Denton and Stockdale heroically led the POW resistance but they all were subjected to torture to get confessions and knew it was only a matter of time before each man would have to give one, or if unable to write it himself, would be forced to sign one.
Some were ingenious about it, though, like :
“There was Nels Tanner, tortured into writing a confession of war crimes; he identified a Lt. Clark Kent and was thereafter known as the author of Superman’s confession.”
Unfortunately for Tanner, the leftists in the US made a point of letting the Vietnamese know they’d been pranked. Bastards probably had leftists review them for cultural giveaways like “Clark Kent” from then on.
POWs that had the benefit of leadership like Denton’s and Stockdale’s undoubtedly fared better psychologically than those who were isolated.
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https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account
True heroes!