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| Capt. Larry "Rat" Slade retired in Norfolk on Thursday after 22 years in the Navy. u.s. navy
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NORFOLK
CAPT. LARRY "RAT" SLADE served 22 years in the Navy, flying in the backseat of a Tomcat fighter over four combat zones, graduating from Top Gun school and winning the naval flight officer of the year award.
But one moment of Slade's career, honored this week at a retirement ceremony, fails to fold neatly into a shadow box with a flag, ribbons and medals.
On Jan. 21, 1991, a cloudy, damp night over Baghdad, an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile blew the tail off his Oceana-based jet at 25,000 feet.
Slade and the pilot, Lt. Devon "Boots" Jones, ejected safely and floated into the enemy's desert a mile apart.
Jones was rescued. Slade was captured.
For the next 43 days, Slade endured interrogation, torture and starvation at the hands of Iraqis. The military code burned in his mind: "I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability."
It still smolders: Did he resist to the utmost of his ability?
"I struggle with that question today," he said.
Slade retired on Thursday as perhaps the final prisoner of war in the active Navy ranks. At a Norfolk Naval Station ceremony, fellow sailors praised Slade, 42, for a no-nonsense career as a top aviator, skilled leader and aggressive advocate for new technology.
According to Slade, who stays in touch with other POWs, his retirement marks the first time in a century the Navy has not had a former POW in its active-duty ranks. A spokesman for the Naval Historical Center said researchers there do not track such information.
During a rare interview this week, Slade recalled the still-vivid pictures of being shot down in combat. The F-14 tumbled toward the desert floor, the altimeter unable to track the smoky and rapid descent. Slade ejected at 10,000 feet and landed in a remote, rocky region outside the Iraqi capital and a few miles from the burning wreck of the plane.
He sent out emergency signals religiously. No answer came.
The next morning, an Iraqi soldier and Bedouin stumbled upon his hiding spot. The young Navy lieutenant, armed with only a snub-nosed .38 caliber revolver, surrendered.
"I had no expectation of living through the experience the moment I was captured," he said.
Slade was one of several coalition fighter pilots struck down by Iraqi air defenses in the early days of the Gulf War. Jones, his pilot, evaded capture and was rescued by a special Air Force unit.
Once captured, the Iraqi took Slade to a secret, high-security prison and kept him in solitary confinement. The Iraqis videotaped Slade and other prisoners and broadcast their capture to the world.
At the prison, interrogators questioned Slade repeatedly about his target and other military intelligence. "I was going to fight every single one," he said during the interview at his office.
The Iraqis met his stubbornness with violence. They smashed his nose and teeth, and pummelled his ribs and spine with a bat. They threatened to kill him.
"Day by day, Rat," he told himself. "Day by day."
In late February, American air dominance over Iraq expanded. An allied bombing raid severely damaged the secret prison.
Prisoners were transferred to a municipal facility in Baghdad - now famously known as Abu Ghraib. Slade endured more days with nothing more than soup - "oily water" - for sustenance.
On March 4, he was turned over to the Red Cross at a Baghdad hotel.
Slade had lost 45 pounds. The beatings left him with permanent damage to his organs and spine. He recalled his condition this week with a wan smile: "Still young and not so idealistic... I wanted very much to serve again."
Except for a brief interview at a homecoming ceremony years ago, Slade said he has resisted speaking publicly about his experience. It's just a moment in a long career, he said.
"We all want to do more things, better things," he said.
Ward Carroll, a former F-14 pilot and now editor of Military.com, said Slade never boasted about his experience, but spoke honestly about it to other aviators headed into combat.
"He didn't bathe in the light of his notoriety," said Carroll. "It was an asterisk on his resume."
Slade flew two more combat tours before changing careers to electronic warfare. He retired as director of communications for the Second Fleet.
This summer, he plans to bicycle across the country to raise money for science education in local schools. The Virginia Beach resident has set up a Web site to track his quest, cycle4science.org.
Although his wife and two young daughters will follow him for several days, he will pedal much of the 4,000-mile journey alone.
And the question - did he resist to the utmost of his ability? - may return to him like so many Navy memories.
"I think," he said, "I did OK."
