Out of the Furnace of Affliction

"There's no such thing as a bad day when you have a doorknob on the inside of your door." CDR Paul Galanti, former resident of the Hanoi Hilton.

The story of the men inside Hao Lo - the Hanoi Hilton - amazes on many levels. Do you find it at all uncomfortable to think about confinement, torture, inhuman conditions, solitary confinement, etc. producing anything worthwhile? Their experiences teach the lesson that suffering can bring about great good and make us better - more like Christ. No one would prescribe suffering for themselves, even as these men would not have either. I wonder whether any of them would trade what he gained if could rewrite his own history and erase the time in the prison cell.
Let's be specific - and I don't mean to be deliberately grotesque - but torture for these men meant (one example) no treatment for serious wounds like dislocated joints and broken bones; it meant their arms being taken behind their backs and tied together so the wrists would touch - the full length - and then they were hung from hooks in the ceilings. The prisoner's arms and shoulders cruelly rotated forward, forcing dislocation and incredible pain. Their tiny cells without beds housed them, alone, for years - up to eight years.
But out of this emerged not bitter, unproductive men. They learned about what is truly important and how to persevere. Many found, at the end of themselves, a waiting Savior to help bear their burdens. Most flew fighters and a certain breed of man flies fighters. They were self sufficient, cocky, aggressive to a fault - and this fit the bill for Naval and Air Force aviators. In their prison, they learned to be different. Determination looked very different and proved more elusive over the duration of captivity. They came to appreciate fellowship with the others through deprivation. Lessons were learned about true servant leadership - leadership which transcends rank and culture; unity which grew stronger in isolation as the thirst for communication brought innovation. They learned how, even in the most humiliating conditions and treatment to not yield to humiliation but maintain their God-given dignity.
Consider these statistics from "Leadership Lessons From the Hanoi Hilton" by Peter Fretwell and Taylor Baldwin Kiland in the November 2009 Proceedings magazine: "The Hanoi Hilton POWs were an unusual and remarkable group. Instead of returning home unraveled from years of abuse, isolation, and deprivation, about 80 percent of the 591 men that Operation Homecoming returned continued their military service. Many later became leaders in government, business, law, or academia. Twenty-four attained the rank of admiral or general; 18 have served (or are serving) in elected or appointed political positions at both the federal and state levels, including as senators, U.S. representatives, Federal Trade Commissioner, and the first U.S. Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Numerous others served in executive positions in corporate America and small business; many also continue to serve in their local communities for scouting, religious, and civic organizations. Eight received the Medal of Honor.

Despite being the longest-held group of POWs in our nation's history, they brought home most of their comrades without major incidents of long-term mental illness. According to the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies in Pensacola, Florida, 96 percent of the Hanoi Hilton POWs were free of post-traumatic stress disorder. By comparison, a 1997 American Psychiatric Association report found more than half of 262 World War II and Korean War POWs studied had symptoms of lifetime PTSD."