Remembering Christmas
in Hanoi
Ned Shuman kept the faith through five brutal
years of captivity.
From the Wall Street
Journal
It is a happy custom
at this time of year to count blessings, including our cherished right to the
free exercise of religion. The recent passing of retired U.S. Navy Captain
Edwin A. Shuman III is a reminder of just how valuable this freedom is to those
from whom it has been denied.
Like Colonel George E.
"Bud" Day who passed away earlier this year, Shuman was held captive
during the Vietnam War at the infamous prison camp known as the "Hanoi
Hilton." Like Day, he was an American pilot whose plane was shot down over
North Vietnam. And also like Day, who would go on to be awarded the Medal of
Honor, Shuman rallied his fellow prisoners to defy their communist captors with
simple expressions of faith.
In late 1970 Shuman
chose to lead the captured Americans in prayer, even though he knew this act of
disobedience was certain to result in his torture. Having received a commitment
to participate in a church service from all 42 men incarcerated with him in a
large holding area, Shuman began to pray. North Vietnamese guards immediately
dragged him away for punishment. But encouraged by his leadership, the other
prisoners continued and even managed to complete the Lord's Prayer despite
brutal beatings administered by their captors.
Faced with this united
opposition, the prison guards relented. And from then on, until their release
and return to the United States in 1973, the men held a weekly church service
at the prison. Ever since, Ned Shuman and his fellow prisoners have served as
inspiring examples of faith and courage in the most difficult of circumstances.
May he rest in peace.
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