After a week or so in the snowy, frozen Nazi-style POW compound, all of us simulated POW's were lined up in about 8 rows for an open-ranks inspection late-late at night. I was in the fourth or fifth row back. We stood there the longest time before the Camp Commandant appeared on the hillock in front. He announced that certain prisoners had been selected for early repatriation to freedom! Without being said, this implied that we were being rewarded for having collaborated with the enemy (a clear violation of the US Military Code of Conduct). He was still mindgaming all of us. He called a few Prisoner Numbers adding the order, "Front & Center!" after each. When he ordered "111, Front & Center!" I decided NOT to cooperate. I flashed to an old memory quote required at the Academy 6 years earlier: "If I can't go back with my self-respect, I won't go back at all!" said by Captain Theodore Harris, held in captivity during the Korean War. Told he had falsely been labeled by the North Koreans as a collaborator and signer of confessions, and thinking he had been portrayed in the US as a traitor, he had to be dragged, kicking and screaming and hog-tied, back across the bridge to the American side for repatriation. Remembering that inspiration, I refused to go belly-up on another captor manipulation, now. When the Commandant ordered again "111, Front and Center," I stood fast! I figured I just might make them go through and check each individual prisoner's metal number disc again -- embarrassing them no end to repeat their earlier search.
This had to be done with spontaneous quick thinking. The Commandant's staff was also thinking fast! The SOBs announced that if Prisoner 111 did not come front and center, each prisoner who was already front and center on the hillock would be made to stand barefoot in the snow until the Commandant's order was followed. I almost complied -- but I needed them to prove their ruthlessness to the great assembly, first. Let's just see if these ersatz Nazis would actually risk frostbite in those trainees & make them go barefoot -- I was standing in the middle of the pack, well-hidden, and could see the boots being removed, socks and all. Damn! (But it was okay.) I stepped one pace backward, faced left, and marched out of ranks -- front and center. They had called my bluff and won that hand of cards. But, in that same moment, I had won the mindgame!
They received me roughly on the hillock, made some bullshit propaganda speech to disgrace us to the assembly of our fellow prisoners, and marched us off to the Commandant's Office. God, did I expect a really bad torture to follow! Once again, we stood in line out in the cold, waiting to enter and salute to the Commandant. One at a time again, the Commandant received us. But the interrogations were going much faster this time between prisoners being admitted into his little "Colonel Klink" building. And no one was exiting when his interrogation was over. Something was definitely different -- what new mindgame were they NOW playing? I reported in, saluted, and the Commandant called "Academic Situation!" That was the only "magic phrase" in the whole training prearranged to let trainees know we were allowed to come out of the roleplaying and discuss with our captors-momentarily-turned-instructors what was happening. It was a roleplaying timeout for instruction and we could trust/believe anything they said in an "academic situation."
I couldn't believe my ears -- which were being told to relax and take it easy. The whole camp would be released (repatriated) in about a half-hour, but we had done well enough "playing the game" to be given a true early release. It was warm and dry in the office and the next room had doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate for us -- and they were not calling an end to our Academic Situation. You know, it's 35 years later & I just now realized that I probably felt a lot like our real POW's felt when they finally came home from the Hanoi Hilton six years after this story took place! Wow.
posted by Richard A @ 4:45 PM
2 Comments:
Uh. I'm a Wexican married to a Mexican. We do just fine!
;)
richard - I'm responding to you about your comment on my post last week. I wanna see some of this pirate's booty you speak of. I am in love with pirates, but I'll never 'jump ship' on my football team! NEVER...hmmm, wondering where you can send these things you are talking about. Don't have a P.O. box...maybe work mail address..?
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