AUDIOBOOK
Defiant
The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who
Alvin Townley(0)
About
The story of the indomitable American POWs who endured "Alcatraz," the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American prisoners of war faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of communist interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. Determined to maintain their code of conduct, the inmates of the Hanoi Hilton and other POW camps developed a powerful underground resistance. To quash it, the North Vietnamese singled out its eleven leaders, Vietnam's own "dirty dozen," and banished them to an isolated jail that would become known as Alcatraz. None would leave its solitary cells and interrogation rooms unscathed; one would never leave.
As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a US senator, and a third still serves in congress. A story of survival and triumph in the vein of Unbroken and Band of Brothers, Defiant will inspire anyone wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations. Prologue: A Dark Place
Chapter 1: Black Sea and American Firepower
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Hanoi Hilton
Chapter 3: Dead or Alive?
Chapter 4: I Submit
Chapter 5: T-O-R-T-U-R-E
Chapter 6: My Dearest Syb
Chapter 7: Lord, I Just Need Your Help
Chapter 8: I Love a Parade
Chapter 9: Superman!
Chapter 10: Your Adoring Husband
Chapter 11: BACK US
Chapter 12: A Snake You Can't Kill
Chapter 13: A Helluva Story
Chapter 14: The Bad Camp
Chapter 15: To Tell the World
Chapter 16: We Will Break You Now
Chapter 17: Blackmail
Chapter 18: The Captain of My Soul
Chapter 19: GBU
Chapter 20: Mayday!
Chapter 21: O Say Can You See?
Chapter 22: Peace Is at Hand
Chapter 23: God Bless America
Epilogue
"A gripping
account of the 'Alcatraz Eleven'…Townley's telling of these important stories
is fresh and vivid, thanks to his interviews with surviving prisoners and their
family members. Defiant is an
excellent book for younger readers with little knowledge of this searing
chapter in American history, when a brash United States stumbled its way deeper
and deeper into the Indochina morass. Townley also adds an important, and often
overlooked, dimension to the prisoners' stories-that of their wives'campaign at
home to thrust the plight of the POWs into the national spotlight."
"Where do we get such men like the Alcatraz Eleven? Captured
during a controversial war and imprisoned by a cruel enemy, this stirring tale
by Alvin Townley of resilience and leadership under unimaginable conditions is
a must read."
"Defiant is
a riveting tribute to the unyielding men who endured years of brutal captivity
as POWs in Vietnam and the families they left behind. The men of the 'Alcatraz
Eleven' are true American heroes, and their extraordinary stories will serve as
an inspiration for generations to come."
"That most tragic war in American history, Vietnam, demanded
more from many American servicemen than humans should have to endure. That some
Americans are asked by fate to give so much while most others give so little is
one of the insoluble conundrums of our age. Alvin Townley's story of the
courage, valor, and honor of eleven indomitable POWs and their wives is a new
American classic that will be read as long as the breezes kiss Old Glory. As I
read it I wept."
"A unique American epic which must never be forgotten.
Thanks to Alvin Townley's ability to convert its heartbreaking reality into
vivid prose, its men and women are alive as human beings as well as
symbols of their commitment to each other-and their country."
"In Defiant, Alvin Townley reveals a moving,
inspiri
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American prisoners of war faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of communist interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. Determined to maintain their code of conduct, the inmates of the Hanoi Hilton and other POW camps developed a powerful underground resistance. To quash it, the North Vietnamese singled out its eleven leaders, Vietnam's own "dirty dozen," and banished them to an isolated jail that would become known as Alcatraz. None would leave its solitary cells and interrogation rooms unscathed; one would never leave.
As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a US senator, and a third still serves in congress. A story of survival and triumph in the vein of Unbroken and Band of Brothers, Defiant will inspire anyone wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations. Prologue: A Dark Place
Chapter 1: Black Sea and American Firepower
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Hanoi Hilton
Chapter 3: Dead or Alive?
Chapter 4: I Submit
Chapter 5: T-O-R-T-U-R-E
Chapter 6: My Dearest Syb
Chapter 7: Lord, I Just Need Your Help
Chapter 8: I Love a Parade
Chapter 9: Superman!
Chapter 10: Your Adoring Husband
Chapter 11: BACK US
Chapter 12: A Snake You Can't Kill
Chapter 13: A Helluva Story
Chapter 14: The Bad Camp
Chapter 15: To Tell the World
Chapter 16: We Will Break You Now
Chapter 17: Blackmail
Chapter 18: The Captain of My Soul
Chapter 19: GBU
Chapter 20: Mayday!
Chapter 21: O Say Can You See?
Chapter 22: Peace Is at Hand
Chapter 23: God Bless America
Epilogue
"A gripping
account of the 'Alcatraz Eleven'…Townley's telling of these important stories
is fresh and vivid, thanks to his interviews with surviving prisoners and their
family members. Defiant is an
excellent book for younger readers with little knowledge of this searing
chapter in American history, when a brash United States stumbled its way deeper
and deeper into the Indochina morass. Townley also adds an important, and often
overlooked, dimension to the prisoners' stories-that of their wives'campaign at
home to thrust the plight of the POWs into the national spotlight."
"Where do we get such men like the Alcatraz Eleven? Captured
during a controversial war and imprisoned by a cruel enemy, this stirring tale
by Alvin Townley of resilience and leadership under unimaginable conditions is
a must read."
"Defiant is
a riveting tribute to the unyielding men who endured years of brutal captivity
as POWs in Vietnam and the families they left behind. The men of the 'Alcatraz
Eleven' are true American heroes, and their extraordinary stories will serve as
an inspiration for generations to come."
"That most tragic war in American history, Vietnam, demanded
more from many American servicemen than humans should have to endure. That some
Americans are asked by fate to give so much while most others give so little is
one of the insoluble conundrums of our age. Alvin Townley's story of the
courage, valor, and honor of eleven indomitable POWs and their wives is a new
American classic that will be read as long as the breezes kiss Old Glory. As I
read it I wept."
"A unique American epic which must never be forgotten.
Thanks to Alvin Townley's ability to convert its heartbreaking reality into
vivid prose, its men and women are alive as human beings as well as
symbols of their commitment to each other-and their country."
"In Defiant, Alvin Townley reveals a moving,
inspiri