The Passing of the Night

The distinctive character of imprisonment in a North Vietnamese prison camp was the suffocating monotony ... the pervasive sameness of the routine, over and over, day in and day out. Bodies built for movement were confined to closetlike boxes. Active minds were forced to be idle within the numbing nothingness of four walls in a dingy cell. Men trained to fly sophisticated machines at incredible speeds and breath-taking heights were caged like animals. No more horizons to scan, no more clouds to soar above, no more barriers to break through. But worse than that, no people to be close to. No wife to kiss, no child to hold, no friend to embrace nor hand to shake. Seven and a half years is a long time - especially to be in a prison cell. One thing for sure, it gave me a lot of time for reflection - something I did too little of before I was shot down on September 16, 1965. The perspective of a prison cell gives a unique dimension to the past and the resent. Hopefully, it can contribute to the future. I'm glad to be an American. America is still the greatest place in the world to me. In prison, the shortcomings of America were constantly paraded before us They're there for sure, but we are working on them and they're slowly changing. We have great future ahead of us in this country. I want to show that the smartest and the bravest rely of their faith in God and our way of life. I hope to show how that faith has been tried by fire - and never failed I would like to say, Don't ever be ashamed of your faith, nor of your wonderful heritage. Be proud of those things which made America great and which can, with our help, be even greater.