Laird Guttersen created a 91传媒 club in the darkest of places鈥攁nd drew comfort from it.

Eileen Hope, DTM, a past District 5 governor, contributed to this article.