Heroes of the Medal of Honor: JAMES STOCKDALE

The highest-ranking US POW during the Vietnam War, imprisoned for nearly eight years, this air wing commander was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and leadership while incarcerated

- MURRAY DAHM

James Bond Stockdale (his middle name was his mother’s maiden name), joined the US Naval Academy as a 20-year-old in 1943. After serving on several vessels, he was accepted for flight training in 1949, completing it in 1954. In 1959 he was sent to Stanford University as a 38-year-old naval pilot to study for a Master’s Degree in international relations.

Stockdale became interested in philosophy, and especially in the ancient philosopher Epictetus, in his final year at university in 1962. He had been in the navy for more than 20 years already and had, he recalled, scarcely left the cockpit. Encouraged by a professor, Stockdale read the Enchiridion of Epictetus (a handbook of stoic behaviour written in the first century BCE) and it would be a profound influence on his thoughts and deeds for the rest of his life. No matter where he was stationed, by his bedside were a copy of Epictetus, Xenophon’s Memorabilia (a more accessible account of Socrates’ life than in Plato’s dialogues), and Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. He credited Epictetus with changing his life and with his survival.