brace then worked as a civilian pilot for a number of companies before flying for birdair, an airline contracted by the thai border patrol police. birdair also supported usaid interests in southeast asia. on 21 may 1965, he flew royal thai army sergeant chaicharn, as well as other passengers and cargo to a dirt airstrip in the northern laotian village of baum lao in muong houn district. brace's aircraft, a pilatus pc-6 porter, received small arms fire upon landing, rendering it incapable of taking off again. both he and chaicharn were immediately taken prisoner (either by the vietnam people's army or the pathet lao) and force-marched into the jungle from boum lao to muong hoc to doi sai, near dien bien phu. brace was held in a bamboo cage with his limbs and neck bound to prevent escape. during his captivity he was beaten, interrogated, and faced with a mock execution. he escaped 6 june 1965 for a few days before being caught stealing food from a village. upon his return to the cage his legs were put in stocks and bolted. he escaped on 17 april 1966, and was recaptured in minutes. next buried up to his chin for seven days, brace hit his low point and attempted to hang himself on 10 december 1967. he was sent in october 1968 to a pow camp on the outskirts of hanoi nicknamed the plantation, where he met john mccain in the cell next to him. brace re-tells his story in season 8 of "locked up abroad" like jim bedinger, he was sequestered from other prisoners because he had been captured in laos. before doug hegdahl's early release from the captivity, brace contacted hegdahl to ensure the outside world knew about the prisoners captured in laos.