The Indomitable Spirit of James Bond Stockdale
What a total f***ing badass.
Millions of normal nobodies will save our democracy. Today I’d like to talk about one of them. James Bond Stockdale.
Even though he died in 2005, Stockdale made the news a couple days ago. Last Monday, Ryan Holiday, a writer and bookkeeper, was invited to speak at my alma mater, the US Naval Academy. The Academy administration, not wanting to draw the ire of the SecDef and current administration, previewed his speech and asked Mr. Holiday to not mention the recent removal of 381 books from the Academy library. Ryan Holiday was planning to speak about Stockdale’s stoicism and ability to lead a resistance of American POWs under brutal conditions. Part of his remarks were to say how Stockdale led his fellow POWs to figure out which principles they would stand firm on, and consequently submit themselves to brutal torture over. Mr. Holiday thought it would be hypocritical to speak about Stockdale’s moral courage, and then not have the backbone to speak about the book banning. He refused to water down his speech and make concessions to those who want to silence him. Sadly, the Academy cancelled his speech in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen, and here we are, talking about Stockdale and stoicism. Resistance is funny in this way. Ban a speech to a few thousand, and millions more will learn about it.
In 1965, Stockdale was 41 years old and at the top of his game as a Navy fighter pilot. As a commander, he was senior enough to lead the entire air wing of his aircraft carrier, but still flew missions as a fighter pilot. He was a philosopher-warrior, having earned a Masters degree in philosophy from Stanford a few years before on the Navy’s dime. All things considered, he was a normal nobody going about his business in the profession of arms.
In the first year of the Vietnam War, he was shot down over North Vietnam. With shattered bones, he was dragged to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” The Uniformed Code of Conduct allows him to give his name, rank, date of birth and service number to his captors who quickly realized they’d reeled in a big fish. Stockdale was the highest-ranking officer in the Hanoi Hilton. Though badly injured with medical care withheld from him, he took charge.
His captors tortured him with ropes and beatings for weeks, trying to extract any tactically useful information from him. After his knowledge of war plans grew stale, they tortured him to try and break his spirit. They isolated him in solitary confinement, not wanting him to rally the morale of his fellow POWs. That said, the other senior men nearby who heard his screams knew that he was resisting in a super-human way, often for days at a time.
Word got around through the prison. Each man was issued a small metal tea cup for water. They quickly figured out that putting the tea cup up to the stone walls would amplify sound. Separated in their cells, they tapped out letters to each other based on a 5 x 5 matrix (C and K were considered the same letter). Stockdale knew from his Stanford days that Stoic philosophy was required to survive this ordeal. Stockdale improvised a new code of conduct given the circumstances which every new POW learned once they figured out the tap code.
B – Never Bow in public.
A- Stay off the Airwaves
C- Admit no Crimes
K- Never Kiss them goodbye
US – Unity over Self
If you could do these simple things, you held onto your honor.
His solitary isolation and torture went on for years. His captors had to inflict more torture to break prisoners, most who didn’t stay broken for long. Both prisoners and captors attributed this steady hardening to Stockdale, who created and inspired solidarity. Many of his fellow prisoners never saw Stockdale, but they knew a man of legendary toughness was living in the same walls as them, breathing the same foul air, living in filth, and leading them.
A few times over the years, his captors tried to get Stockdale to meet with a foreign film crew for propaganda purposes. They would ease up on his torture and give him more food so he wouldn’t look so beat up. Stockdale was hungry, but not one to be used as a prop. Just to be sure, hours before the filming session, he took the only object in the room, a wooden stool, and beat his own face with it so it was a bloody pulp, unsuitable for filming. Another time, he was given a mirror to tidy up. When he was alone, he broke it and disfigured his face with a shard of glass. Stubborn mothef***er.
At some point around 1969, the North Vietnamese captors gave up on breaking the spirit of the American POWs. It simply became too much work, and torturing another human grinds down the soul of even the most sadistic among us. Their conditions eased, and they were allowed to share cells and even communal courtyard time. Some died in captivity of their wounds, disease, and torture. 591 would eventually be released. Stockdale was released in 1973 after 8 years in captivity. Incredibly, 80% of these men would eventually continue their service and lead highly productive lives. They overcame their injuries, PTSD, and looked at their years in the Hanoi Hilton as the formative experience of a lifetime. As the Stoics teach us, we can choose to learn from our suffering, but not let it define or shackle us. In one of the darkest holes of humanity, Stockdale created enough light for hundreds of men to transcend in spirit.
Others, like John McCain, stood right behind him. McCain was decidedly not the warrior-philosopher that Stockdale was. An undisciplined rabble-rouser, McCain graduated 5th from the bottom of his Academy class of 899. When he was 31 years-old in 1967, he was also shot down during a bombing mission. With two broken legs, McCain was in bad shape when he was dragged into the Hanoi Hilton. Less than a year later, his father was promoted to Admiral- Commander of the Pacific. Knowing they had another big fish, the North Vietnamese offered to release the younger McCain early to show themselves as merciful. Despite his broken legs, his captors still pulled his arms out their sockets and found other parts to break. The younger McCain refused early release, adhering to the code of being released in the order of being captured. Though he didn’t know it at the time, he would stay another 5 years at the Hanoi Hilton. Legend.
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When I was 17, I visited the Naval Academy for the first time for an introductory experience prior to applying. During that week, our detailers led us into Memorial Hall - a sacred place for midshipmen to ask themselves if they could live up to the highest principles and courage of the Naval Academy’s finest graduates. In a small alcove is an austere hand drawn portrait of James Bond Stockdale as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam’s Hanoi Hilton. Stockdale’s Medal of Honor Citation is worth reviewing:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while senior naval officer in the prisoner-of-war camps of North Vietnam. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the prisoners' of war resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Adm. Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt. Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-disfiguration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Adm. Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all the prisoners of war. By his heroic actions, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country. Rear Adm. Stockdale's valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
I remember seeing Stockdale on TV during a vice presidential debate in 1992 as Ross Perot’s running mate. He seemed out place and was lampooned for not being a polished politician. I did not know who he was at the time. As I learned more details of his story in Memorial Hall, I decided I wanted to go to the Academy and become a naval officer. What kind of place produces leaders like this? And could I measure up?
Our sophomore year at the Academy, VADM Stockdale came to the Academy to speak to the Brigade of Midshipmen. When he walked on stage with a slight hobble (which he earned 34 years ago), every one of us stood at attention with pride, honored to be in the same four walls as this legend. I, and several thousand of my shipmates, will never forget being in the presence of the indomitable spirit of James Bond Stockdale.