His 34-year naval career included service on a variety of ships and on aircraft, including
airships. His principal field of endeavor was naval operations. He also served as a test pilot, flight instructor, and commanding officer of an attack squadron flying the
A-6 Intruder. In 1957, he was credited with revolutionizing naval strategy and tactics for nuclear war as architect of the "Haystack Concept." This strategy called for concealing aircraft carriers from radar by intermingling with commercial shipping and avoiding formations suggestive of a naval fleet. The strategy was simulated in maneuvers and demonstrated effectiveness, allowing two aircraft carrier fleets thirty-five simulated atomic launches before aggressor aircraft and submarines could repel them. He went on to serve on the staff of the Commander,
U.S. Sixth Fleet at the rank of Commander (O-5) as Fleet Air Defense Officer. Denton graduated from the
Armed Forces Staff College and the
Naval War College, where his thesis on international affairs received top honors by earning the prestigious President's Award. In 1964, he received the degree of
Master of Arts in
international affairs from
George Washington University's School of Public and International Affairs in
Washington, D.C. Vietnam War Denton served as a
United States Naval Aviator during the
Vietnam War. In February 1965, he became the
Prospective Commanding Officer of
Attack Squadron Seventy-Five serving aboard aircraft carrier . On July 18, 1965,
Commander Denton was piloting his
A-6A Intruder jet (
BUNO 151577) while leading a 28-aircraft bombing mission over North Vietnam off the
Independence which was stationed in the
South China Sea. He and
LTJG Bill Tschudy, his
bombardier/navigator, were forced to eject from their plane, damaged by one of their own
Mark 82 bombs exploding shortly after its release after which it went down out of control near the city of
Thanh Hoa in North Vietnam. Both men were quickly captured and taken prisoner. Denton and Tschudy were held as prisoners of war for almost eight years, four of which were spent in
solitary confinement. During the
Hanoi March in July 1966, he and over 50 other American prisoners were paraded through the streets of Hanoi and beaten by North Vietnamese civilians. In 1966, he was forced to participate in a televised press conference by his North Vietnamese captors. He used the opportunity to send a distress message confirming for the first time to the U.S.
Office of Naval Intelligence and Americans that American POWs were being tortured in North Vietnam. He repeatedly blinked his eyes in
Morse code during the interview, spelling out the word "T-O-R-T-U-R-E". He was also questioned about his support for the U.S. war effort in
Vietnam, to which he replied: "I don't know what is happening, but whatever the position of my government is, I support it fully. Whatever the position of my government, I believe in it, yes, sir. I am a member of that government, and it is my job to support it, and I will as long as I live." While a prisoner, he was promoted to the rank of
captain. Denton was later awarded the
Navy Cross for heroism and the
Purple Heart for wounds incurred while a prisoner of war. ,
Philippines, shortly after his release as a POW in Hanoi, in February 1973. Denton was first sent to the
Hỏa Lò Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton", and was later transferred to the Cu Loc Detention Center, nicknamed the "Zoo". In 1967 he was transferred to a prison nicknamed "Alcatraz". Here, he became part of a group of American POWs known as the "
Alcatraz Gang". The group consisted of
George Coker, Harry Jenkins,
Sam Johnson, George McKnight, James Mulligan, Howard Rutledge, Robert Shumaker,
James Stockdale (who had graduated with Denton from the Naval Academy), Ronald Storz, and Nels Tanner. They were put in "Alcatraz" and
solitary confinement to separate them from other POWs because their strong resistance led other POWs in resisting their captors. "Alcatraz" was a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, located about one mile away from Hoa Lo Prison. Each of the American POWs spent day and night in windowless cells mostly in
legcuffs. On February 12, 1973, both Denton and Tschudy were released in Hanoi by the North Vietnamese along with numerous other American POWs during
Operation Homecoming. Stepping off the jet back home in uniform, Denton said: "We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our
Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America." The speech has a prominent place in the 1987 documentary,
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Denton was briefly hospitalized at the
Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Virginia, and then was assigned to the
Commander, Naval Air Forces,
U.S. Atlantic Fleet, from February to December 1973. In January 1974, Denton became the commandant of the
Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk (now known as the
Joint Forces Staff College), to June 1977. His final assignment was as special assistant to the Chief of Naval Education and Training at
Naval Air Station Pensacola,
Florida, from June 1977 until his retirement from the Navy on November 1, 1977, with the rank of
Rear Admiral.
After retirement Denton accepted a position with the
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) as a consultant to CBN founder and friend,
Pat Robertson, from 1978 to 1980. During his time with CBN, both Denton and Robertson repeatedly expressed support for the
Contra forces in
Nicaragua. In 1981, he founded and chaired the National Forum Foundation. Through his National Forum Foundation, Denton arranged shipments of donated goods to countries in need of aid. Denton founded the Coalition for Decency, which tried to clean up television by urging boycotts of sponsors that promoted sexual promiscuity. ==Political career==