Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973by Stuart I. Rochester
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  spacecommuter | Jun 11, 2006 |  no reviews | add a review
In this landmark study, two respected scholars provide a comprehensive, balanced, and authoritative account of what happened to the nearly eight hundred Americans captured during the Vietnam War. The authors were granted unprecedented access to previously unreleased materials and interviewed more than a hundred former POWs to meticulously reconstruct their captivity record and produce a compelling narrative of this sketchy chapter of the war. First published in 1999, some twenty-five years after the prisoners were released from Hanoi, the book remains a powerful and moving portrait of how men cope with physical and psychological ordeals under horrific conditions. Its analysis of the shifting tactics and temperaments of both captive and captor as the war evolved, skillfully weaves domestic political developments and battlefield action with prison scenes that alternate between Hanoi's concrete cells, South Vietnam's jungle stockades, and mountain camps in Laos. Details are included of dozens of cases of individual acts of bravery and resistance from such heroes as James Stockdale, Jeremiah Denton, Bud Day, and Medal of Honor recipient Donald Cook. Along with epic stories of endurance under torture, breathtaking escape attempts, and ingenious prisoner communication efforts, Honor Bound reveals Code of Conduct lapses and instances of collaboration with the enemy. This important work serves as a testament to the courage and will of Americans in captivity and as a reminder of the sometimes impossible demands made on U.S. POWs. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)959.704History and Geography Asia Southeast Asia Vietnam 1949-LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.67)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (8)
1
A year after reading this, I went to Vietnam and stood outside the Hanoi Hilton - now a superficial and half-hearted museum, with photos of prisoners (including McCain) on the walls. I felt like I had stood inside this book when I was there.
But now 8 years after reading it - an unexpected and peculiar thing has happened. I've been reading so much about the prison at Guantanamo; the mental health problems with the prisoners, their rebellions; their arguments in their Habeas petitions for why they should be released and no longer considered a threat to the United States. And to my own shock, I realize how similar their experiences are to that of our own men in Vietnam. Now I feel as though I'm standing very far outside of that book, looking at something that's growing fainter and more distant with each passing moment. Our soldiers' courage in Vietnam POW camps has inspired me and nourished me for 8 years now. I am a better person for having read this story, and I can't ever forget their sacrifices for us. I don't really even mean Vietnam - I mean for enduring so much suffering and isolation and never for even a second forgetting they were American, they were Honorable, and they wanted to return to the country and find it exactly as they had left it - the place that shaped them. The place they had fought for.
We used to be Honor Bound. What are we now? (