He had been a Japanese POW in WWII. When we got to "Symbolism" he told about being in a cell with a lot of other POW's in horrible conditions. One day the captors threw an American flag into the cell, told the prisoners that anybody who would mop up the excrement on the floor with the flag would be let out for a good meal. "Nobody ate. We would have died first."
He was 6'4" and weighed 108 lbs. when he got out.