Customer Reviews

Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim Thompson, America's Longest-Held Prisoner of War

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I've read a number of autobiographies of Vietnam POWs and "Glory Denied" is certainly the most disturbing one. Army Col. Jim Thompson's story reminded me of the biblical story of Job, except in the end, unlike Job, Thompson loses even his faith and is left simply with his stubborn sense of personal survival.

If there was ever a man who never got a break in his life, it was Jim Thompson. Raised by a domineering and abusive father, drafted into the Army he at first hates military life but then comes to love it. But even in the military things do not come easily for Thompson. Commissioned through OCS, he does not volunteer for Special Forces but is ordered into it when the Army, at JFK's directive, rapidly expands the Green Berets. Sent to Vietnam, Thompson and his team are sent to one the most remote and potentially dangerous outposts the Army has and he and his team find themselves very quickly in over their heads.

An interesting aspect of the book is that most of it is not about Thompson's actual experiences as a POW but rather deals with is pre- and post-Vietnam life. His saga as a POW for nearly 9 years is a brutal one---isolation, malnutrition, torture. It is not until he has been a prisoner over 4 yrs that he finally meets other Americans, a group of soldiers and civilian personnel captures at Hue during the Tet Offensive. By this point Thompson is reduced to about 100 lbs and looks to the other POWs to be in his 70s when he's actually in his mid 30s.
His story after his return is even more brutal---betrayal by his wife, divorce, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, career problems, totally dysfunctional children, attempted suicide, psychiatric hospitalization, struggling with his sexual identity, his son convicted of murder, suffering a stroke which handicaps him and finally a loss of faith in God.

Unlike other POW stories, I found nothing in this book to be uplifting. The Thompson family is literally destroyed by the Vietnam War and there are almost no survivors. The book is well-presented as an oral history of the Thompsons although his wife Alyce does come across as a villainess in the story. And despite her attempts to paint herself in a better light, her own behavior is just inexcusable.

Glory Denied tells the story of Captain Jim Thompson, U.S. Army, the longest-held prisoner in the Vietnam War, or in any of America's other wars, for that matter, a distinction which is credited generally to Navy pilot Everett Alvarez, but whose time in captivity was actually shorter by several months than the almost nine years of imprisonment suffered by Thompson, four of which were spent in the isolated jungles of South Vietnam as a solitary American after his capture in 1964, and where, without companionship, he survived and on his own endured hardships and torture the likes of which few can fully imagine.

Although a standard narrative could tell this story from an author's single point of view and lift Thompson from his relative obscurity, Philpott has chosen oral history, and here is an example of that method at its very best. Carefully researching background material and skillfully organizing the interviews, supplementing them with appropriate documents, most notably some very insightful self-analyses written for Thompson's psychiatrist, he lets the speakers themselves show us Thompson from every possible angle, through the eyes of anyone and everyone, it seems, involved in this long and complex saga, and through their words the complexity of the man and the situation becomes revealed.

Thompson goes off to Vietnam in 1963, full of good intent, having found his home in the Army Special Forces, intelligent and articulate but with limited background and education, determined to make the best possible career of it, leaving behind a less-than-perfect marriage, albeit one idealized in his own mind. Not the perfect soldier either, we see in early inter-views with his commanding officer that Thompson lacked initiative and an overall perspective, if ever there was such a thing regarding Vietnam, but we sense too the difficulties in maintaining morale, discipline, and efficiency in a remote Special Forces outpost, none of which was more isolated or ill-starred than the team led by Thompson.

Shot down while on a reconnaissance flight over dense jungle, not until 1968 is he marched up the Ho Chi Minh Trail to a camp in the North, where he finds the company of other Americans and eventual release when the peace accords are signed in 1973. However the same rigidity and uncompromising temperament which enabled him to survive in captivity and under duress and torture now begin to work against him. His wife, left to fend for herself with four small children, and for a while believing (or for the sake of finality, hoping) her husband dead, has taken up in the meanitme with another Army man, the only father the smaller children know, and although she returns to Thompson after his release, he can never forgive her, nor can he adjust to the tremendous changes which have occurred in society during his absence. The marriage fails, and the family disintegrates. He becomes estranged from his children, who do not know him, and do not like what they see as they become reacquainted. Alcohol, always a factor in Thompson's behavior, now becomes a crippling enemy, and the Army, apparently doing its best to care for one of its own, and appreciative of his stature and his good public relations work as a kind of professional ex-POW, as he has now become, seems at a loss for a permanent solution. Finally in failed health and alone, he is retired in the grade of colonel, and it is here that Philpott first finds him and becomes fascinated with the story which will evolve into this lengthy book.

Philpott has given us here not just the story of one man, or even of one family, but glimpses of a war and the devastating changes and effects which it wrought in some ways on all of us and on our society, for a whole series of generations. In the end we come away knowing and feeling yet one more facet of the long and sad experience called Vietnam.

Special Forces Captain Jim Thompson was shot down (while an observer on a reconnaissance flight) over South Vietnam on March 24, 1964. Held first in jungle camps in South Vietnam and later moved to North Vietnam, Thompson would not see another American for 4 years and would spend a total of 5 years in solitary confinement and isolation.

Suffering brutal torture, disease, and starvation, he would endure some of the worst treatment ever imagined for almost 9 unbelievable years. Eventually, he would be recognized as the longest held prisoner of war in American history. During his confinement, Thompson never wavered in his defiance of his captors and continually upheld his convictions in America, his patriotism, his pride, and his beliefs.

Upon returning to the United States, hoping to re-establish a stable home life, Jim Thompson is quickly immersed in tragic events that would continue several years after his return. Starting with the revelation of his wife's infidelity during his captivity, major turmoil would befall his family soon thereafter. He is unprepared for 9 years of change that has influenced his family and this sadly leads to, among other things, alienation of his children, addiction to alcohol, estrangement from his wife, and eventual divorce.

In a constant uphill struggle, Thompson painfully suffered through many subsequent events in his life that literally brought him to the edge of despair and his attempting suicide.

Glory Denied is quite possibly the saddest, most tragic, and totally heart-wrenching accounts of POW captivity ever written. It is also a story of love, understanding, forgiveness, hope, faith, and survival.

Sixteen years in the making, this book is exceedingly well written and prepared and evokes much emotion in its content. Deserving of 10 stars, this book is very highly recommended to everyone.

Col. Thompson was without a doubt the most unique American prisoner of war in Viet Nam. Jim's recalcitrant adherence to military demeanor almost cost him his life, his sanity and, even after nearly nine years of torture and mistreatment, his freedom when he initiated a hunger strike -one day before his release. Ironically, all the recognition accorded this national hero did little to turn back the sands of time and recoup the life and loves he had left behind. Tragically, he continues to be a prisoner of his own memories -from which there is no escape. Kudos to author Tom Philpott for his unconventional portrayal of Col. Thompson's memoirs.

I would respectfully take this opportunity to submit that although Col. Thompson was indeed the longest held American POW in Viet Nam, there were numerous others on American (special ops) who were captured, tortured and consequently served from ten to twenty years -and even more, in hellish Cuban prisons. I was among them and could almost feel the despair and suffering as I read each page. In no way do I claim to have undergone such horrendous atrocities as Jim but many of my colleagues did and, ironically, their profiles closely parallel his own. Especially after their return...

The tragedy of Army Officer, Jim Thompson, is similar to many others who were held prisoner of war, with the exception of the time period - he was held captive for nine years. This story is not by any means an easy book to read. The accounts of his torture and the conditions under which he lived during those nine years will tear at the heartstrings of the staunchest individual. During Thompson's captivity, his wife, who is struggling to survive and raise four children on her own meets an Army man who becomes the only father her children have ever known. After Thompson's release and return home, his life will never again be the same. Thompson is not, nor could he ever be, the same man he was when he left home years ago. The couple reconcile but the marriage is short lived. As in many similar cases when the marriage disintegrates, the children become estranged and soon realize they do not know this man who is not a father to them, but a stranger. They have little recollection of the man he once was, nor do they have have use for the man he has become. Alcohol becomes a factor in Thompson's life and his escape from reality, an anaesthetic for "the real world" - a world that has left him shunned by society, rejected by his family and haunted by the memories that he must live with each and every day for the remainder of his life. All this was bestowed upon a man whose only fateful action was to fight for his country.

Many men returned from Vietnam and found productive lives. Many did not return; others might have found more spiritual peace if they had not survived the horrors. In a sense, Thompson also gave his life for his country, for the man he became upon his return was a man devoid and robbed of a QUALITY life. While he physically returned, the happy, peaceful, successful life he could have had was eternally lost and a part of him will forever dwell in the horrors of Vietnam. Jim Thompson's life is a tragedy, like many other tragedies of war. While the book is emotionally difficult to read, it is an excellent book and cannot help but make the reader feel that no matter what obstacles and challenges we are faced with in our life, we are blessed with having "the freedom to choose" how we live our lives.

Glory Denied captivated me in a way I never thought possible. I am not an avid reader but I read this book in one weekend. Quite simply, I could not put it down. Glory Denied is beautifully written -- articulate and thorough. It is totally understandable why this story took 16 years to write. This was a story that needed to be told. Tom Philpott does an outstanding job not only capturing the veterans perspective but the thought process of their respective families. The harsh reality of the Vietnam War is truly compelling and devastating. Glory Denied is an emotional roller coaster. If you read one book this year (or in your lifetime), read Glory Denied. I promise you, you will not denied a story of lifetime. Unbelievable!

"Glory Denied" is the tale of Green Beret Captain Jim Thompson. It is unique in that GD does not unfold in linear, year by year fashion. GD is reconstructed entirely by interviews with Thompson and his friends / families. Captain Thompson became a POW in March of 1964 when his observation plane was downed near Khe Sanh in the remote northwest corner of South Vietnam. As GD's cover aptly notes, Captain Thompson was a prisoner of the Viet Cong while many Americans had barely heard of either the VC or the country itself. Thompson suffered mightily in the squalid and remote jungle camps before his 1968 transfer to the better known prisons that surrounded Hanoi. There, in places like the Rockpile, Thompson lingered until the general prisoner release in the Spring of 1973. He and Navy Lt. (j.g.) Everett Alvarez were the longest detained POWs. There is an aura of competition between the 2 throughout GD. The poignant story of prison life is sharply detailed in GD, but many other books have done likewise. The "in country" tale is the lesser portion of GD. What sets Thompson's story apart is the recounting of his life after his repatriation. He came home to an America VASTLY different than the buttoned up, pre Beatles nation he had left in 1963. (This reviewer thought things had changed after only one year in country!). We should all dwell on how much happened in those crazy years and imagine the reaction of a conservative guy who wanted only to return to the hearth and home he knew. His wife had, to put it mildly, been "stepping out" during his absence. The marriage might never have been ideal but any POW must have remembered and fanaticized about only the good parts of his relationship. The remainder of GD deals with Thompson's repeated attempts to achieve normalcy in his personal life while he rebuilds his Army career. The former is an abject failure, though it certainly qualifies as interesting, if tragic reading. As to the latter, this reviewer was impressed how the Army stood by Thompson, promoting him all the way to Lt. Colonel and helping him with his alcohol abuse. Granted, he was a special case but the DA cut him a lot of slack. It was painfully obvious the Army didn't know what to do with the guy. One wonders how many returned prisoners actually reconstructed their careers -and how many were dumped by the wayside. More poignantly, one wonders how many POW families got back together. How many wives remained faithful? How many guys remarried? How many families fell apart? I hope I was mistaken when I read of the behind closed doors "beatings at family reception centers". Rating GD is a hard call. It is not a straight POW tale in the "Why Didn't You Get Me Out" or "When Hell Was In Session" tradition. The second part of GD would qualify as soap opera if not so depressing. The resolution is purposely not revealed here. Out of respect for Colonel Thompson (his retirement rank), all the other POWs and their collective suffering and service to their country, GD is given 4 stars. Credit author Philpott with a unique story compilation- one that was 16 years (!) in the making. How he got the Thompson family to cooperate, only he and the Man Upstairs can guess. A final and sobering thought: GD makes it painfully evident that it wasn't only the POWs' in country suffering that is significant: Many troubles began in earnest after repatriation and the travails of spouses and children may take a lifetime to heal. Those of us that came back to the world intact and unscarred should count our blessings daily.

Colonel Jim Thompson's story is one of the most harrowing and powerful books I have read in recent years, and its themes are is so tragic and complex that it reminds me of a non-fiction rendition of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy." The appearance of this remarkable work comes at a time when we have been inundated by McWar books and sentimentalized combat movies that trivialize the sheer horror and devastation of war. "Glory Denied" has the opposite effect in that it re-creates the agony of the Vietnam War in absorbing and faithful detail, and enables a generation that was not alive in the decades of the 1960's and 1970's to understand how the war was played out, not only on the battlefield but in the living rooms, classrooms, and bedrooms of millions of homes across the nation. While the book succeeds as both a biography and as a uniquely original work of history, it is first and foremost a tribute to Colonel Jim Thompson, who, despite his many frailties and very human flaws, comes across as one of our bravest and most exemplary American war heroes. It is hard to imagine many other American soldiers who could have endured the same tortures experienced by Thompson over nine years of captivity. Despite treatment that rivalled the worst barbarity of the Nazi concentration camps, Thompson survived, his spirit unbroken and his patriotic love of America intact. Not only did Thompson survive, but he attempted to escape from his North Vietnamese guards and torturers no less than five times. I find it surprising that given such unprecedented valor, that Colonel Thompson has not been already awarded the Medal of Honor, and one can only hope that one of the positive results of the publication of "Glory Denied" will be that the military will reconsider its criteria and award Thompson this medal. The book is not without its controversies, the first being its unusual structure. This is not a third-person biography, and the oral history style may take some readers time (for some, up to 50 pages) to get used to. Some critics will no doubt suggest that Philpott should have resorted to a more conventional third-person style, which was used in the excerpt in "The New Yorker," but anyone who sticks with the story for a few chapters will become easily accustomed to the style and find it, as if watching a soap opera, quite dramatic throughout. Perhaps more controversial than the style is the depiction of Thompson's first wife, Alyce, who, in contrast to Odysseus's heroically faithful Penelope, chose to live with another man while Thompson was in captivity. Many readers and reviewers have already attacked Alyce for her behavior and the fact that she did not "stick by her man." Her behavior, particularly her decision not to tell her children that they had a father who had been imprisoned in Vietnam, is deplorable, but to cast her as the villain of the story is far too easy and simplistic. The book would never soar to the power it does without Alyce's own saga, which Philpott conveys with great empathy (and in doing so makes this book appealing to more female readers). Colonel Thompson remains extraordinarily bitter that his wife moved in with another man and that the Pentagon chose to name another prisoner as the longest held POW in Vietnam. His anger is warranted, but the military was all too eager to designate another man, a far more "appropriate" poster boy, as the longest-held POW, and the military shares as much of the blame as Alyce (the way Alyce was abandoned by other military wives following Thompson's capture was particularly appalling). As the years have passed, Alyce becomes an especially easy target, but the fact is that she was a woman alone in her twenties who felt that she could not possibly cope on her own. Moreover, it is clear from the start that Thompson was not an ideal husband or father -- he was not present at any of the childbirths of this children, for example -- and his actions following his release in 1973 suggest that infidelity was just one component of a shaky marriage that was destined to fail. The fact that Alyce's behavior is, in fact, so controversial makes "Glory Denied" a book that will be debated for many years to come, and Philpott should be lauded, not censured, for his accurate portrayal of Alyce's own private trauma. As much as "Glory Denied" is the story of one extraordinarily brave soldier, it is on a grander scale the story of America at war with itself. Through the eyes of Philpott, the Thompsons, despite all their human frailties, become America's family, their stuggles reflective of an agonizing civil war that threatened to destroy the nation for much of two decades. For us to look down on anyone of them is to look down on ourselves, and we should be all inspired by Colonel Thompson's unbelievably heroic story. I hope that Colonel Thompson will one day be able to sit down with his four children before it is too late, for the grave will be a barrier to all amends and all redress. Above all, "Glory Denied" will have a power to move you like few other books and will establish for Colonel Thompson a place in American military history that he so clearly has earned.

Tom Philpott, the author, allows the reader to identify with Jim Thompson, America's longest-held prisoner of war, as well as all of those who shared in his life. You are somehow able to take on each who is interviewed and understand their feelings and pain. Never was I so able to give a character a piece of my heart, I cried for Colonel Thompson and in the end I could only love and respect him. Being a young girl born in 1961 and not having any close ties to anyone who battled in Vietnam, I know very little about that war, I never truly had any interest. After reading 'Glory Denied' I was left wanting to learn more about that part of history. It was uniquely written and one of only a handful of books I place in such a superior class.

This story is bitter sweet in the fact that one man is faced with continued tragedy only to beat the odds and survive.

Colonel is not alone, after reading his story I am sure there are many Americans who admire, love, and support him. Above that, you will be left with an undying pride of being American.

One of those books where I couldn't wait to get to the end. Tom Philpott's oral history is a terrific vehicle to translate the story to the reader. Thompson is a hero for sure, but if there ever was a dysfunctional family, it was his. The fact that Thompson's ex-wife agreed to be interviewed made the book complete as her statements certainly shed a different light on Thompson's account of their lives together.

Thompson's capture and treatment during his incarceration was a story in itself. There's no question he endured more than any other POW but sadly he was never able to put his experiences behind him and move on with his life. It amazed me that he had such a will to live even though he seemed to suffer from depression throughout the book.

The book lays out a sad tale almost from first page to last and I found myself feeling that neither Thompson nor his ex-wife were the guilty party in the destruction of their marriage. Their marriage was wracked with problems, whether he admitted it or not, before his capture. Being away for nine years, especially considering the societal changes that had taken place, only exacerbated those problems. It seemed that it would have taken a miracle for their marriage to survive. Both are flawed human beings, as we all are. They are normal people who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

If you are looking for a feel good book, this isn't it. But if you are interested in a fascinating, heartrending story, that is meticulously researched and told in the actual words of those who lived it, then this book is for you. Tom Philpott does a masterful job of telling the entire story without bias. One of the best books I've read.