Reviews for Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot

The average rating for Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-05-06 00:00:00 Jerritt Gonzales This is probably one of my favorite books ever read. As a young Marine Corps Lieutenant, I stumbled on to it and it was one of the few that really made a lasting impression. Anyone under 30 probably has no idea who Stockdale is; Those over 40 may recall him as the odd-ball Vice Presidential nominee under Ross Perot's ticket in 1992. He came across as fairly senile, but this book opened my eyes to one of the most intelligent, toughest men ever built. The book: As a young Naval Officer in the early 1960's, Stockdale was selected to complete a graduate program, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. He went back to school unsure of what to study. He stumbled on to philosophy and completed his Master's work and returned to the Navy. Serving in the skies over Vietnam, he was shot down and imprisoned in the 'Hanoi Hilton' early on during the war. Arriving as the senior officer among other POW's, he organized a chain of command, implemented rules among the prisoners, and provided an example of how POW's should behave. He endured years of torture, isolation, interrogation, etc. This is the only practical application of Greek philosophy I've ever seen. He would pound his face against the walls so he would have black eyes and knew the Vietnamese could not make videos of him. When he was at the breaking point and ready to sign a 'confession', he broke a window and tried to kill himself in order to avoid the shame. He signaled 't-o-r-t-u-r-e' by blinking morse code with his eyelids during taped interviews. Vice Admiral Stockdale was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as a POW and the military's SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape [POW]) School is named after him. Appropriate for military, philosophy, inspirational and history book shelves.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-06-25 00:00:00 Maryann F. Dumond Contains some good stuff, but a lot of redundant material; read "Stockdale on Stoicism" instead. I was interested to learn more about Stockdale's relationships with Rhinelander and Brennan. No index.