see #82
Denton did write a confession. They all did under torture, according to Stockdale.
I only know of one POW who resisted the torturers- not a pilot in Hanoi but an American military advisor and wanna-be-priest held elsewhere from very early on named Rocky Versace... but he was held by the fanatical VC and never was at the mercy of the Hanoi professionals, which included Cubans.
His resistance so infuriated the Vietnamese [and heartened the other Americans held captive] that the Vietnamese grew frustrated and ultimately executed him.
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