Naval History and Heritage Command
The Battle Behind Bars
Navy and Marine POWs in the Vietnam War
by Stuart I. Rochester, 2010. ISBN 978-0-945274-61-2 (paperback).
Available for free in the following formats: 508-compliant PDF (4.2MB), EPUB (13.2MB), and MOBI (29.2MB).
The unconventional nature of the war and the unforgiving environment of Southeast Asia inflicted special hardships on the Vietnam-era POWs, whether they spent captivity in the jungles of the South, or the jails of the North. This book describes their experiences - the similarities and the differences - and how the POWs coped with untreated wounds and other malaises, systematic torture, and boredom. The creative strategies they devised to stay fit, track time, resist the enemy, communicate with one another, and adhere to a chain of command attest to the high standards of conduct in captivity that so distinguish the POWs of the Vietnam War.
