Two Souls Indivisible : The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and inspirational reading!
Review: Extremely well written. The trials of these two real heros were transferred to the reader vividly on every page. A white fighter pilot was put in the same cell to care for the severely injured black pilot with the thought that this would further demoralize them. Or so their enemy thought. This was a story of heartbreak, courage beyond bravery, and triumph of the human spirit. It was especially meaningful to me since Fred Cherry's son was a good friend of my son while at Yokota Air Base, Japan right before he was shot down. My family prayed many prayers for Major Cherry.I was happy to know that his bravery was so legendary that his pictures hangs in the Pentagon. A truly remarkable human being!

Rating:
Summary: Son of a Great American
Review: I am Col. Fred V. Cherry's son and a friend of Porter Halyburton. This book, which I was also interviewed for, is better than I ever dreamed at recanting the experiences of these two great American soldiers. Reading this book is a walk down memory lane for me and it sometimes brings back bad memories. However, James Hirsh has done a wonderful job in sharing these soldiers experience and friendship with one another. I think that anyone who takes the time to really find out what prison life was like in Vietnam will find themselves compelled to encourage their friends and family to read this book. During the time my father was a POW, our family went through the ordeal as though we were also in a prison camp. My siblings remained relatively close, however, my relationship with my mother changed drastically, due to the love I always had for my father. Upon his return, relationships between our family members were stretched even further, with the children choosing parents to side with. In the past few years, 33 have passed since Dad's return, our family has begun to heal. Hopefully, these wounds will enable us to go on and remember what devasting effects a war can have on any family.

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile Read
Review: I finished this book in a day -- the style was readable and the story was well told. In short order you meet these two men, Fred Cherry and Porter Halyburton, one black, one white, learning about their respective personal histories and then how their POW experiences developed into a friendship. Though their time together in captivity is relatively short in relation to their total time as POWs, the impact each had on the other makes for a memorable story. The book relates their strength of character as they endured years of torture and suffering at the hands of the Vietnamese and how they never lost hope of being reunited with their families.

I found Fred Cherry's story especially compelling and poignant. Here he is, a pioneering air force pilot and the first black officer captured by the North Vietnamese, suffering great physical harm and enduring with fortitude and courage only to return home to a wife who prefers to think of him as dead because she likes his military pay and an estrangement from two of his four children. After learning about Fred Cherry it's no wonder his picture is hanging at the Pentagon -- it should!

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile Read
Review: I finished this book in a day -- the style was readable and the story was well told. In short order you meet these two men, Fred Cherry and Porter Halyburton, one black, one white, learning about their respective personal histories and then how their POW experiences developed into a friendship. Though their time together in captivity is relatively short in relation to their total time as POWs, the impact each had on the other makes for a memorable story. The book relates their strength of character as they endured years of torture and suffering at the hands of the Vietnamese and how they never lost hope of being reunited with their families.

I found Fred Cherry's story especially compelling and poignant. Here he is, a pioneering air force pilot and the first black officer captured by the North Vietnamese, suffering great physical harm and enduring with fortitude and courage only to return home to a wife who prefers to think of him as dead because she likes his military pay and an estrangement from two of his four children. After learning about Fred Cherry it's no wonder his picture is hanging at the Pentagon -- it should!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Awesome
Review: I read this book expecting a lot of "war" data. But what I received was far beyond what I expected. It was fantastic. It did just what it set out to do, which was capture the comradry and the "Two Souls Indivisible" and their plights together. I have the pleasure of knowing Fred Cherry and he is a wonderful man. After reading the book, I have another level of respect for him and what he has accomplished.

Rating:
Summary: From A Family Member
Review: I read this book on the advise of a cousin in Montana. And when I finished, I remembered sitting with my mother and crying as we saw Uncle Fred's name on the list of released POW's. I was in my junior year in college at the time. I have kept an article from Jet Magazine of an interview that he gave just after he was released. Much of what he said in that article is in this book; just fleshed out to the full, long, seven years. I knew some of it then; I know a lot more now. I am very proud that this book was written about these two men, my Uncle and Mr. Halyburton. They are living history. And Mr. Hirsch does a wonderful job of presenting them as just that-real history-real people.

Rating:
Summary: Torture and POWs
Review: James Hirsch has written an inspirational account of two American POWs, Fred Cherry, an African-American fighter-bomber pilot, and Porter Halyburton, a southern white jet navigator. Both were shot down flying missions over North Vietnam and spent seven-plus years in prison camps. The author weaves considerable biographical material on the two servicemen into descriptions of their capture, interrogations, torture and harsh prison conditions. The book draws on extensive interviews with the two flyers, their families, fellow POWs, other military colleagues and close friends.

The narrative depicts how POWs struggled to maintain dignity, sense of honor to the U.S. military and mutual support in the face of cruel treatment by North Vietnamese captors. This reader has for years wondered what POWs endured while imprisoned. No longer, for this book presents graphic descriptions of horrible prison conditions and physical and psychological torture. Anyone with strong views on the Vietnam War, pro or con, would find this book engaging.

The discussions of Vietnamese torture and abuse of American servicemen make distressing reading in light of revelations about U.S. mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo and the legal justifications for it offered by some U.S. government officials. At times the Vietnamese denied POW status to captured Americans. When Major Cherry refused to answer questions in his first interrogation and showed his Geneva Convention card outlining his rights as a prisoner, his Vietnamese interrogator barked, "Forget about it. You're a criminal." (p.33)

People have tortured each other for thousands of years. Sometimes torturers sought military advantage; other times, enforcement of religious beliefs; or they simply needed to dominate. Gravensteen Castle's torture museum (Ghent, Belgium) contains an array of medieval Europe's crueler torture instruments, a sober reminder of how deeply ingrained human cruelty is.

This long history of torture might easily engender cynicism about the Geneva Conventions or any other rules attempting to restrain human cruelty. The drafters of the U.S. Constitution, however, displayed optimism, banning "cruel and unusual punishment."

According to Hirsch, U.S. POWs evinced similar optimism. Major Cherry recounts his relief that a uniformed Vietnamese was in charge of his capture, for "he assumed that a soldier, even a Communist, was more likely to respect a prisoner of war. According to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 - which North Vietnam had signed - POWs were to be treated humanely." (p.30) Halyburton's wife, a POW activist, optimistically declared: "All we ask is that North Vietnam adhere to the conditions of the Geneva Conventions, that they identify the prisoners they hold, and they protect them from abuse. That's all we ask." (p.210)

Hirsch cautiously avoids raising any "coulda shoulda wouldas" of the Vietnam War. That's not his story. Yet, the narrative makes clear that support for the Vietnam War was an important psychological need of the POWs and many other combatants. How else to make it through still another day of torture or fighting thousands of miles from home? That psychological need, however, can hardly become the justification for any war. The U.S. political system demands extreme prudence of its leadership when engaging troops and a thorough debate of the issues. Hirsch's book poignantly reminds readers how U.S. troops ultimately bear the consequences of war-making decisions.

The issue of race figures prominently in the book. Porter Halyburton, a southern white officer, must confront the views he absorbed from a racially segregated society when he cares for Major Fred Cherry, an African-American POW and his cellmate. Major Cherry, in turn, must bury years of racial insults and slights. The account of how both men ultimately bridge this racial divide is truly a message of hope.

This reader winced, however, at the description of Halyburton's overcoming his segregationist upbringing as being the moment when "Cherry had ceased being black." (p.133) It's not clear if this is Halyburton's or Hirsch's expression. Perhaps the words didn't come out right. Still, it would have been more satisfying in this reader's mind to hear Halyburton exclaim that he, Halyburton, had ceased being white.

Rating:
Summary: Torture and POWs
Review: James Hirsch has written an inspirational account of two American POWs, Fred Cherry, an African-American fighter-bomber pilot, and Porter Halyburton, a southern white jet navigator. Both were shot down flying missions over North Vietnam and spent seven-plus years in prison camps. The author weaves considerable biographical material on the two servicemen into descriptions of their capture, interrogations, torture and harsh prison conditions. The book draws on extensive interviews with the two flyers, their families, fellow POWs, other military colleagues and close friends.

The narrative depicts how POWs struggled to maintain dignity, sense of honor to the U.S. military and mutual support in the face of cruel treatment by North Vietnamese captors. This reader has for years wondered what POWs endured while imprisoned. No longer, for this book presents graphic descriptions of horrible prison conditions and physical and psychological torture. Anyone with strong views on the Vietnam War, pro or con, would find this book engaging.

The discussions of Vietnamese torture and abuse of American servicemen make distressing reading in light of revelations about U.S. mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo and the legal justifications for it offered by some U.S. government officials. At times the Vietnamese denied POW status to captured Americans. When Major Cherry refused to answer questions in his first interrogation and showed his Geneva Convention card outlining his rights as a prisoner, his Vietnamese interrogator barked, "Forget about it. You're a criminal." (p.33)

People have tortured each other for thousands of years. Sometimes torturers sought military advantage; other times, enforcement of religious beliefs; or they simply needed to dominate. Gravensteen Castle's torture museum (Ghent, Belgium) contains an array of medieval Europe's crueler torture instruments, a sober reminder of how deeply ingrained human cruelty is.

This long history of torture might easily engender cynicism about the Geneva Conventions or any other rules attempting to restrain human cruelty. The drafters of the U.S. Constitution, however, displayed optimism, banning "cruel and unusual punishment."

According to Hirsch, U.S. POWs evinced similar optimism. Major Cherry recounts his relief that a uniformed Vietnamese was in charge of his capture, for "he assumed that a soldier, even a Communist, was more likely to respect a prisoner of war. According to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 - which North Vietnam had signed - POWs were to be treated humanely." (p.30) Halyburton's wife, a POW activist, optimistically declared: "All we ask is that North Vietnam adhere to the conditions of the Geneva Conventions, that they identify the prisoners they hold, and they protect them from abuse. That's all we ask." (p.210)

Hirsch cautiously avoids raising any "coulda shoulda wouldas" of the Vietnam War. That's not his story. Yet, the narrative makes clear that support for the Vietnam War was an important psychological need of the POWs and many other combatants. How else to make it through still another day of torture or fighting thousands of miles from home? That psychological need, however, can hardly become the justification for any war. The U.S. political system demands extreme prudence of its leadership when engaging troops and a thorough debate of the issues. Hirsch's book poignantly reminds readers how U.S. troops ultimately bear the consequences of war-making decisions.

The issue of race figures prominently in the book. Porter Halyburton, a southern white officer, must confront the views he absorbed from a racially segregated society when he cares for Major Fred Cherry, an African-American POW and his cellmate. Major Cherry, in turn, must bury years of racial insults and slights. The account of how both men ultimately bridge this racial divide is truly a message of hope.

This reader winced, however, at the description of Halyburton's overcoming his segregationist upbringing as being the moment when "Cherry had ceased being black." (p.133) It's not clear if this is Halyburton's or Hirsch's expression. Perhaps the words didn't come out right. Still, it would have been more satisfying in this reader's mind to hear Halyburton exclaim that he, Halyburton, had ceased being white.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and a must read
Review: This book is absolutely compelling. It gives the reader a true sense of the heroism in every day life the POW's exhibited. I have had the honor and privilege of meeting Porter Halyburton and he is truly one of the most incredible men I have ever met. The story of Porter Halyburton and Fred Cherry evidences man's capacity for compassion and honor even in the face of man's inhumanity to man.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and a must read
Review: This book teaches how the most beautiful things can happen in the most unlikely of places - that in a POW camp in North Vietnam where prisoners are physically and mentally tortured, two men can overcome their social upbringings to form a friendship that ultimately saves their lives.

James Hirsch does a great job in taking us back in time to the events that transpired between Fred Cherry and Porter Halyburton. He paints such a vivid description of these men and their surroundings in the POW camp, that in reading this story, you feel what they felt: the pains of torture, the sweat on your forehead on a 100 degree Vietnamese day, and the sweet (and bittersweet) feelings of homecoming after seven years of absence from the life you once knew.