In this screenshot from video, retired Lt. Col. Harlan Chapman sits for an interview with the U.S. Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center in 2021. Chapman, a Marine held for seven years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, died Monday at 89 in his Arizona home, according to his obituary. He is believed to be the Marine who spent the longest time imprisoned during the war.  (TheStockdaleCenter/YouTube)

Retired Lt. Col. Harlan Page Chapman, a Marine held for seven years as a prisoner-of-war during the Vietnam War, died Monday at the age of 89 in his Arizona home, according to his obituary. He is believed to be the Marine who spent the longest time imprisoned during the war.

Chapman is survived by his wife Frances “Fran” Chapman, according to the obituary in the Chronicle-Telegram, the newspaper in Lorain County, Ohio, where Chapman was born and lived until 2015.

Chapman graduated from Elyria High School in 1952 and then Miami University in Oxford, graduating in 1956. After graduating college, he was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer.

After flight school in 1964, Chapman joined Marine Fighter Squadron 212 and deployed one year later to Vietnam with Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the USS Oriskany, an Essex-class aircraft carrier.

On Nov. 5, 1965, Chapman was shot down in North Vietnam during a bombing mission south of Hanoi. His target was a railroad and highway bridge deep within enemy territory when he came under fire.

He was able to parachute out of the aircraft relatively unharmed, but, once on the ground, was immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese soldiers, according to his obituary.

He would remain in prison until Feb. 12, 1973, when he was released through the Paris Peace Accords. He spent a total of 2,670 days in prison.

Retired Lt. Col. Harlan Chapman is shown in this screenshot from a video interview with the U.S. Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center in 2021. Chapman, a Marine held for seven years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, died Monday at the age of 89 in his Arizona home. (TheStockdaleCenter/YouTube)

Upon his return, Chapman was greeted by Gen. Louis Wilson Jr., who welcomed him back to the Marine Corps, according to “The War that Would Not End” by Charles Melson.

“Thank you, general, but I never left,” Chapman responded.

The Marine Corps presented Chapman with the Legion of Merit for his endurance through the entire imprisonment.

“Despite harsh treatment from the time of his capture and long periods of solitary confinement, Lt. Col. Chapman refused to cooperate with his captors, and actively participated in establishing and maintaining a prisoner organization and communications system,” the award citation states. “Although subjected to extreme cruelties for days at a time, he exerted himself in a positive leadership role and displayed examples of resistance for his fellow prisoners to emulate.”

He also received the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars and a Prisoner of War Medal, according to his obituary.

“His superior leadership abilities in the face of adversity were a source of strength to his fellow prisoners of war and contributed greatly to unity of purpose and inspired morale among all the prisoners,” his Bronze Star citation states.

Chapman received beatings, interrogations, deprivation and torture for attempting to facilitate communication among prisoners, he told the Chronicle-Telegram in 2015. His wife said this interview was one of the few times he spoke about the ordeal.

After retirement in July 1976, Chapman returned to Ohio and ran a real-estate appraisal business with his wife in Vermillion for more than 25 years.

He did later return to Vietnam to see where he had been held captive, according to the newspaper.

“We visited the shoot-down site in Hanoi. We traveled the countryside all the way from the Chinese border to Saigon (the former capital of South Vietnam, now named Ho Chi Minh City). It was a very meaningful tour,” Fran Chapman told the newspaper. “These trips were really healing and informative for spouses and family. There was no bitterness that I heard from him or any of the other people.”

Chapman was diagnosed in 2017 with Parkinson’s disease and early-stage dementia. He remained an avid reader, even as he struggled to understand, according to his obituary.

Chapman will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. A date is not yet scheduled.