Almost two years have passed since the world lost James Stockdale. And anyone who knows his story can make the comparison between what happened to the abducted British soldiers in the Royal Navy and what happened to him.

For the uninitiated, Adm. Stockdale was unfortunately cast late in life as eccentric billionaire, Napoleon-complexed, former Presidential hopeful H. Ross Montgomery-Perot-Burns’ gravitas. Portrayed as a dottering senile by the media during the campaign, a forgetful blanket was thrown over Stockdale’s past as one might a piece of furniture who had seen a better day.

After all, who was this old codger to sit in on the same debate with such noteables as Vietnam war hero/shutterbug like Al Gore or militant Irish potato enthusiast Dan Quayle.

But in light of recent events, there is a lesson to be learned in what he did and what others are being praised for not doing:

On a mission over North Vietnam on September 9, 1965, Stockdale ejected from his A-4E Skyhawk, which had been disabled from anti-aircraft fire. Stockdale parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and taken into custody.

He was held as a prisoner of war in the Hoa Lo prison for the next seven years. Locked in leg irons in a bath stall, he was routinely tortured and beaten. When told by his captors that he was to be paraded in public, Stockdale slit his scalp with a razor to purposely disfigure himself so that his captors could not use him as propaganda. When they covered his head with a hat, Stockdale beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition. He told them in no uncertain terms that they would never use him. When Stockdale heard that other prisoners were dying under the torture, he slit his wrists and told them that he preferred death to submission.

What did this country ever do to deserve a James Bond Stockdale? If you can’t come up with 20 reasons in the next half-hour, chances are you’re just a nihilist who would view Stockdale’s actions as “admirable” though misguided and unworthy of the cause. I mean, like, America is wrong and stuff like all the time. Especially in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Global Warming.

Or, remembering the US pilots shot down over Iraq, beaten, and paraded on TV back in 1991. No Abu Ghraib scandal as impetus for “retribution”. Nope. It was still under “old management” as they say. The Geneva Conventions still weren’t being applied by people who never signed them in the first place.

No new suits, no chess, or filming propaganda without a scratch on them. They lived by The Code:

The Code of Conduct

ARTICLE I:

I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

ARTICLE II:

I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

ARTICLE III:

If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

ARTICLE IV:

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them in every way.

ARTICLE V:

When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country or its allies or harmful to their cause.

ARTICLE VI:

I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The Rules of Engagement were wrong. The mission was wrong. The UN was wrong. But the training was supposed to be right.

We have seen what some soldiers can be and we have seen what some soldiers never will. I suppose the best some of us can plead is that we’re guilty of still believing there are heroes in the world.

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