AUGUST 2014 SUNRAYS | 37
ONLINE:
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and he could only eat by push-
ing his face into his food. De-
pression set in, based on his in-
ability to live up to “The Code.”
It wasn’t until he later shared
a room with other POWs, and
found that all of them had had
similar experiences, that he
realized “doing your best is an
acceptable alternative to being
superman.”
More POWs joined them, and
taught them a communications
code that allowed them to share
information through tapping on
walls. It also allowed creative
minds to begin to develop and
share diversions for the long,
boring hours of confinement.
Sharing Lives AND
Experiences
During the year of the Olym-
pics, the POWs held their own
competitions, with the records
set at 1,000 pushups and 4,000
sit-ups. Christmas celebrations
at home were recalled and discussed in
great detail, and Christmas dinners
became an orgy of reminiscences.
Anyone with a skill or specialized knowl-
edge was tapped to teach others. Dave,
who had taken several years of French
in school, was elevated to French profes-
sor, and what he didn’t know about the
French language, he made up. POWs
who could recall movies they had seen
presented the stories on “movie nights.”
Dave recalls, with some pride, that he
took on
Dr. Zhivago
—a five-and-a-half
hour bit of storytelling, all frommemory,
and complete with designated “musicians”
who would hum
Lara’s Theme
on cue. His
efforts won him a standing ovation and
an on-the-spot Oscar vote.
A fellow POW taught Dave to play the
piano on a keyboard made from toilet pa-
per (they created black “keys” by coloring
the toilet paper with ash). He even gave
“performances,” although his expertise did
not seem to translate onto the real pia-
nos he found on his return home. At one
point, the POWs formed a Debate Club,
and blithely supported their positions with
made-up facts and citations, since there
were no resource materials at hand.
Homeward Bound
After the first two years, the POWs
were allowed limited communication
with their families. That was the first
time Dave’s family knew that he had
survived the plane crash and survived
being taken captive.
In 1973, the POWs were released and
headed home via Clark Air Force Base
in the Philippines. Six weeks later, Dave
married the sweetheart who had waited
for him all those years. Later, after his
Navy career, he became a well-known
motivational speaker, crisscrossing the
country to tell his story and to open
people’s minds to its application in their
own lives.
With other former POWs, Dave
travels each year to Pensacola
for various health evaluations
that have contributed to some
surprising conclusions by the
military:
• The former POWs generally
are in better physical and
emotional health than are
members of a control group.
• Seventy-five percent of the for-
mer POWs not only survived,
but thrived on their POW ex-
perience. The other 25 percent
struggled with it to varying
degrees, and there have been a
few suicides among the group.
The military believes that there
are some identifiable key fac-
tors that have contributed to
the success of the 75 percent:
• A “realistically optimistic”
outlook
• Gregariousness (these folks
are not loners)
• A problem-solving orientation
• A deep faith: in themselves, in each
other, in their country, and in God
• A belief in the value of physical ac-
tivity
Dave’s story, and the stories of others
like him, are inspiring testimonials to
the resiliency of the human spirit. “When
I was upside down in the airplane, com-
ing through the sky like a ton of lead,”
he writes, “if anybody had said to me,
‘Jump out of this airplane and you will
be in prison for five and a half years,’ I
don’t know what I would have done. At
that point I couldn’t have conceived of
surviving such an ordeal; and then I did
it, one day at a time.”
Additional information about Dave’s
book and background are on his website
at
. He also teaches
a weekly community bible study; visit
for
more information.
