Replies

I was reading about James Stockdale. Like John McCain, a prisoner at the infamous Hanoi “Hilton”. Here is his story:

On Sept. 9, the pilot was on his third tour of duty, commanding Carrier Air Group 16 on a mission over North Vietnam. On his flight back from the target, Stockdale’s A-4 Skyhawk was shot down. He ejected over a small village and was captured.

Suffering from several broken bones, Stockdale was taken to the prisoner of war camp in Hanoi — famously called the “Hanoi Hilton” — which was known for its brutality. Stockdale, who was the highest-ranking Navy officer POW in Vietnam, was held there for nearly eight years.

It was a difficult eight years.

From the start, Stockdale refused to cooperate with his captors. After being caught urging other POWs to resist, he and 10 other senior POWs were taken to another jail block where they were frequently tortured. Stockdale spent two years in heavy leg irons and four years in isolation, but he didn’t waver. He led the POWs’ culture of defiance, finding ways to communicate and govern prisoner behavior that gave them all hope.

“We had a war to fight and were committed to fighting it from lonely concrete boxes,” Stockdale said during an Academy of Achievement interview. “Our very fiber and sinew were the only weapons at our disposal. Each man’s values from his own private sources provided the strength enabling him to maintain his sense of purpose and dedication. They placed unity above self. Self-indulgence was a luxury that could not be afforded.”

Stockdale became a symbol of resistance. One of his most famous acts of defiance was cutting his own wrists, showing the enemy that he would rather die than tell them anything. While the enemy revived him, the act was credited with helping end the North Vietnamese use of excessive torture toward POWs.

This is NOT how the Hanoi “Songbird” conducted himself. He did nothing to distinguish himself.