James N . Rowe James Nicholas " Nick " Rowe ( February 8 , 1938 – April 21 , 1989 ) was a United States Army officer and one of only thirty - four American prisoners of war to escape captivity during the Vietnam War . Colonel Rowe was credited with developing the rigorous Survival , Evasion , Resistance and Escape ( SERE ) training program taught to high - risk military personnel ( such as Special Forces and aircrews ) and the U . S . military doctrine which institutionalizes these techniques and principles to be followed by captured personnel . Personal life . Rowe was born in McAllen , Texas on February 8 , 1938 to Lee Delavan and Florence ( Survillo ) Rowe . He grew up in McAllen , joining his local DeMolay chapter , and graduated from McAllen High School in 1956 before leaving for the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York . Rowe married Jane Rowe on December 27 , 1969 . Military service . Rowe graduated from West Point in 1960 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army . In 1963 , First Lieutenant Rowe was sent to the Republic of Vietnam and assigned as Executive Officer of Detachment A - 23 , 5th Special Forces Group , a 12 - man " A - team " . Located at Tan Phu in An Xuyen Province , A - 23 organized and advised a Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam . On October 29 , 1963 , after only three months in country , Rowe was captured by Viet Cong elements along with Captain Humberto " Rocky " R . Versace and Sergeant Daniel L . Pitzer . Separated from his comrades , Rowe spent 62 months in captivity with only brief encounters with fellow American POWs . Rowe was held in the U Minh Forest , better known as the " Forest of Darkness , " in extreme southern Vietnam . During most of his five years in captivity Rowe was held in a cage . He managed to escape on December 31 , 1968 , after overpowering his guard , he was picked up by a UH - 1 helicopter . Rowe was promoted to Major during captivity . In 1971 , he authored the book , " Five Years to Freedom " , an account of his years as a prisoner of war . In 1974 , he retired from the Army . In 1981 , Rowe was recalled to active duty as a lieutenant colonel to design and build a course based upon his experience as a POW . " Survival , Evasion , Resistance , and Escape " ( SERE ) is now a requirement for graduation from the U . S . Army Special Forces Qualification Course . SERE is taught at the Colonel James " Nick " Rowe Training compound at Camp Mackall , North Carolina . It is considered by many to be the most important advanced training in the special operations field . Navy , Air Force and Marine Special Operations personnel all attend variations of this course taught by their respective services . By 1987 , Colonel Rowe was assigned as the chief of the Army division of the Joint U . S . Military Advisory Group ( JUSMAG ) , providing counter - insurgency training for the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Working closely with the Central Intelligence Agency and intelligence organizations of the Republic of the Philippines , he was involved in its nearly decade - long program to penetrate the New People ' s Army ( NPA ) , the communist insurgency that threatened to overthrow the Philippines ' government . By February 1989 , Colonel Rowe had acquired intelligence information which indicated that the communists were planning a major terrorist act . He warned Washington that a high - profile figure was about to be assassinated and that he himself was second or third on the assassination list . At around 7 : 00 in the morning of April 21 , 1989 , as he was being driven to work at the Joint U . S . Military Advisory Group headquarters in an armoured limousine , Colonel Rowe ' s vehicle was hit by gunfire from a . 45 caliber pistol and an M16 rifle near a corner of Tomas Morato Street and Timog Avenue in Quezon City . Twenty - one shots hit the vehicle ; one round entered through an unarmoured portion of the vehicle frame and struck Colonel Rowe in the head , killing him instantly , while chauffeur Joaquin Vinuy was wounded . Years later , the New People ' s Army eventually claimed responsibility for his assassination . Filipino nationals Juanito T . Itaas ( principal ) and Donato B . Continente ( accomplice ) were convicted by a Philippine court and sentenced to 16 years imprisonment ; Continente was released in 1995 under an amnesty programme of the Philippine government . Rowe was buried on May 2 , 1989 in Section 48 of Arlington National Cemetery . Politics . Rowe was a staunch conservative and a strong critic of George McGovern in the 1972 presidential campaign . He ran as a Republican for the office of Texas Comptroller in 1974 but was easily defeated by Democrat Bob Bullock in a strongly Democratic year because of the Watergate scandal . Bullock would receive 1 , 099 , 599 votes ( 71 . 6 % ) to Rowe ' s 419 , 657 ( 27 . 3 % ) . A third party candidate earned the remaining 16 , 383 ( 1 % ) votes . Rowe did not run for office again and Bullock became a popular two - term lieutenant governor .