His North Vietnamese captors told him he’d never go home. They beat and tortured him to no end, but the Navy flyer’s patriotism manifested itself in historic defiance, refusing to do the easy thing for his own reward. He would not accept freedom before other prisoners who’d been there longer than he: It wasn’t the right thing to do, he thought. Instead, he gave the enemy hell. Now he has brain cancer. And he’s 80 years old. It’s the appropriate time to loudly honor this war hero for his toughness and resolve in combat and captivity, but subsequently during his...
