Jim Petersen - The Spirit to Soar

The Spirit to Soar

JIM PETERSEN, PhD

The True Story of
Former Orphan & POW,
Lt. Col. Barry B. Bridger,
US Air Force (Ret)

Inspiring Life Lessons and Values for a Victorious Life

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

The Spirit to Soar

Inspiring Life Lessons and Values for a Victorious Life (The True Story of Former Orphan and POW, Lt. Col. Barry B. Bridger, US Air Force (Ret))

2022 Jim Petersen, PhD

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

Proudly distributed by Ingram Publisher Services.

The cover photo of Barry Bridger in a homecoming parade with an American flag and the photo of Bridger in a homecoming parade in are used with permission from the Bladen Journal, Elizabethtown, North Carolina.

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Many thanks to my wonderful wife, Louise, and my childrenJackie Keane, Greg Petersen, and Matt Petersenfor having the patience to let their husband and father work tirelessly over the years on projects such as this one.

Thank you to Sheila Bridger, Barrys wife, for her expert help in relating historical information about Barry and maintaining her endless enthusiasm as we worked on this book. Barry and Sheilas daughters, Deidra Johnson and Courtney Isernhagen, were a great help in reflecting on growing up with their American-hero father.

Thank you to John M. (Mike) McGrath, Captain, US Navy (Ret.), who got to know Barry when he spent five years and eight months as a POW in North Vietnam prison camps. Not only did Mike provide valuable insight; he also demonstrated enthusiasm for the book. He generously wrote the foreword and gave us permission to use one of the compelling illustrations from his book, Prisoner of WarSix Years in Hanoi, with his foreword.

Thank you to Libbye Morris for her vision and expertise in keeping me on track for developing my first three books. Libbye is the kind of teammate all writers need.

Thank you to Dennis Welch, publicist, who gave me the insight to focus this book on lessons learned. His inspiration is just what I needed to finish the book.

Thank you also to Barrys and my colleagues whom we interviewed about their experiences during the Vietnam War and their colorful recollections about Barry through the years. Their commentary does not appear in this book but will appear in other related venues:

• Rich Giles, entrepreneur; Barrys former boss; Senior Vice President for Advisor Operations at Barrys financial services company
• Ron Huff, Colonel, US Air Force reconnaissance officer, retired
• Doug Petersen, Chief Warrant Officer 4, US Army helicopter pilot, retired
• Lamar Smith, CEO of Barrys financial services company; former US Air Force Search and Rescue Pilot
• Dick Terrell, Colonel, US Army, retired
• Doris Terrell, military wife and mother

June 30, 1967, would be the fateful day that began my introduction to a lifelong friendship with Barry Bridger. I was shot down over North Vietnam, destined to endure a five-year, eight-month ordeal as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. Little did I know that a young US Air Force Captain, a future friend, had preceded me by almost exactly six months.

Our captors had plenty of practice torturing Barry, and then they repeated their lessons learned on me and the other 500+ pilots and air crew captured in North Vietnam. We later learned that 28 of our fellow pilots had died in torture in the prisons of Hanoi. Barry and I survived.

One cannot imagine the fear and anguish of being alone in the hands of a brutal enemy who is torturing you to betray your country with radio statements or false written confessions. There is no hoperescue will never come. You will die fearing that your family will never know your fate. Then, from within a brick wall, comes the shave and a haircut rhythm of a knocking sound. You know it must be an American on the other side.

With time, POWs learned the tap code that saved our sanity and gave us the will to resist. Yes, it was Barry Bridger and men like him who had the courage and the leadership to risk all to reassure a helpless, wounded fellow pilot. At the time, that summer of 1967, I had lain helpless for one month, covered with boils, skin infections, and thousands of itching mosquito bites. With a broken arm, four joint dislocations, and a back injured by compression fractures, I was unable to sit up or lift my head. No medical help was ever rendered. You either lived or died.

My spirit had been broken. Then it camethat soft yet recognizable rhythmic knock on the wall: shave and a haircut. Barry and I would continue to communicate with each other and with the other POWs in isolated cells for the next five years, never seeing the face of another American.

Barry has his own words and descriptions on how he was able to survive, but I remember most how he taught me to survive. He taught me his three Cs, which were easy to remember when under extreme stress. First, depend on the strength of your own character, which you have developed since childhood and carried throughout your life. Never waver. Second, have the courage to make the decision to resistto resist again and again and never give in to the enemy. Finally, the hard choice: make the commitment to carry through with your hard decision to endure untold misery and fear that lie ahead. Have faiththis, too, shall pass.

Barry set the example for all of us: No matter what they do to us, no matter what we endure, our goal is to return with honor. We did it.

We formed unbreakable bonds of friendship. We returned to our families. We continued to serve our country. We served with pride and honor.

Thank you, Barry, for showing me the way.

John M. (Mike) McGrath, Captain, USN (Ret.)

Author, Prisoner of WarSix Years in Hanoi

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From My Book: The Vietnamese Rope Trick: