There were a few things that kept Lt. Col. William “Bill” Schwertfeger company in the 13 months he was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Duty. Honor. Country. “We took an oath to serve and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that was against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Schwertfeger said. “And that still holds true today for the youngest pup walking through the door. That was the core to how we all survived. Then came leadership. We maintained the military organization … and although the North Vietnamese were very intent on destroying that line of leadership through torture, the next officer in line always stood up on down the line.”
Ex POW’s Mull Lessons (Raymond Vissotzky)
When the agony ended and everyone had told his story of horror, did anything come out of the tragedy that could be a lesson to others? That is the question being studied by a team of ex-prisoners of war, led by Col. Raymond W. Vissotzky, at the Survival School at
