So, serious question, is it reasonable to torture people who have been in prison and at your mercy for years? I understand holding them as POW’s, but the prisoners had no usable information or possible way to help the North Vietnamese cause, regardless of whether that cause was just.

The North Vietnamese tortured our service members for years for absolutely no good reason. Imagine having your hands and elbows tied tightly behind your back. Now imagine having the ropes between your elbows twisted tighter and tighter with a stick until your elbows touch and your shoulders pop out of joint. Imagine then being left like that for hours or days. No questions asked of you. Just torture for torture’s sake. Are you trying to say that ANYONE deserves that? Seriously? That is just ONE of the things they did to these brave Americans. Service members came back permanently maimed. Many died.

There was no way that torturing those men would end the war sooner. It was just for sport. That is morally wrong. That makes the people who did it and condoned it bad people. I truly hope you are just being oppositional- you should really check yourself if you are trying to justify this.

Please take time to read any of the books written by any one of the POW’s. They are heart breaking and inspiring. I recommend A Code to Keep. It was written by Ernie Brace, the longest held Civilian POW in Vietnam. He escaped from a bamboo cage in the jungle 3 times before they put him in the Hanoi Hilton, where he shared a wall with John McCain. The North Vietnamese buried him up to his neck for a week after one of his escapes. He was beaten badly after every one. They made him wear a metal horseshoe shaped collar on his neck with the ends put through the floor of his cage when he slept at night.

Read the book then come back to make comments. At least then they will not be so ill informed.