Colonel James 'Nick' Rowe, RIP.

I NEVER MET Nick Rowe, but so closely did I follow his career that I almost felt I had. He was one of the Army's icons, a genuine and inspiring hero, and whenever I came across his name in a press release or a human-interest story, I remembered Vietnam, and 1968.

Rowe was a 25-year-old first lieutenant when he was captured by the Vietcong in 1963. He remained a prisoner for five years, most of that time spent in small holes in the ground, barred at the top-ground level-with bamboo. He withstood the usual litany of horrors with uncommon bravery and stamina: interrogations, starvation, beatings, and outright torture. In 1968, with luck and grit, and the happenstance of a nearby B-52 strike that caused his tormentors to try to move him to another location, Rowe broke out, hid, and eventually linked up with American forces. Unbeknownst to him, while in captivity he had been routinely promoted twice, and was now a major.

Rowe left the Army briefly, but soon found that civilian life was not for him. When he applied for voluntary recall to active duty, he was welcomed back with open arms, and given the job he wanted: teaching what he had learned first hand about survival, resistance, escape, and evasion. The Army designed its new POW survival course around his experiences and special expertise. Who, indeed, was better qualified for the job?-no one I can think of with the possible exception of Willie Sutton.

Colonel Rowe spent his last days in Manila, again teaching what he knew. He was serving as an advisor to the Philippine government on anti-Communist counter-guerrilla tactics when, on April 21, two gunmen opened fire on his car, and at least one round struck him in the head.

In a 1985 interview, Rowe said that, while a POW, he had to ask himself every day, "Is what I believe in worth putting my life on the line for?" On April 21, Colonel Nick Rowe answered that question for the last time, and taught us his last lesson. He leaves a wife and four children.

God rest his gallant soul.