Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00HSRLX7W | Format: PDF, EPUB
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The story of the indomitable American POWs who endured "Alcatraz", the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked up its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home.
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American prisoners of war faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of communist interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. Determined to maintain their code of conduct, the inmates of the Hanoi Hilton and other POW camps developed a powerful underground resistance. To quash it, the North Vietnamese singled out its eleven leaders, Vietnam's own "dirty dozen", and banished them to an isolated jail that would become known as Alcatraz. None would leave its solitary cells and interrogation rooms unscathed; one would never leave.
As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a U.S. Senator, and a third still serves in Congress. A story of survival and triumph in the vein of Unbroken and Band of Brothers, Defiant will inspire anyone wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations.
Direct download links available for Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned Epub Download
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 14 hours and 46 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: February 4, 2014
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HSRLX7W
Growing up in Va. Beach during the 70s, I distinctly remember wearing my mother's POW bracelet to school in 1st grade, even though I had no clue what it really meant. I also vaguely remember Jeremiah Denton's celebrated return (he was stationed in Va. Beach) in 1973. But, aside from reading Denton's "When Hell Was in Session" ions ago and the occasional media quip simply reminding us that John McCain was a POW, I really never received a proper understanding of the suffering experienced by American POWs in Vietnam until I read Alvin Townley's DEFIANT. Townley's collective account of eleven men who stood united and strong after almost a decade of unimaginable physical and mental torture proved to be an emotional read from beginning to end.
Townley's book details the experience of the "Alcatraz Eleven": eleven men who distinguished themselves as being so defiant to their captors that they were transported to a special prison within the POW system specifically designed to break their will by any means necessary. Paralleling the story of the long-term misery of these men is the account of a different misery experienced by their families back home, desperately trying to learn more about the status of their husbands/fathers but encountering frustrating bureaucratic incompetence and red tape.
DEFIANT is presented chronologically, starting with the first of the "eleven" captured with the remaining men individually brought into the story as they are in-turn captured. Even before the core group of eleven are in the same camp, a hierarchy is established according to military rank and the prisoners are expected to abide by the US military Code of Conduct which details how the men are to behave (resist) in captivity.
Defiant is not a book that you will read quickly and or get through in a normal amount of time. Usually it doesn't take me long to devour a book and then post a review, but this book took me forever. Why, you ask? Because I found myself at a loss for the emotional strength to continue reading at times.
The pain and agony that these men went through who were prisoners of the North Vietnamese is just too hard to bear at times. Having lost many friends in Viet Nam I was not sure how I would react tot this book. But here goes.
Prisoner's of war should be treated according to the Geneva Convention. BUT, since this wasn't a war the North Vietnamese decided these prisoners were war criminals, not prisoners of war. Thus they treated them as badly as they could. Torture, solitary confinement, poor food, no health care and then more torture. This was the daily regime of these prisoners. It took it's toll.
But to read of the men's strong desire to serve their country and make their families, fellow soldiers and their country proud is amazing. They wanted to give up hope. They at times wanted to die. BUT, they never wavered on the desire to stand fast and make America proud.
But this book was hard to read because it brought back way to many difficult memories. Then to add to those memories to read how these men were treated just made me angry. Further, to read of the lack of any respect or human dignity being shown by their captors made me wonder what type of human beings communist could be.
This book MUST BE READ but anyone who wonders about what went on at the Hanoi Hilton and how our men survived. It MUST BE READ by anyone who questions the drive and loyalty of a person serving the military.
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