The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned
by Alvin Townley
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Published Feb 2014
432 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American prisoners-of-war faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of North Vietnamese guards and interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. Determined to maintain their Code of Conduct, the POWs developed a powerful underground resistance. To quash it, their captors singled out its eleven leaders, Vietnam's own "dirty dozen," and banished them to an isolated jail that would become known as Alcatraz. None would leave its solitary cells and interrogation rooms unscathed; one would never return.
As these eleven men suffered in Hanoi, their wives at home launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the nationwide POW/MIA movement. The members of these military families banded together and showed the courage to not only endure years of doubt about the fate of their husbands and fathers, but to bravely fight for their safe return. When the survivors of Alcatraz finally came home, one veteran would go on to receive the Medal of Honor, another would become a U.S. Senator, and a third still serves in the U.S. Congress.
A powerful story of survival and triumph, Alvin Townley's Defiant will inspire anyone wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations.
"In a fast-flowing narrative replete with reconstructed dialogue, Townley writes reverently of these POWs" - Publishers Weekly
"Inspirational." - Kirkus
"You told it exactly like it was. In this unexpected way, your book made it all worthwhile." - George McKnight, POW, 1965-1973
"Defiant is a riveting tribute to the unyielding men who endured years of brutal captivity as POWs in Vietnam and the families they left behind. The men of the 'Alcatraz Eleven' are true American heroes and their extraordinary stories will serve as an inspiration for generations to come." - Senator John McCain, POW, 1967-1973
"These heroic men and women remind us how courage, devotion, and faith can triumph even in the darkest of times. In Defiant, Alvin Townley masterfully tells the inspirational and unforgettable story of our Vietnam POWs and the Alcatraz Eleven." - President Jimmy Carter
"Alvin Townley's story of the courage, valor and honor of eleven indomitable POWs and their wives is a new American classic that will be read as long as the breezes kiss Old Glory. As I read it I wept." - Stephen Coonts
"A moving, must read of extraordinary courage and mutual support in facing unimaginable hardship and torture." - Ann Mills-Griffiths, Chair, National League of POW/MIA Families
"This stirring tale by Alvin Townley of resilience and leadership under unimaginable conditions is a must read." - Jim Lovell,?Commander of Apollo 13
"Defiant is Unbroken meets Band of Brothers – and then some…The devotion and undefeatable will of these courageous American heroes shines on every page and reminds us exactly what our great nation is made of." - Congressman Pete Sessions
"This moving and authentic epic of unrelenting heroism shines like the sun as an example of American men and women at their very best." - Medal of Honor recipient George "Bud" Day, POW, 1968-1973
This information about Defiant was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alvin Townley is the acclaimed author of Legacy of Honor, Spirit of Adventure, and Fly Navy. He lives in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
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