The USS Midway Museum opened its new Vietnam War prisoner-of-war exhibit Monday during a ceremony to honor National Vietnam Veterans Day.
Retired Navy Capt. Jack Ensch was one of 11 USS Midway aviators taken captive during the war.
Ensch was an F-4 Phantom naval flight officer in August 1972 when he was shot down.
"I was a POW for seven months," Ensch said. "The last seven months of the war."
The new exhibit takes visitors through the squadron ready rooms that would be the last places pilots and aircrew were briefed before launching off the ship.
There's a separate area dedicated to the 11 taken captive who had been serving on the Midway.
Kathy Ensch, Jack's wife, said it was difficult being back in San Diego when her husband went missing. She said the family didn't know he'd survived for three months and the time was especially difficult for their 7-year-old daughter.
"She didn't think she'd ever see her daddy again," Kathy Ensch said. "There was no counseling available at all — I was on my own."
Jack Ensch credits his wife and other POW wives for getting their stories out while they were captive. He also said their efforts started what is today a more robust family support system for service members.
"I think a lesson can be learned is … how important the family is to those of us who are out there fighting the war," he said.
Since 2017 National Vietnam Veterans Day is recognized each year on March 29.
The USS Midway Museum is open daily.
