The Stars and Stripes chronicles the return of retired US Air Force Col Lee Ellis to the Hanoi Hilton — the infamous POW prison that housed him for more than two of the six years of his capture.

Other memories came floating back — leg irons and handcuffs, rubber sandals to make it difficult to escape, a steady diet of pumpkin soup alternating with months of cabbage soup, and a first meal as a prisoner of fish heads and rice, which apparently was standard fare for new captives. Before missions, pilots used to joke with each other to be careful or they’d be eating fish heads that night.

“I wondered if the guards knew the joke,” he said.

Ellis previously spoke at the US Air Force Academy and wrote a book, Leading with Honor, that was included on the US Air Force Chief of Staff’s reading list in 2013.

His story is touching and telling.

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