MWSA Book Review
Author: Ben & Anne Purcell
Publisher: St Martins Press
Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA
BEST BOOK ABOUT VIETNAM POW EXPERIENCE!
When we were making the documentary film, “In The Shadow of the Blade,” we got to meet a most amazing couple — Ben and Anne Purcell. We had landed in a wooded LZ up in the Georgia hills next to a river. We were there to interview several veterans and for me to perform a wedding ceremony in our Huey helicopter. It was exciting to around some of the nicest people in the world and to be part of that journey across America. But the single most memory of that trip that stands out for me was sitting around at night next to our Huey listening to Ben and Anne talk about their experiences while he was held captive as a POW in North Vietnam for over 5 and half years. He was the oldest POW of that war (Having just turned 40 the week he was taken prisoner) and he was listed as MIA for almost the entire time he was held captive.
His story and that of his wife who waited at home with all their children are what “Love & Duty” is all about. It is a most remarkable and inspiration story as you could read. They both showed lots of courage and class. The book explores the treatment Ben endured and the emotional account of how Anne coped not knowing even if Ben was alive for all that time.
There is neither bitterness nor hate or even angry in the book or in them personally. They truly are people of great faith and more importantly great love for each other, their country and God! This couple represents the very best of America and of what it means to be a human being. This is one tale of being a POW that will inspire the readers. You will come away from this book with the greatest affection and love for these two people.
This book deals with both of their experiences. Ben wrote alternate chapters that follow that same time frame with what she was going through at home trying to make her life and family work and what he was enduring as a POW. The thread of love and faith is fully visible in the fabric of the story they jointly present. If you were going to read just one book about the POW experience then this is the book to buy!
MWSA's 2004 Gold Medal Award for War Memoirs
Reviewer: Joe Fabel – MWSA Review Board
A thought provoking account of a married couple facing 5˝ years of separation due to the husband’s capture by the enemy and subsequent life as first an MIA and subsequently as a POW in Viet Nam.
During his lengthy captivity, Ben spent most of the time in isolation from other POW’s. That privation of companionship was his severest trial.
What sustained him? His belief in his Lord, a confidence in himself and a certainty of love to and from his wife.
This is a recounting of inspiration about a man’s ability to delve deeply within himself for the courage to persevere as a human being during times of great trial and tribulation. Isolation, extremely limited nourishment, inhuman treatment by his captives, years of captivity and no expectation of deliverance were constant companions. Yet Ben (and Anne) had made the commitment to persevere and to maintain his sanity and hope. Ben and Anne, with their expectations in their Lord, were reunited upon the cessation of hostilities. The message is to have unwavering faith in oneself, in your companion in marriage and in your religion.