February Comes to a Close

Last day of February today.  Saw a snippet of a short interview with a retired Air Force Major General this morning on the Fox morning show.

He has published a book, Taps on the Wall, about his experiences as a captured pilot during the Vietnam War while incarcerated at the famous or infamous Hanoi Hilton.  He was there for six years. 

The prisoners of war staying there used a simple tapping system to communicate with one another.  At first it was just verifying who was there, and then establishing a chain of command, and then bolstering one another up.  Major General Borling had as he described, "a bit of a liberal arts background," and so he put that to use by composing poetry and tapping it to the other men.  He committed the verses to memory.

Upon liberation, he recalls that he hurried in his bathrobe to buy a recording device so that he could save these precious poems.  In recent years, people including his wife, encouraged him to publish the poems as a way of telling the story of Vietnam a little more fully.  He admits that working on the book took him back to those days and that it was very painful at times.  He said his focus in life tends to be on the future and not on wallowing in the past.

Those who knock the liberal arts curriculum as being a waste of time might pause for a second when hearing about Maj. Gen. Borling's experiences.

If you are interested in reading Taps on the Wall, I'm sure the Canal Fulton Library can get you a copy to read.  It's on my list for sure.

Terry Anderson, a journalist captured in 1985 in Lebanon by Hezbollah Shiites, was held for seven years.  He also wrote a book, Den of Lions, detailing his experiences.  Terry Anderson returned to Christianity during his captivity, and he helped two other detainees keep their wits by using some farming knowledge to create a fantasy garden.  They would pick out the seeds, talk about how they would plant, grow and then finally harvest the crops, and then begin planning for the next year.  One of the detainees credits Anderson with keeping him lucid.  

In recent years, Anderson seems to have fallen on hard times, at one point having to declare bankruptcy.  He currently teaches at a university.

Interesting, isn't it, how our various educational experiences come back when we are tested.  Interesting, too, how different people deal with adversity in different ways. 

Maj. Gen. Borling is attending the 40th anniversary "coming home" of the prisoners of war at the Nixon Library later this year.