Five Years to Freedom

Archival Summary & Scope

Green Beret Lieutenant James N. Rowe's five years as a Vietcong POW after his 1963 capture in Vietnam tested the limits of human endurance. Tortured physically and psychologically, battling diseases like beri-beri and dysentery, and watching friends perish, Rowe fought daily to maintain his soldier's identity and his faith in a nation that seemed to be forgetting him. His extraordinary survival is a powerful testament to an unbreakable spirit.