In 1993, I had the privilege of traveling to Vietnam with my father, Ben Purcell, while filming a documentary about former prisoners of war. During that trip, we visited several of the prison camps where he was held during his five years as a POW.
One stop was a camp north of Hanoi that had been reduced to rubble. The buildings were gone, but a single concrete slab remained where my father’s prison cell once stood.
Using that slab as a table, Dad carefully unpacked a small communion set he crafted by hand while imprisoned. With a crust of bread and a drop of water, we shared communion together.
Dad spent 62 months as a prisoner of war. For 58 of those months, he was held in solitary confinement. Yet he often said he was never truly alone.
“God was my constant companion.”
My father passed away 13 years ago, but his unwavering Christian faith, courage, and love still guide me. I cling to the lessons he taught me, especially the importance of believing in and serving something greater than oneself.
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