Prisoner of Vietnam

Annotation

Hoyt Scoggins ("Rev. William Hoyt Scoggins") - born 9 January 1926 in Lafayette, Georgia, he started his recording career in the 1950s, writing and playing country music. He held, along with his wife Jessie Mae, several pastorates in churches across North Georgia, including his last known location in Rome, Georgia.123 His two sons served in the Vietnam War, Robert Dolan Scoggins and Ty Scoggins.4 This single, from Atlanta, Georgia, probably released in the early 1970s, contained two Vietnam-related tracks, both of which contained strong religious elements. The first song "Prisoner of Vietnam" (Gaye Records # 3037) addressed the P.O.W. issue. Narrated in the first person from the perspective of a soldier "captured by the guerrillas", he described how his captors tortured and tried to brainwash him. But he told the listener that with the help of god he resisted "their ways". He then said that the North Vietnamese "beheaded my buddy" (Note: there were a few cases of people being beheaded during the war). The soldier managed to escape the prison, hiding in the jungle and foxholes. The second song on the single "Soldier's Prayer" told the story of a US army captain who overheard one of his men singing a prayer to god. That song also viewed the war as a fight for freedom. In 1968 he recorded the song "Returned Package From Vietnam" (Starday Records # 5479).5 "Soldier's Prayer" Patriotic, religion, peace.1Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Hoyt Scoggins — Rockabilly Legend↩2Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩3Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩4talleysparkviewchapel.com (link no longer available)↩5The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built (Nathan D. Gibson, 2011)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs

Hoyt Scoggins ("Rev. William Hoyt Scoggins") - born 9 January 1926 in Lafayette, Georgia, he started his recording career in the 1950s, writing and playing country music. He held, along with his wife Jessie Mae, several pastorates in churches across North Georgia, including his last known location in Rome, Georgia.123 His two sons served in the Vietnam War, Robert Dolan Scoggins and Ty Scoggins.4 This single, from Atlanta, Georgia, probably released in the early 1970s, contained two Vietnam-related tracks, both of which contained strong religious elements. The first song "Prisoner of Vietnam" (Gaye Records # 3037) addressed the P.O.W. issue. Narrated in the first person from the perspective of a soldier "captured by the guerrillas", he described how his captors tortured and tried to brainwash him. But he told the listener that with the help of god he resisted "their ways". He then said that the North Vietnamese "beheaded my buddy" (Note: there were a few cases of people being beheaded during the war). The soldier managed to escape the prison, hiding in the jungle and foxholes. The second song on the single "Soldier's Prayer" told the story of a US army captain who overheard one of his men singing a prayer to god. That song also viewed the war as a fight for freedom. In 1968 he recorded the song "Returned Package From Vietnam" (Starday Records # 5479).5 Sources1Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Hoyt Scoggins — Rockabilly Legend↩2Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩3Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩4talleysparkviewchapel.com (link no longer available)↩5The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built (Nathan D. Gibson, 2011)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs

Hoyt Scoggins ("Rev. William Hoyt Scoggins") - born 9 January 1926 in Lafayette, Georgia, he started his recording career in the 1950s, writing and playing country music. He held, along with his wife Jessie Mae, several pastorates in churches across North Georgia, including his last known location in Rome, Georgia.123 His two sons served in the Vietnam War, Robert Dolan Scoggins and Ty Scoggins.4 This single, from Atlanta, Georgia, probably released in the early 1970s, contained two Vietnam-related tracks, both of which contained strong religious elements. The first song "Prisoner of Vietnam" (Gaye Records # 3037) addressed the P.O.W. issue. Narrated in the first person from the perspective of a soldier "captured by the guerrillas", he described how his captors tortured and tried to brainwash him. But he told the listener that with the help of god he resisted "their ways". He then said that the North Vietnamese "beheaded my buddy" (Note: there were a few cases of people being beheaded during the war). The soldier managed to escape the prison, hiding in the jungle and foxholes. The second song on the single "Soldier's Prayer" told the story of a US army captain who overheard one of his men singing a prayer to god. That song also viewed the war as a fight for freedom. In 1968 he recorded the song "Returned Package From Vietnam" (Starday Records # 5479).5"Soldier's Prayer" Patriotic, religion, peace.1Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Hoyt Scoggins — Rockabilly Legend↩2Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩3Hillbilly-Music.com: Hoyt Scoggins↩4talleysparkviewchapel.com (link no longer available)↩5The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built (Nathan D. Gibson, 2011)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I was captured by the guerrillas / They tried hard to teach me their ways / But I know I'm heaven eternal, that god will save me some day / The green beret, god bless them... / The lord stands right beside them / They pray to god every night / They captured me and my buddy / They tortured us night and day / Finally they beheaded my buddy, god helped me to get away / I hid in the jungles and foxholes trying hard to stay alive / Eating the things of the jungle, god sure helped me to survive / Give me the strength

Notes

Gaye Records, yellow label, P.O. Box 13612 Station K, Atlanta, Ga.; Record No. 3037-1 "Prisoner of Vietnam" (Hoyt Scoggins), time 2:00, and Record No. 3037-2 "Soldiers Prayer" (Hoyt Scoggins), time 2:31, both Margie Music, BMI, "A Gaye Talent Production". The "Soldiers Prayer" label is signed in ink by Hoyt Scoggins. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Born 9 January 1926, Lafayette, Georgia, USA

Themes

P.O.W. · VC · Patriotic · Religion · Green Beret · Soldier's Perspective · Guerrilla Warfare

In collections

P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]