CURING THE DISEASE OF PRISON THINKING

He stepped out onto the stage while it was still dark. One. Two. Three. Then back. One. Two. Three. We couldn’t see him, only hear his footsteps. The microphone in front on the stage picked them up clearly. One. Two. Three. And back. One. Two. Three.

For six years, those steps were all he could take. Captain Charlie Plumb, a graduate from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, flew the F-4 Phantom jet on 74 successful missions. On his 75 th, five days before he was to return home, he was shot down, captured and imprisoned by the enemy. For 2,103 days he was a Prisoner of War. His cell was 8” by 8”. Three steps took him from one wall to the other.

Though there’s no contact with other prisoners, they find inventive ways to communicate through code. About 200 miles into his experience, Plumb is approached by Shumacher – another P.O.W. – through a metal wire that he put through a hole in the wall between their cells.

Lieutenant Commander Bob Shumacher said: How you doing, buddy?”