Today is the fourth day of the 12 days of Christmas, and in addition to our four calling birds we get another segment of “The Twelve Days of Resilience” with COL James N. “Nick” Rowe. Discrepancy abounds on whether the birds were calling, colored, collie, or however else the naming has changed over the carol’s centuries-long history, but there’s zero question about COL Rowe’s contribution to our nation’s history. This Texan, short on stature but a giant on what it takes to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, earned his Green Beret, and was sent to Vietnam to act as a military advisor for irregular indigenous forces at Tan Phu in An Xuyen Province. On October 29, 1963, while assaulting the village of Le Coeur, then-Lieutenant Rowe and two other military advisors were taken prisoner by the Viet Cong. COL Rowe would spend five years as a POW, which you can read about in his exceptionally well-written and engrossing book, “Five Years to Freedom.” Here’s what you’ve missed: Day 1
In this clip, the well-mannered and precise speaker, explains why the Sly Stone and Chuck Norris, or Rambo attitudes need to be adjusted because the façade of invincibility is a detriment in dangerous real-world scenarios. Large men who fit a physical ideal may lack the mental, spiritual, and emotional ability to survive extreme pressure, whereas someone not as imposing or aggressive may possess the exact combination of smarts, humility, and courage to survive five years at the hands of a communist enemy whose system of prisoner management is designed to break the human psyche and spirit. We tend to believe what we see on the screen and the stereotypes of imposing good guys reign supreme when they could have the least chance of success. Physical standards imposed on both men and women by Hollywood and the media could stand to be redefined.
COL Rowe recalls a fellow POW who when captured by the Viet Cong stood over 6 feet and weighed-in somewhere north of 220 pounds. Within a year, he was down to less than 150 and he was so hunched, he could stand eye to eye with COL Rowe, who was 5-foot-9. He was not tortured every day, but he was caged like an animal, and it wore away his hope and his ability to resist. We’ll let COL Rowe share what happened next, but he brings up the example because it shows that the fight is lost in the mind first. The body fights until the end. This could explain the constant assault on our senses of reality through the onslaught of media manipulation. It boils down to what you have inside, your faith, beliefs, and loyalties. It isn’t always the best man that survives; it’s the man who is the best fit that wins. COL Rowe, despite a horrific marathon of endurance, possessed the ability to bolster his mind through his faith, his ability to dig deep emotionally and adapt, made him the man with the highest chance to survive, and survive he did.
When he returned to the Army to after writing his book, he developed the U.S. Army Special Forces SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) course to give future prisoners the knowledge, technical skills, and emotional hardening they needed to survive. His contribution saved lives.
Day 5 of “The Twelve Days of Resilience” covers religion and faith, a critical component of COL Rowe’s ability to hold on for as long as he did.
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