What The Vietnam POWs Can Teach Us (And It Has Nothing To Do With The Vietnam War)

By Taylor Baldwin Kiland

Men who grew up too young to fight in World War II saw their fathers tested physically and mentally by war. This generation of men had a tremendous sense of faith instilled in them at a very early age – faith in the unwavering loyalty and indomitable bonds of the nuclear family, faith in their government and faith in their country.

The Vietnam conflict shattered that faith for a generation of youth, but mostly for those who did not serve in uniform. For the aviators captured and held as POWs, time stood still. For the most part, these men did not experience the unrest, the cultural and spiritual conflict our country witnessed during that tumultuous season. They never lost their faith in our system, but clung to it – some might say naively. Regardless, it sustained them and empowered them.

Aviators are known for pushing the limits of physics and for cheating fate. They signed up for Vietnam to be tested. In their profession, they couldn’t afford to be ambivalent, nor to lose their convictions.
What happened when these aviators had their dignity and independence stripped away in a prison in North Vietnam? They survived.

Collectively, they endured out of a fear of losing their dignity. They felt an innate sense of obligation to do what’s right in the eyes of their fellow prisoners and to show honor to their country. It was never a solitary struggle, as each of them supported and validated the others. It constantly motivated them.

Some prisoners or victims of unfortunate fates wallow in self-pity, some reflect on their lives and opportunities lost. Some lose their faith; some gain a renewed sense of spirituality. For those whose fate dictated that they spend precious personal and professional years in torturous isolation in North Vietnam, they had two choices: self-destruction or a search of their inner core and a beseeching of their Maker for the patience to tolerate their captors and simply endure. Get through each day, one day at a time. Get out mentally and physically intact. Return with their names and reputations whole. In 1973, they finally did come home and, in 1975, the war did finally end.