European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday september 15. 1989 the stars and stripes Page 3 Row ordeal aided Many experts say b Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington despite the harrowing uncertainty of life in Captivity a significant portion of the 725 . Prisoners of War in Vietnam apparently benefited psycho logically from the experience two mental health experts there is Little formal research on the subject the experts said Many came through the ordeal with better understanding of themselves and their goals in life possibly because they never knew if that life might be taken away."1 can t say that being a pow is Good for one s health since pos have higher rates of mortality and morbidity across the spectrum of physical and mental diseases compared to other veterans said or. Col Robert Ursa no a professor and associate chairman of the psychiatry department at the uniformed services University of the health sciences in both Coda my. But the fact remains that a Large number of pos. And frequently those who had the worst experiences in Captivity have said that they came away from it with a clearer idea of what was important to . Stephen Nice chief of the health services research department at the naval health research Center in san Diego said he saw much the same thing in his work with former Navy appears that being a pow gave them the Opportunity to sort out their priorities reorganize their values and come to know themselves better Nice said. Ursano and Nice said roughly a third of the men they have profiled reported feeling a reaffirmed commitment to such life Stabile ing concepts As family religion and physical fitness As a result of being pos. The two said the Vietnam pos generally have fare better As a group both during Captivity and after return ing to civilian life than those taken prisoners in other wars notably world War of world War ii we saw a lot of serious neurological disorders among former . Prisoners particularly those who were captured in the Pacific theater. Nice said. We anticipated the same thing in Vietnam but it did t it was different than in past wars in that these people were More mature Well selected for their tasks and had Good coping skills Ursano said. Most had been through some kind of survival operation Homecoming in 1973. Which saw 591 . Scricc members returned in Masse by the North vietnamese All 325 air Force pos and 137 of 138 Navy pos were officers and pilots. Of colonel remembers life of Hanoi Hilton continued irom Page 1 honoured today with pow Mia Day. A total of 725 american prisoners of War w arc returned to the United states by Vietnam and 2,338 americans re main unaccounted for. There were 4,439 american prisoners returned to . Control in the korean War. 116.129 . Prisoners in world War ii and 3,973 . Prisoners in world War i. Per was a 29-year-old new Captain piloting a reconnaissance plane Over North Vietnam for the 41st tac recon so when a surface to air missile hit sending the Crew of six to the ground. That was feb. 4, 1967. Per spent the next six years in places with names like the Hanoi Hilton the zoo and Camp Faith before he was set free on March 4, 1973. Like one of my buddies in prison said every War has come to an end the question was when is this one going to get Over with he says. Shortly after he was captured. Per was interrogated. As required by the Geneva convention he supplied his name rank and serial number. When asked his unit he said i can t Tell you he was slapped. Per remembers naively thinking that that would be the end of the abuse. He was asked again gave the same answer and was slapped again which increased his concern. Once again he was asked the name of his unit and once again he replied. I can t Tell the torture began in Earnest. He was Bent Forward in a sit up position and his captors lied a rope tightly Over his upper arms Chest and Back cutting off the circulation to his hands and lower arms. Unable to endure the pain he told his captors he would talk. I thought per. What Are you doing you caved in " he says. When he was untied he again an swered the question "1 can t Tell the captors then relied him. And per eventually was forced to yield the piece of information that had Little value to the North vietnamese. He recalls another Tinie when he caved he was being Bent and twisted and roped into a Ball literally rolled across the floor in an i tort to gel him to sign regulations regarding Camp policies. Per signed soon after the torture began. It was part of the survival tech Nique. Give them what they want if it is ultimately insignificant. Still 1 feel bad about caving he says. There were Many beatings and abuses meted out for failure to follow Camp rules. The prisoners were shuffled Blind folded from one Camp to another. They were punished for talking. His food was usually Rice boiled Pota toes pumpkin soup and perhaps some Small portions of meat or bread. He usually slept on boards covered by a grass mat. He laughs Here. He remembers that his father encouraged him As a youngster to cat Brown Rice. The orientals eat it. His father told him because it is healthful. So per was shocked to find Only White Rice As his prison fare. He asked a guard about Brown Rice and was told that s for poor the prisoners also were treated to daily doses of communist English language broadcasts of the voice of Vietnam were piped into each cell. Paperback books and newspapers extolling the greatness of North Wietman Leader to Chi Minh were the Only read ing material. During the entire 73 months. Per received Only four letters from Home. My parents never knew i was alive until no vember 1970," he said. In Many respects per believes he was a perfect candidate for imprisonment. He said his age gave him both the emotional maturity to handle the mental stress and the physical conditioning to survive the abuses. They tied me in knots and they put ropes on me and it hurl yeah it Hurt but 1 bounced he says. The older prisoners were More troubled by the physical Strain the mental hardships were tougher on the younger ones. Also per had no wife or children to worry about him. And his younger brother was Able to care for their parents in California. What i had to do was come to grips with my behaviour and my physical Well being he says. What i did was i focused on my behaviour regardless of the he prayed than once. He prayed during a torture session that stopped just As he finished his prayer the closest he has Ever come to a Miracle he says. The prisoners held Church pow made song sheets using an Ink mixed from cigarette ashes and water. As the War slowly moved to a close per saw differences in the treatment that he and other prisoners received. Their captors passed word that the peace talks were progressing. On Jan. 27, 1973, the peace accords were signed. The fighting stopped. The prisoners were told they would be re leased. About five weeks later. Per was aboard a c-i4i headed for Clark a in the Phil release was not a great explosive event psychologically he said. I Felt Good about it. 1 guess that s a Good description. I Felt Good about bomb damages British Bookstore York England a a homemade bomb exploded wednesday night outside a Bookstore owned bythe British publisher of Salman Rushdie s novel the satanic verses police said. There were no injuries in the attack which caused minor damage to the Bookstore owned by the Viking Penguin group police said. The store was closed for the night. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion fell on moslem hard liners opposed to the publication and Sale of the Book which Many moslem say blaspheme their religion. Inspector Ron Johnson of York police said the bomb was spotted about a half hour before it went off. Police cleared the area which was crowded with tourists. He said the attackers gave no warning. Moslem militants in Britain ignited worldwide demonstrations against the Book when they burned copies in Bradford 30 Miles Southwest of the Northern City of York following its publication in september 1988. Rushdie an Indian born naturalized British citizen has been in hiding since feb. 14, when the late Ayalon Lah Ruhollah Khomeini Iran s spiritual Leader called on moslem to kill him and his publishers. On aug. 3, a bomb killed a Man in a London hotel and a previously unknown islamic group claimed he was preparing to use the device against Rushdie. In addition two California bookstores were fire bombed on March 1, and five stores in London were bombed Between april 9 and sept. 3. Authorities said those attacks May have been connected to the. Satanic a touch of Liberty Boris n. Yeltsin the Mui Crick so tact legislator toured the Birthplace of , democracy wednesday Tisi thir Philadelphia s Independence Hall and touching the Liberty Bell. Yeltsin 58, met briefly with president Bush during his we Klong speaking Lour of the United states and was to meet thursday the former president Reagan recovering from brain surgery in Minnesota
