half years. Weighing two hundred pounds when shot down, Sam shrank to around one hundred and twenty pounds, barely surviving on the occasional “meal” of weeds, pig fat, white rice, or pumpkin soup.
Sam became part of a group of eleven prisoners known as “the Alcatraz Gang.” Separated from other POWs, these men were placed in solitary confinement for courageously resisting their captors’ efforts to extract information through torture and other means.
“Alcatraz” was a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense. The men were kept in separate 3 x 9 foot cells. Each had a bare light bulb that burned around the clock to disrupt sleeping. The prisoners were locked in irons each night.
But Sam was not the only hero in his family. His wife spent two years wondering whether her husband was alive or dead, another two years without any contact from him, and still another three years worrying whether he would make it home at all. Throughout, Shirley kept her household together and raised their three children as a “single” parent.
A REAL PATRIOT’S RETURN
Finally, on February 14, 1973, Sam returned home to the country he loved, fought for, and suffered so sacrificially to protect. His family waited anxiously as he spoke to the press and then raced to greet him, to touch him, to look into his eyes, to wrap their arms around him.
His children—Bob, Gini, and Beverly—allowed Shirley the first embrace. A few moments later, the three grown children (ages twenty-one, nineteen, and sixteen) surrounded and enveloped in their arms the father they had not seen since they were fourteen, twelve, and nine.
After his distinguished military career as a war hero and decorated combat veteran who was awarded two Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars, Sam accepted another leadership challenge. In 1991 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, known among his colleagues and constituents as a man of deep conviction and faith.
OPENING A FLOODGATE OF PAIN
Along with a delegation of U.S. legislators, Sam later returned to the place of his seven-year captivity. Although three decades had passed, horrific memories came flooding back during the hour-long tour of the prison . . . the shackles, the cramped cells, the coded taps that kept the POWs sane.
Yet in spite of the monstrous treatment he had received, Sam heard no apologies or acknowledgment of his POW status during meetings with top Vietnamese officials.
Shirley said the sight of a mannequin shackled to a bed in a way that made standing impossible caused her to weep, envisioning her husband in such a position for months on end.
“It was much more stark and depressing than anything I could think of,” she said. “He said many times that the Lord was with him all the way through, and I’m sure he was, because I don’t know how you could get through it without having a strong faith.” 5
COMRADES AND CHRIST
Asked how he survived such cruel and inhumane treatment for so many years, Sam points to two things—his comrades and his Christian faith. He recites his favorite Scripture: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar . . . like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:29–31).
Through all the torture during captivity, through all the harrowing experiences of flying combat missions, and through all the frustrations of wrangling over congressional legislation, Sam has never failed to give credit to God for providing him needed hope and courage.
As Sam Johnson knows all too well, hardship, fear, and pain—all part of life’s inevitable storms—should prompt us to reach out and grasp that solitary Anchor that holds us like no other can.
Jesus was Sam Johnson’s anchor for his soul when his body was
Sam became part of a group of eleven prisoners known as “the Alcatraz Gang.” Separated from other POWs, these men were placed in solitary confinement for courageously resisting their captors’ efforts to extract information through torture and other means.
“Alcatraz” was a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense. The men were kept in separate 3 x 9 foot cells. Each had a bare light bulb that burned around the clock to disrupt sleeping. The prisoners were locked in irons each night.
But Sam was not the only hero in his family. His wife spent two years wondering whether her husband was alive or dead, another two years without any contact from him, and still another three years worrying whether he would make it home at all. Throughout, Shirley kept her household together and raised their three children as a “single” parent.
A REAL PATRIOT’S RETURN
Finally, on February 14, 1973, Sam returned home to the country he loved, fought for, and suffered so sacrificially to protect. His family waited anxiously as he spoke to the press and then raced to greet him, to touch him, to look into his eyes, to wrap their arms around him.
His children—Bob, Gini, and Beverly—allowed Shirley the first embrace. A few moments later, the three grown children (ages twenty-one, nineteen, and sixteen) surrounded and enveloped in their arms the father they had not seen since they were fourteen, twelve, and nine.
After his distinguished military career as a war hero and decorated combat veteran who was awarded two Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars, Sam accepted another leadership challenge. In 1991 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, known among his colleagues and constituents as a man of deep conviction and faith.
OPENING A FLOODGATE OF PAIN
Along with a delegation of U.S. legislators, Sam later returned to the place of his seven-year captivity. Although three decades had passed, horrific memories came flooding back during the hour-long tour of the prison . . . the shackles, the cramped cells, the coded taps that kept the POWs sane.
Yet in spite of the monstrous treatment he had received, Sam heard no apologies or acknowledgment of his POW status during meetings with top Vietnamese officials.
Shirley said the sight of a mannequin shackled to a bed in a way that made standing impossible caused her to weep, envisioning her husband in such a position for months on end.
“It was much more stark and depressing than anything I could think of,” she said. “He said many times that the Lord was with him all the way through, and I’m sure he was, because I don’t know how you could get through it without having a strong faith.” 5
COMRADES AND CHRIST
Asked how he survived such cruel and inhumane treatment for so many years, Sam points to two things—his comrades and his Christian faith. He recites his favorite Scripture: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar . . . like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:29–31).
Through all the torture during captivity, through all the harrowing experiences of flying combat missions, and through all the frustrations of wrangling over congressional legislation, Sam has never failed to give credit to God for providing him needed hope and courage.
As Sam Johnson knows all too well, hardship, fear, and pain—all part of life’s inevitable storms—should prompt us to reach out and grasp that solitary Anchor that holds us like no other can.
Jesus was Sam Johnson’s anchor for his soul when his body was
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