Jane Fonda's trip to North Vietnam is neither shown nor mentioned. The first American pilot shot down and the longest-serving POW was Everett Alvarez, a Navy lieutenant jg when he was captured in 1964. At the film showing in Washington, Alvarez and his family sat behind us. This is an honest film. Imprisoned men cry.
Some prisoners give in to interrogators.
One pilot reminds us that no one knows how he would react, despite the training, when confronted with such conditions. In telling of their weaknesses, American pilots never appeared so strong. We learn more of their secret codes used to communicate with each other and of Sunday services and flag salutes observed in separate cells but simultaneously practiced by pre-ordained sounds. We see the torture chambers and drawings of how men's bodies were tied and tightened until bones broke. And we are witnesses to incredible bravery and dedication, the kind that come only when ideals are part of belief and belief defines who you are beyond name, rank and serial number.