[h=2]Vietnam War POW and Medal of Honor recipient Col. George "Bud" Day died on July 27, according to his wife, Doris Day.[/h]According to CBS News, day was surrounded by family when he died.
Day received "the Medal of Honor for escaping his captors for 10 days after the aircraft he was piloting was shot down over North Vietnam." In total, he received more than 70 medals during service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
He was held as a POW in Vietnam for five and a half years, where he was kept at the "Hanoi Hilton" with his cellmate, Senator John McCain.
Because Day was the highest ranking captive the Vietnamese had, he was subjected to excruciating torture. His captors would "hang him by his arms for days, tearing them from their sockets." The torture was so severe that even after he was freed in 1973 his arms and hands never worked properly again.
Decades later, Day reflected on his years as a POW: "As awful as it sounds, no one could say we did not do well. Being a [POW] was a major issue in my life and one that I am extremely proud of. I was just living day to day. One really bad cold and I would have been dead."
