Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but not typical
Review: "Glory Denied" chronicles the tortured experiences of Col. Floyd ("Jim") Thompson, whose life and family were rent asunder by the Vietnam War and its aftermath.Thompson spent nine arduous years in captivity, including five long years held in solitary by the Viet Cong. Thompson is the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, although for a variety of reasons (mainly his familiy's insistence on privacy), Navy pilot Everrett Alvarez is often accorded that distinction. Unlike the heroic Navy and Air Force pilots shot down over North Vietnam, Thompson was deprived of the physical and emotional support of fellow Americans who were enduring the same harrowing ordeal. (Thompson did not even lay eyes on another American for more than four years.) Instead, he found succor from his faith in God, country, and the wife and family that he thought awaited him. However, these three pillars of faith would prove illusory. Upon finally achieving freedom, Thompson is unable to recognize the country and family to which he returned, and as the tragedies continued to mount, he soon renounces his religious convictions. Despite being presented with evidence (a voice recording) of her husband's captivity fairly early on, Thompson's wife Alyce had wasted little time merging her young family with another man's, "for the sake of the children." Attempts to restore a normal family life prove disatrous, and Thompson ends up divorced twice, estranged from his children and involuntarily retired from the Army at age 47 due to a stroke. The persistent problems (culminating in a murder conviction)of his youngest child and only son -- born the day after Thompson's capture -- is the lightning rod for a family reconcilation. Jim even dropped his deep-seated enmity for Alyce. But the rapprochement proved to be short-lived, and by the story's end, Thompson is once again an embittered, isolated man. Too few Americans know the Col. Jim Thompson story. This story deserves to find the widest possible audience.
Rating: 
Summary: The Long and Sad Experience
Review: Glory Denied tells the story of Captain Jim Thompson, U.S. Army, the longest-held prisoner in the Vietnam War, or in any of America's other wars, for that matter, a distinction which is credited generally to Navy pilot Everett Alvarez, but whose time in captivity was actually shorter by several months than the almost nine years of imprisonment suffered by Thompson, four of which were spent in the isolated jungles of South Vietnam as a solitary American after his capture in 1964, and where, without companionship, he survived and on his own endured hardships and torture the likes of which few can fully imagine. Although a standard narrative could tell this story from an author's single point of view and lift Thompson from his relative obscurity, Philpott has chosen oral history, and here is an example of that method at its very best. Carefully researching background material and skillfully organizing the interviews, supplementing them with appropriate documents, most notably some very insightful self-analyses written for Thompson's psychiatrist, he lets the speakers themselves show us Thompson from every possible angle, through the eyes of anyone and everyone, it seems, involved in this long and complex saga, and through their words the complexity of the man and the situation becomes revealed. Thompson goes off to Vietnam in 1963, full of good intent, having found his home in the Army Special Forces, intelligent and articulate but with limited background and education, determined to make the best possible career of it, leaving behind a less-than-perfect marriage, albeit one idealized in his own mind. Not the perfect soldier either, we see in early inter-views with his commanding officer that Thompson lacked initiative and an overall perspective, if ever there was such a thing regarding Vietnam, but we sense too the difficulties in maintaining morale, discipline, and efficiency in a remote Special Forces outpost, none of which was more isolated or ill-starred than the team led by Thompson. Shot down while on a reconnaissance flight over dense jungle, not until 1968 is he marched up the Ho Chi Minh Trail to a camp in the North, where he finds the company of other Americans and eventual release when the peace accords are signed in 1973. However the same rigidity and uncompromising temperament which enabled him to survive in captivity and under duress and torture now begin to work against him. His wife, left to fend for herself with four small children, and for a while believing (or for the sake of finality, hoping) her husband dead, has taken up in the meanitme with another Army man, the only father the smaller children know, and although she returns to Thompson after his release, he can never forgive her, nor can he adjust to the tremendous changes which have occurred in society during his absence. The marriage fails, and the family disintegrates. He becomes estranged from his children, who do not know him, and do not like what they see as they become reacquainted. Alcohol, always a factor in Thompson's behavior, now becomes a crippling enemy, and the Army, apparently doing its best to care for one of its own, and appreciative of his stature and his good public relations work as a kind of professional ex-POW, as he has now become, seems at a loss for a permanent solution. Finally in failed health and alone, he is retired in the grade of colonel, and it is here that Philpott first finds him and becomes fascinated with the story which will evolve into this lengthy book. Philpott has given us here not just the story of one man, or even of one family, but glimpses of a war and the devastating changes and effects which it wrought in some ways on all of us and on our society, for a whole series of generations. In the end we come away knowing and feeling yet one more facet of the long and sad experience called Vietnam.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: GLORY DENIED
This is a story that is difficult to forget. Jim Thompson survives nine years of captivity. He is tortured and starved. When another prisoner meets him some years into Jim's captivity, this other man describes him as 'a skeleton with some white hair on top'. Nobody believes that Jim is going to survive. But, what they do not know of is Jim's strong determination to stay alive. He dreams a lot of his wife and his four children. Needless to say: Jim's homecoming is a shock. His wife has lived with another man, and the children have been told that their father is dead. His wife, Alyce, has been very keen to keep her husband's name off all official lists, while she at the same time has received his pay checks. It is obvious that Alyce in many ways, behaved in a way that she should not be proud of, but at the same time, the strength of this book is that it gives her a chance to tell her side of the story. When I read the book, Alyce never became my heroine, but still, I do see that her life was not easy: The way she was treated in 1964, when her husband was a POW, and she was alone with four children, was down right cruel. But, her solutions to the problem, were not very good. And, when Jim came back, her handling of this situation is not very good either. In many ways, Alyce does not come out as a very strong person, and the advice she received, was not the best all the time. Their four children's stories are heartbreaking. So, this is a sad story of how a family was affected by the Vietnam War.
Rating:
Summary: How being a POW can screw up your whole life
Review: I've read a number of autobiographies of Vietnam POWs and "Glory Denied" is certainly the most disturbing one. Army Col. Jim Thompson's story reminded me of the biblical story of Job, except in the end, unlike Job, Thompson loses even his faith and is left simply with his stubborn sense of personal survival. If there was ever a man who never got a break in his life, it was Jim Thompson. Raised by a domineering and abusive father, drafted into the Army he at first hates military life but then comes to love it. But even in the military things do not come easily for Thompson. Commissioned through OCS, he does not volunteer for Special Forces but is ordered into it when the Army, at JFK's directive, rapidly expands the Green Berets. Sent to Vietnam, Thompson and his team are sent to one the most remote and potentially dangerous outposts the Army has and he and his team find themselves very quickly in over their heads. An interesting aspect of the book is that most of it is not about Thompson's actual experiences as a POW but rather deals with is pre- and post-Vietnam life. His saga as a POW for nearly 9 years is a brutal one---isolation, malnutrition, torture. It is not until he has been a prisoner over 4 yrs that he finally meets other Americans, a group of soldiers and civilian personnel captures at Hue during the Tet Offensive. By this point Thompson is reduced to about 100 lbs and looks to the other POWs to be in his 70s when he's actually in his mid 30s.
His story after his return is even more brutal---betrayal by his wife, divorce, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, career problems, totally dysfunctional children, attempted suicide, psychiatric hospitalization, struggling with his sexual identity, his son convicted of murder, suffering a stroke which handicaps him and finally a loss of faith in God. Unlike other POW stories, I found nothing in this book to be uplifting. The Thompson family is literally destroyed by the Vietnam War and there are almost no survivors. The book is well-presented as an oral history of the Thompsons although his wife Alyce does come across as a villainess in the story. And despite her attempts to paint herself in a better light, her own behavior is just inexcusable.
Rating:
Summary: How being a POW can screw up your whole life
Review: I've read a number of autobiographies of Vietnam POWs and "Glory Denied" is certainly the most disturbing one. Army Col. Jim Thompson's story reminded me of the biblical story of Job, except in the end, unlike Job, Thompson loses even his faith and is left simply with his stubborn sense of personal survival. If there was ever a man who never got a break in his life, it was Jim Thompson. Raised by a domineering and abusive father, drafted into the Army he at first hates military life but then comes to love it. But even in the military things do not come easily for Thompson. Commissioned through OCS, he does not volunteer for Special Forces but is ordered into it when the Army, at JFK's directive, rapidly expands the Green Berets. Sent to Vietnam, Thompson and his team are sent to one the most remote and potentially dangerous outposts the Army has and he and his team find themselves very quickly in over their heads. An interesting aspect of the book is that most of it is not about Thompson's actual experiences as a POW but rather deals with is pre- and post-Vietnam life. His saga as a POW for nearly 9 years is a brutal one---isolation, malnutrition, torture. It is not until he has been a prisoner over 4 yrs that he finally meets other Americans, a group of soldiers and civilian personnel captures at Hue during the Tet Offensive. By this point Thompson is reduced to about 100 lbs and looks to the other POWs to be in his 70s when he's actually in his mid 30s.
His story after his return is even more brutal---betrayal by his wife, divorce, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, career problems, totally dysfunctional children, attempted suicide, psychiatric hospitalization, struggling with his sexual identity, his son convicted of murder, suffering a stroke which handicaps him and finally a loss of faith in God. Unlike other POW stories, I found nothing in this book to be uplifting. The Thompson family is literally destroyed by the Vietnam War and there are almost no survivors. The book is well-presented as an oral history of the Thompsons although his wife Alyce does come across as a villainess in the story. And despite her attempts to paint herself in a better light, her own behavior is just inexcusable.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly and emotionally revealing......
Review: Special Forces Captain Jim Thompson was shot down (while an observer on a reconnaissance flight) over South Vietnam on March 24, 1964. Held first in jungle camps in South Vietnam and later moved to North Vietnam, Thompson would not see another American for 4 years and would spend a total of 5 years in solitary confinement and isolation. Suffering brutal torture, disease, and starvation, he would endure some of the worst treatment ever imagined for almost 9 unbelievable years. Eventually, he would be recognized as the longest held prisoner of war in American history. During his confinement, Thompson never wavered in his defiance of his captors and continually upheld his convictions in America, his patriotism, his pride, and his beliefs. Upon returning to the United States, hoping to re-establish a stable home life, Jim Thompson is quickly immersed in tragic events that would continue several years after his return. Starting with the revelation of his wife's infidelity during his captivity, major turmoil would befall his family soon thereafter. He is unprepared for 9 years of change that has influenced his family and this sadly leads to, among other things, alienation of his children, addiction to alcohol, estrangement from his wife, and eventual divorce. In a constant uphill struggle, Thompson painfully suffered through many subsequent events in his life that literally brought him to the edge of despair and his attempting suicide. Glory Denied is quite possibly the saddest, most tragic, and totally heart-wrenching accounts of POW captivity ever written. It is also a story of love, understanding, forgiveness, hope, faith, and survival. Sixteen years in the making, this book is exceedingly well written and prepared and evokes much emotion in its content. Deserving of 10 stars, this book is very highly recommended to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Five Years..in solitary....
Review: The Colonel died in Key West on July 16th,at 69. He was longest held- Vietnam POW...just 10 days short of 9 years. For more on vets see Geraldnicosia.com His large book covers complete history of Vietnam VETERANS movement, "Home-to-WAR", 2001
Rating:
Summary: Another casualty of an unnecessary, immoral war
Review: The list continues to grow, doesn't it? And, sadly, America has not learned its lesson from the debacle known as the Viet Nam war. There had to be times when Jim Thompson asked himself "Was it REALLY worth it?" It's easy to criticize Alyce, but that's the result when a society teaches women NOT to be independent.
Rating:
Summary: Another casualty of an unnecessary, immoral war
Review: The list continues to grow, doesn't it? And, sadly, America has not learned its lesson from the debacle known as the Viet Nam war. There had to be times when Jim Thompson asked himself "Was it REALLY worth it?" It's easy to criticize Alyce, but that's the result when a society teaches women NOT to be independent.
Rating:
Summary: A SAD ACCOUNT...BUT VERY REAL!
Review: The tragedy of Army Officer, Jim Thompson, is similar to many others who were held prisoner of war, with the exception of the time period - he was held captive for nine years. This story is not by any means an easy book to read. The accounts of his torture and the conditions under which he lived during those nine years will tear at the heartstrings of the staunchest individual. During Thompson's captivity, his wife, who is struggling to survive and raise four children on her own meets an Army man who becomes the only father her children have ever known. After Thompson's release and return home, his life will never again be the same. Thompson is not, nor could he ever be, the same man he was when he left home years ago. The couple reconcile but the marriage is short lived. As in many similar cases when the marriage disintegrates, the children become estranged and soon realize they do not know this man who is not a father to them, but a stranger. They have little recollection of the man he once was, nor do they have have use for the man he has become. Alcohol becomes a factor in Thompson's life and his escape from reality, an anaesthetic for "the real world" - a world that has left him shunned by society, rejected by his family and haunted by the memories that he must live with each and every day for the remainder of his life. All this was bestowed upon a man whose only fateful action was to fight for his country. Many men returned from Vietnam and found productive lives. Many did not return; others might have found more spiritual peace if they had not survived the horrors. In a sense, Thompson also gave his life for his country, for the man he became upon his return was a man devoid and robbed of a QUALITY life. While he physically returned, the happy, peaceful, successful life he could have had was eternally lost and a part of him will forever dwell in the horrors of Vietnam. Jim Thompson's life is a tragedy, like many other tragedies of war. While the book is emotionally difficult to read, it is an excellent book and cannot help but make the reader feel that no matter what obstacles and challenges we are faced with in our life, we are blessed with having "the freedom to choose" how we live our lives.
|
