"Three years ago the haggard face of Marine PFC Robert Russell Garwood was emblazoned on the covers of magazines and newspapers-possibly the last living prisoner of the Vietnam War, possibly a turncoat, possibly even the leader of enemy forces against his own countrymen. "Bobby Garwood was not perfect. At times he was wavering, fearful, devious. As his fellow prisoners died around him, Garwood lived by his wits, doing minor favors for the enemy in exchange for a few paltry items of survival-a banana, or a shred of clothing-but his goal was always escape. "If hell exists on earth, then Bobby Garwood spent half his life in it. He fought off diseases barely known to Western medicine, he scraped for food, struggled for cleanliness, existed for weeks in a urine-soaked pit, endured forced marches, was shot by the enemy and bombed by U.S. planes. He did not succumb; nor did he merely survive-he resisted and prevailed."