2355 Days: A POW's Story

by Spike Nasmyth

A former Air Force officer describes his harrowing six-and-a-half-year ordeal as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, describing the deprivations, fear, loneliness, torture, and uncertainty of life as a POW and his determination to survive.

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 1991

About the author

Spike Nasmyth currently lives near the Siletz River in Oregon. During the Vietnam War, he was piloting an F-4 Phantom on a bombing run, when he and his radar intercept officer were shot down, and Nasmyth was taken to the Hỏa Lò Prison (a.k.a. the Hanoi Hilton) where he was imprisoned near fellow pilot and POW John McCain. Nasmyth spent over six years as a prisoner of war, and wrote a memoir, 2335 Days: A POW’s Story in 1991.

Reviews

[Bill Millar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[Donald Paulsrud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read over a dozen books by Vietnam POW's. There are a lot of great books written by former Vietnam POW's, unfortunately this is not one of them. This book is poorly written with very little about what the POW's went thru outside of his making himself the hero every time. I feel like this book was written simply to boost his name and make money. Most of the books written by Vietnam POW's inspire me with the honor, integrity and inner strength these men had and used to get thru some extremely horrible conditions, this book really has none of that. I thank Mr. Nasmyth for his service and I am humbled by his ability to get thru some nasty stuff while being held captive, but unfortunately there are a lot of better books about Vietnam POW's out there.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The language is straight from the gutter: no sugar-coating the experience of "being locked up in a filthy rotten commie slammer for six or seven years." You won't really find anything to take away from this book, unfortunately, except a better understanding of the raw details. Those POW's did some amazing and funny things to pass the time, and there were some very bright guys there. The highlights: competing to see who could get the most beatings from a guard in one month; stealing pencil nubs and toilet paper to make dictionaries in English, Spanish, and French; an arm wrestling competition in which the loser's arm actually snapped; and of course the famous tap code.

[Aramis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me as a present by the parent of one of my students after he visited my class to talk about his experiences as a POW in Veitnam. It was interesting to read about how he was tortured because of all the talk about what torture is since the 9/11 attacks.

[Dick Hammergren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spikes account was shocking and compelling and, at the same time, made me so sad that he and so many other young men had to go through such a horrible experience. Thank you for such an amazing sacrifice.

[Filthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit of a vietnam fanatic. Really good account of a bad situation.
Let me know if you want to trade for one of yours!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written, Author has a great sense of humour, considering what he went through. Recommended!