Doug Hegdahl
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Douglas Brent Hegdahl is a former United States Navy petty officer second class who was held as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. After an early release, he was able to provide the names and p
Hegdahl in 1970
Shibboleth
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A shibboleth is any custom or tradition—usually a choice of phrasing or single word—that distinguishes one group of people from another. Historically, shibboleths have been used as passwords, ways of
Doug Hegdahl
…camp. He reported that fellow U.S. captives in the Vietnam War would authenticate a new prisoner's U.S. identity by using "Shave and a Haircut" as a shibboleth, tapping the first five notes against a cell wall and waiting for the appropriate response. U.S. POWs were then able to communicate securely with one…
A New Orleans resident challenges out-of-towners who had come to protest against the 2017 removal of the Robert E. Lee Monument. The out-of-towners' inability to pronounce "Tchoupitoulas Street" according to the local fashion would be a shibboleth marking them as outsiders.
Shepherds fording the river Jordan (old postcard). The men of Ephraim could not cross without saying the password.
Villagers of Ungheni, Bessarabia Governorate, displaying Christian icons on their homes in order to distinguish themselves from Jews, and avoid being targeted during a pogrom in 1905 (painting by Hermanus Willem Koekkoek).
Koreans being stabbed by vigilantes during the Kantō Massacre (1923)