21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The portrayal of a real hero......., May 5, 2003
Former marine pilot Ernest C. Brace was employed as a U.S. contract pilot for USAID, flying in Laos supporting Vietnam war efforts, when his airstrip was overrun by enemy forces in May of 1965 and he was taken captive.
In his initial 3 years of captivity in Laos, Brace would be held alternately by Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese troops. Suffering inhuman conditions and being caged like an animal, he would end up attempting 3 daring escapes earning him brutal beatings and subsequent injuries that would affect him the rest of his life.
Upon being transferred to North Vietnam, Ernest Brace would continue his last four and a half years of imprisonment in the Hanoi Hilton, Plantation, and Briar Patch prison compounds. While confined in these locations, though not obligated to do so, he honorably followed the U.S. serviceman's code of conduct earning him the respect and admiration of all the American prisoners he was with.
Although never tortured like other POW's, Brace would risk this many times as he became a major junction for communications between prisoners which helped boost morale and also heightened resistance to captors. Offered early release due to his civilian status, he declined with the intention of only going home when the sum total of American servicemen were also released.
Upon repatriation from Vietnam in 1973, after almost 8 years in captivity (four and a half of those years in solitary confinement), Brace would find his return triumphant and bittersweet at the same time. Learning that his wife had remarried during his imprisonment and spending a full year in hospital visits to repair his injured body, he would eventually find success, happiness, and prosperity in the years to follow.
Ernest C. Brace, the longest held civilian POW of the Vietnam war, is a true American hero in every sense of the word and is an outstanding example of how patriotism, loyalty, courage, and inspiration are brought out in a person. So much so that he was awarded the highest civilian award given by the Department of Defense for his actions during confinement in Vietnam.
A Code To Keep is a well written and remarkable narrative on POW captivity and comes highly recommended to everyone.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not easily impressed by war books, this tale was riveting, February 24, 2002
I read this book quite a few years ago. I was in a Marine infantry platoon in Vietnam, and am not easily impressed by war stories. Too many of them are exaggerated, or just plain untrue. When this book first came out I found out Brace and I were both working at Sikorsky Aircraft in CT and I lived about a half mile away from him, so I read the book. It made an impression on me few war books have. Brace was drummed out of the Marine Corps in disgrace when he walked away from his crashed plane on a training flight in the States. Eventually he was flying missions for the CIA in Laos where he was captured by the Pathet Lao. He felt he had "a code to keep" as a POW, and his behavior was recognized by other prisoners as outstanding enough that he was the only civilian prisoner of the Vietnam War recommended for a medal. His tale is riveting, and it makes us realize that even if we mess up in life, we can come back and redeem ourselves.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remember the 1808!!, February 8, 2006
"A Code to Keep" is the story of Ernest C. Brace. Brace was a former Marine pilot, who left the Corps in the early 1960s under a cloud. His plane had crashed on a training mission in Maryland and Brace simply abandoned the aircraft. In May of 1965, he was flying for USAID in Laos when captured by the Pathet Lao. Any connection to the CIA is unmentioned. He was soon turned over to the North Vietnamese and went on to suffer nearly eight years captivity until the general release of the POWs in the Spring of 1973. Though a civilian, Brace comported himself as a military man. Though not mistreated as badly as many fellow POWs, Brace sought no special privileges his civilian status might have given him. Every POW tale tells its' own special story and CTK is no different: CTK relates the continuing struggle of senior POWs to maintain a command structure in prison and to minimize any cooperation with the North Vietnamese captors. Senior POWs as McCain, Risner, Stockdale are here, as are other brave high raking Americans in Hanoi's captivity. So too is WO John Anton, author of the excellent "Why Didn't You Get Me Out?" Brace deals less with the aspect of torture and mistreatment than other POW tales. He even portrays an almost neutral attitude toward his captors. Brace is also somewhat benign to those Americans who cooperated with their captors. He labels them "The Peace Idiots" rather than "collaborators". Perhaps the author has come to terms with these folks. Moreso to his credit. What bothered and disturbed this reviewer about CTK is Brace's status as a Laos captee. Only 9 Americans, Brace included, were ever repatriated alive from that mysterious country. All were released through Hanoi. The remains of close to 200 more men were also returned. Some 450+ are still unaccounted for! The author makes it crystal clear that the Laotian captees in Hanoi were justifiably worried that they would never come home. NVA Officers only encouraged that fear. Neither side wanted to admit having troops there! The affected Americans dubbed themselves LULUS - The Legendary Union of Laotian Unfortunates. Only a last minute intervention by President Nixon had the Lulus repatriated on schedule in 1973. RN remains the only American President to seriously address the POW/MIA issue. As of January 1, 1808 remain missing in 5 Asian countries. The bottom line is that CTK is yet one more solid entry of POW epics. A star is deducted for that old and ongoing malfaction: no Maps! Brace was so deep in the Laotian boonies that even a Rand McNally map does not help place him! Brace made a long trek to Hanoi; a decent map would have helped document his journey to ultimate freedom. As it says above, each tells its' own story. CTK yields yet another vantagepoint into that long Indochina War that affected so many of us. Fortunately for all, life does indeed go on after repatriation.
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