Cork Graham

Frederick Graham (born November 29, 1964), who writes under the name Cork Graham, is an American author of adventure memoir and political thriller fiction novels.

He is a former combat photographer, who was imprisoned in Vietnam for illegally entering the country while supposedly looking for treasure buried by Captain Kidd.

As a boy, Cork Graham lived in Saigon, South Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972 his father working there as an electrical engineer.

He enrolled in the College of San Mateo and became a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, but he dropped out without graduating.

He returned to Southeast Asia in April 1983 intending to be a photojournalist.

He arrived at Bangkok, planning to photograph the conflict in Kampuchea.

Having no experience and no contacts, however, he could not obtain any work.

Graham wrote, "I was living on five dollars a day in the slums of Bangkok. You know the atmosphere, rats. ..."

Graham was invited on a treasure hunting expedition off the Vietnamese island of Phú Quốc.

They were arrested on June 16, 1983, by Vietnamese authorities for illegally landing in Vietnam.

According to a western official following the case in Hanoi, the whereabouts of Knight and Graham were unknown until late July, when it was learned they were being held in a provincial prison at Kien Giang.

The Vietnamese government officially reported to British officials that they were holding the pair on September 1.

In November a provincial court found them both guilty of illegally landing on Vietnamese territory and assessed each a $10,000 fine.

The boat and all their equipment were confiscated.

The families of both said they did not have the money to pay the fines and appealed for their release on humanitarian grounds.

The Vietnamese government, however, insisted that the provincial court's ruling stood and the amounts had to be paid.

The Vietnamese indicated they expected the British and American governments to come up with the money, but both refused on grounds it would set a bad precedent.

One diplomat complained "The Vietnamese think we are a charity."

The fine, he said, "is essentially a ransom."

Late in 1983 the pair were transferred from the provincial prison at Kien Giang to a converted French military building in Ho Chi Minh City.

Graham's father said his son was visited by an intermediary in January who "reported back that Fred was doing well. His morale was in pretty good shape and the indications were that he was getting a good, balanced diet, fish and vegetables, and any medical attention he needed."

He also reported to Graham's father that Graham and Knight were kept together in a shuttered 16-by-16-foot room, and that they didn't get much light or outside exercise.

Graham's father established a "Free Freddie Fund", and on May 18, 1984 Graham was released after his family paid the $10,000 fine.

Graham said "I feel great" when he arrived in Bangkok on his way home from Ho Chi Minh City.

Knight, who had been unable to raise the money for his release, was still held.

Knight had raised only $2,000 and was said to have been suffering from severe depression.

Kenneth Crutchlow, a British businessman who owned a taxi business (London Transport of Sonoma) heard of the capture of Knight and donated $8,000 for Knight's release.

Knight was released on August 20.

While Graham and Knight were released in 1984, the two Thai boatmen who accompanied them remained in captivity.

They were finally released after 44 months in captivity when Crutchlow paid the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok $6,000.

Crutchlow said it was his "duty as an Englishman" to help them.

"It was an Englishman who got them into Vietnam. If he wasn't going to help them, then there had to be an Englishman who could."

Crutchlow planned to sell one of his London-style taxicabs to pay for the fine.

The expedition was looking for treasure allegedly buried by the 17th-century pirate Captain Kidd.

The leader of the expedition was Richard Knight, who has been described as an "extrovert" and "failed actor".

Out of work, Graham "snapped at the chance."

Graham met Knight on June 7.

Knight claimed to be in possession of a map passed down from his grandfather detailing the position of Captain Kidd's buried treasure.

"I knew I had a story," Graham later said, "whether you find treasure or not."

They rented a speedboat on June 8 and set off from the Thai resort of Pattaya, Knight armed with the 300-year-old treasure map.