And sometimes just a memory. Conditions in Korean POW camps were so bad, I am amazed there were only 21 defections, just to ease the stress. I enlisted three years after Korea, and we were taught methods to avoid being co-opted. The military Code of Conduct was modified so men could bend a little without breaking. I went through Escape, Evasion, and Survival School before being sent overseas, and the things I had learned earlier helped a lot. John McCain talked of the prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton being supportive of each other in times of great suffering, so a man was not cut off from his comrades. I think that was true in the WTBS as well. The men saw themselves as being together in their difficulties, and supported each other. Prisoners who did not follow the standards expected of them by their fellows did not do well. At Andersonville, a gang formed among the prisoners, who preyed upon their weaker prison mates. Captain Wirz, at least tacitly, allowed the Union prisoners to constitute courts martial to deal with the brigands. I think about eight(actually six.) were sentenced to death. The sentences were carried out by the prisoners. Stan

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/andersonville/7.html