Reflections on Captivity, Porter Alexander Halyburton
Reflections on Captivity, Porter Alexander Halyburton
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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Reflections on Captivity
A Tapestry of Stories by a Vietnam War POW

Author: Porter Alexander Halyburton

Narrator: David de Vries

Unabridged: 4 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/27/2023


Synopsis

On October 17, 1965, Navy LTJG Porter Halyburton was shot down over North Vietnam and listed as killed in action. One-and-a-half years later, he was found to be alive and a prisoner of war. Halyburton was held captive for more than seven years. Reflections on Captivity is a collection of fifty short stories about this naval officer's experiences as a POW in North Vietnam.

This book recounts difficult times but focuses more on the positive aspects—the humor, creativity, friendships, courage, and leadership of an amazing group of Americans and how they helped each other survive and even thrive. These vignettes demonstrate how the human mind, body, and spirit can adapt and find meaning in life in the most challenging circumstances. There are powerful lessons learned from this complex experience that continue to guide the author's life to this day. Despite hardship, suffering, and long separation, Halyburton strongly believes one's quality of life is determined more by choices made than by circumstances, and the most liberating choice we can make is to forgive.

Reflections on Captivity furthers the listener's understanding about the nature of captivity, race relations, human relations, aspects of the air war against North Vietnam, and highlights the importance of leadership, ethics, and devotion to duty in difficult times.

About Porter Alexander Halyburton

Porter Halyburton spent twenty years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a commander in 1984. He spent another twenty years on the faculty of the Naval War College, retiring as professor of strategy emeritus in 2006. Among his many medals and awards, he received the Silver Star for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" while interned. Porter is a potter, woodworker, poet, public speaker, and traveler. He still possesses the tombstone that his mother had placed in the family plot when he was declared KIA and says that he likes looking down on it rather than up from it. He and Marty, his wife of nearly sixty years, have three grown children and one grandson.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joshua on January 23, 2023

4/5 Stars Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this to review! As a fan of history and specifically the history of warfare, I thought that this was a very enjoyable read. It was incredible to hear the tale of courage, survival and committment from Porter Alexander Halyburton. Spanning the time of his......more

Goodreads review by Mark on March 25, 2023

The memoir by Commander Porter Alexander Halyburton USN (Ret) describes his 7 years in captivity, as a Vietnam War POW at the “Hanoi Hilton Hotel”. Survival skill exercises maintained his strong mind, body and patriotism. His humor shines through using tap code communication where he hitches another......more

Goodreads review by Janalyn, the blind reviewer on January 22, 2023

When porter Alexander Halliburton‘s plane went down in the Viet Cong territory his only thoughts were for survival. He knew what he was trying to do and he was going to do that irregardless of whatever negative consequences that would come his way. This book is not only a book up imprisonment in the......more

Goodreads review by Kelsey on January 19, 2023

5/5 stars! Every now and then a book comes along that is truly special; this is one of those books. As a Navy Veteran myself, I may be biased, but this book was powerful and moving. Prisoners of War have experienced things no one else could ever fully understand, and yet, Commander Halyburton found......more

Goodreads review by HM on July 16, 2023

*Such* a great book! My dad flew F-4s in Vietnam, and my stepfather flew Hueys. Both are gone now, before I was wise enough to ask them about their experiences and thank them for serving an ungrateful nation. This book really helped me to understand what they were up against, as far as the enemy goe......more