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Paper #065986 :: "Glory Denied"
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A book review of Tom Philpott's book, "Glory Denied".

Written in 2006; 1,460 words; 0 source; $ 48.95

Paper Summary:

The writer gives a brief summary of the book, which recounts the harrowing tales of America's longest-held prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, and the extreme affect his army career and years spent in captivity had on him and his family. The paper discusses the style in which the book is written, and compares the problems Jim Thompson and his family face after his return from Vietnam. In conclusion, the writer comments that war is not just about politics and abstract ideas, and that people pay a price with their lives, their sanity, and the lives of their family.

From the Paper:

"The problems faced by Jim Thompson and his family after his return could be superimposed on many life situations. Jim was suddenly plucked out of society for nine years only to drop back in after everyone and everything had progressed during that time. During his months of confinement, in order to bolster his mental health, he had dreamed of his ideal family at home, what they must be going through and the dream home they would have after his release. He was able to build upon the good times and the love, while ignoring or minimizing the problems that had begun to creep into the family before he left for Vietnam. He was then thrown back into a family that had grown up. His little girls were now teenagers, and his son, born the day after he was shot down, was a boy of nine. They had grown up with someone else filling the father role, and the adjustment was not a positive change for any involved. As Philpott's interview of John McCain so aptly puts it, "he was like Rip van Winkle". Waking up from captivity in Vietnam, nothing and nobody were the same when he returned. Through Philpott's interviews, he does much to shed light on the psychological impact of men separated from their loved ones for extended periods of time. Jim's life after the breakup of his family continued on a downhill slide. A second marriage ended with his wife clearing out the house to the walls. He was immersed in drinking nearly all his waking hours. His army career declined and there was talk of labeling him "non rehabilitatable". He was often drunk and the only other recourse the army would have was to discharge him. He entered therapy at Walter Reed hospital and it was here he had to face the reality of shattered dreams. But for Thompson, it was not just shattered dreams. It was shattered lives and shattered values. The values that he had built his life around prior to the war were in a shambles. He felt Alyce had betrayed him while he was in captivity. Yet couldn't quite grasp that the rosy picture he had held onto while in Vietnam was a collage of the idyllic life and not the reality he had come from. His place in the army afforded him the ability to give speeches about his years as a POW. However, as the seventies drew to a close, fewer and fewer groups were interested in hearing a former POW give a talk. His one area of expertise and knowledge began to slip away, and he continued to drink. His sense of betrayal ran to the very depths of his core, and still caused periods of isolation from his family and intense arguments."

Tags: vietnam jim thompson prisoner of war

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