Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dozens of men held prisoner by the North Vietnamese were brutally tortured physically and emotionally for years on end. Among them were Fred Cherry, an air force F-104 fighter-bomber pilot and the highest-ranking black POW, and Porter Halyburton, a white navy F-4 Phantom jet navigator from North Carolina. Cherry, who was severely wounded when he was shot down near Hanoi in October 1965, was tortured as his captors tried, without success, to coerce him into signing antiwar statements urging black servicemen to give up the fight. Cherry would not have survived his ordeal without the care he received from Halyburton, whom the North Vietnamese placed in Cherry's cell in an effort to foster enmity between the two. Halyburton cleaned Cherry's wounds, bathed him when Cherry was too weak to move and did other yeoman, life-saving work for nearly eight months. This amazing story of courage, friendship and dedication to ideals was told briefly in Wallace Terry's excellent oral history, Bloods (1984). It is related here in depth and exceptionally well by Hirsch (Hurricane), a former Wall Street Journal and New York Times reporter. Hirsch has crafted a well-researched, cleanly and clearly written account that chronicles Cherry and Halyburton's lives before and after the war, but concentrates on their day-to-day struggles in Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton, from 1965 to 1973. This is a compelling story told compellingly well.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A moving story of two men whose courage, sense of duty and love proved greater than the depravity of their captors. I highly recommend it." --John McCain, US Senator and author of FAITH OF MY FATHERS

"This is a shattering account of the long, horrific ordeal of two very brave POWs. Beyond that, it is a genuinely inspiring testament to our shared human capacity to find friendship and love and forgiveness and understanding and even hope in the very furnaces of hell." -- Tim O'Brien, author of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED and JULY, JULY

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Product Details Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (May 10, 2004) Language: English ISBN-10: 0618273484 ISBN-13: 978-0618273485 Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,208 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews 5 star:  (9) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Read, May 9, 2004 By  "lae2930" (Sausalito CA) - See all my reviews I finished this book in a day -- the style was readable and the story was well told. In short order you meet these two men, Fred Cherry and Porter Halyburton, one black, one white, learning about their respective personal histories and then how their POW experiences developed into a friendship. Though their time together in captivity is relatively short in relation to their total time as POWs, the impact each had on the other makes for a memorable story. The book relates their strength of character as they endured years of torture and suffering at the hands of the Vietnamese and how they never lost hope of being reunited with their families. I found Fred Cherry's story especially compelling and poignant. Here he is, a pioneering air force pilot and the first black officer captured by the North Vietnamese, suffering great physical harm and enduring with fortitude and courage only to return home to a wife who prefers to think of him as dead because she likes his military pay and an estrangement from two of his four children. After learning about Fred Cherry it's no wonder his picture is hanging at the Pentagon -- it should! 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Son of a Great American, May 17, 2004 By  Fred Cherry, Jr. (Upper Marlboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews I am Col. Fred V. Cherry's son and a friend of Porter Halyburton. This book, which I was also interviewed for, is better than I ever dreamed at recanting the experiences of these two great American soldiers. Reading this book is a walk down memory lane for me and it sometimes brings back bad memories. However, James Hirsh has done a wonderful job in sharing these soldiers experience and friendship with one another. I think that anyone who takes the time to really find out what prison life was like in Vietnam will find themselves compelled to encourage their friends and family to read this book. During the time my father was a POW, our family went through the ordeal as though we were also in a prison camp. My siblings remained relatively close, however, my relationship with my mother changed drastically, due to the love I always had for my father. Upon his return, relationships between our family members were stretched even further, with the children choosing parents to side with. In the past few years, 33 have passed since Dad's return, our family has begun to heal. Hopefully, these wounds will enable us to go on and remember what devasting effects a war can have on any family. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars From A Family Member, December 27, 2004 By  LJ Minor "LJM" (Kirkland, WA) - See all my reviews I read this book on the advise of a cousin in Montana. And when I finished, I remembered sitting with my mother and crying as we saw Uncle Fred's name on the list of released POW's. I was in my junior year in college at the time. I have kept an article from Jet Magazine of an interview that he gave just after he was released. Much of what he said in that article is in this book; just fleshed out to the full, long, seven years. I knew some of it then; I know a lot more now. I am very proud that this book was written about these two men, my Uncle and Mr. Halyburton. They are living history. And Mr. Hirsch does a wonderful job of presenting them as just that-real history-real people.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible I have read a variety of POW/MIA books of the Vietnam era and I have to say that this ranks up there with the best of them!! Read more Published 5 months ago by S. Krespan 5.0 out of 5 stars friend of Porter I have known Marty and Porter for several years, while residents of Rhode Island. Now living in Pensacola Fl, we see them annually when Porter comes to NAS for an annual physical... Read more Published 9 months ago by Gerald R. Yandle 5.0 out of 5 stars A "Thanks"giving Day Well Spent I spent the Thanksgiving 2006 Holiday wrapped up in a book that clearly made me appreciate how fortunate we truly are!!! Read more Published on November 25, 2006 by L. Charles Wimer III 5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling story of friendship and survival Hirsch recounts the friendship that developed between two aviators who were shot down in North Vietnam and endured seven years of imprisonment and torture. Read more Published on April 25, 2005 by Edwin B. Burgess 5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Awesome I read this book expecting a lot of "war" data. But what I received was far beyond what I expected. It was fantastic. Read more Published on August 6, 2004 by Ms. g. 4.0 out of 5 stars Torture and POWs James Hirsch has written an inspirational account of two American POWs, Fred Cherry, an African-American fighter-bomber pilot, and Porter Halyburton, a southern white jet... Read more Published on July 6, 2004 by J. Martens 5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and inspirational reading! Extremely well written. The trials of these two real heros were transferred to the reader vividly on every page. Read more Published on July 1, 2004 by Braxton Lockett 5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and a must read This book is absolutely compelling. It gives the reader a true sense of the heroism in every day life the POW's exhibited. Read more Published on June 18, 2004 5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing This book teaches how the most beautiful things can happen in the most unlikely of places - that in a POW camp in North Vietnam where prisoners are physically and mentally... Read more Published on June 14, 2004 by Jon Simon Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (May 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618273484
• ISBN-13: 978-0618273485
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,208 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Read, May 9, 2004

By	"lae2930" (Sausalito CA) - See all my reviews

I finished this book in a day -- the style was readable and the story was well told. In short order you meet these two men, Fred Cherry and Porter Halyburton, one black, one white, learning about their respective personal histories and then how their POW experiences developed into a friendship. Though their time together in captivity is relatively short in relation to their total time as POWs, the impact each had on the other makes for a memorable story. The book relates their strength of character as they endured years of torture and suffering at the hands of the Vietnamese and how they never lost hope of being reunited with their families.

I found Fred Cherry's story especially compelling and poignant. Here he is, a pioneering air force pilot and the first black officer captured by the North Vietnamese, suffering great physical harm and enduring with fortitude and courage only to return home to a wife who prefers to think of him as dead because she likes his military pay and an estrangement from two of his four children. After learning about Fred Cherry it's no wonder his picture is hanging at the Pentagon -- it should!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Son of a Great American, May 17, 2004

By	Fred Cherry, Jr. (Upper Marlboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I am Col. Fred V. Cherry's son and a friend of Porter Halyburton. This book, which I was also interviewed for, is better than I ever dreamed at recanting the experiences of these two great American soldiers. Reading this book is a walk down memory lane for me and it sometimes brings back bad memories. However, James Hirsh has done a wonderful job in sharing these soldiers experience and friendship with one another. I think that anyone who takes the time to really find out what prison life was like in Vietnam will find themselves compelled to encourage their friends and family to read this book. During the time my father was a POW, our family went through the ordeal as though we were also in a prison camp. My siblings remained relatively close, however, my relationship with my mother changed drastically, due to the love I always had for my father. Upon his return, relationships between our family members were stretched even further, with the children choosing parents to side with. In the past few years, 33 have passed since Dad's return, our family has begun to heal. Hopefully, these wounds will enable us to go on and remember what devasting effects a war can have on any family.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From A Family Member, December 27, 2004

By	LJ Minor "LJM" (Kirkland, WA) - See all my reviews

I read this book on the advise of a cousin in Montana. And when I finished, I remembered sitting with my mother and crying as we saw Uncle Fred's name on the list of released POW's. I was in my junior year in college at the time. I have kept an article from Jet Magazine of an interview that he gave just after he was released. Much of what he said in that article is in this book; just fleshed out to the full, long, seven years. I knew some of it then; I know a lot more now. I am very proud that this book was written about these two men, my Uncle and Mr. Halyburton. They are living history. And Mr. Hirsch does a wonderful job of presenting them as just that-real history-real people.