Why American Soldiers NEVER BREAK When They Get Captured

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[jwaximus]

If he lasted till liberation, it most likely means he had to help fight his way out. The military has people with all sorts of experience because that’s what young soldiers need to learn. This class is very real and mr ballen is a great guy

[savageinstitute]

My father graduated from the Naval Academy in 1970 and not long after went through SERE school. When they finally got done his mind was in another place. They came to finally find him to let him know it was over and he didn't believe it, he thought it was a trick. What they go through in that small amount of time is intense, too intense to possibly explain.

Rest in peace to the old man. USN🇺🇸⚓

[MrLightning]

Army pilot here, recently did SERE. That shit sucked, but it is possibly the most valuable training I had at Flight School. I cannot imagine being air crew behind enemy lines, and not having that training. So incredibly important. For anyone in the military, specifically the Army. SERE school is volunteer basis as well, so if you want to go, let your chain of command know, and as long as they have the cash to send you, you can go. Couldn’t recommend it more, you learn so much about yourself, and what you’re capable of.

[Thehermderm]

My favorite pow story is of the guy that pretended to be stupid but learned all the names and ranks of everyone he was being held with and when they released him he told them who all was in that camp still can’t believe he used old McDonald to remember all their names just awesome

[howey]

My great uncle Joe was a Japanese POW during WWII he was actually missing presumed dead from 1942 until the war ended in 45 and God only knows what he went through. He weighed 75lb when he was liberated and before the war he was 180lb and he never fully recovered either physically or mentally.

[ebright]

The guy who created SERE was captured and held hostage in Vietnam for 5 years. His name was James N. Rowe. He has a book about his entire experience called 5 Years Till Freedom. His son was my high school history teacher.

[Spoofff]

My cousin's an F22 pilot, he told me SERE was hands down the worst thing he's ever experienced lol

[donmcatee]

An old friend of mine went to SERE during his SF career and got in trouble twice, in the beginning he evaded by sleeping in some spot and they couldn’t find him then when it was time for capture the put him in a 4x4x4 box. After some time they thought he was dead, they opened the box and he was again… sleeping, they were pissed and threatened to throw him out if he didn’t cooperate 😅
I’ll never forget his story, hell of a great guy!

[PaulSpain-cz]

R.I.P, COL. NICK ROWE. Everyone who has been thru SERE....We Thank You for all your service to this country.

[stybur]

My grandfather was a pow in ww2 for 39 months in the Phillipines. Albert Tybur is his name, he ended up being responsible for saving nearly 2k men for secretly rationing his food throughout that period.

[brianyancey]

My dad was a SERE instructor back in the day. He still won’t tell me what kinda stuff they did for training

[MsChambria]

My Pa was a SERE trainer. He didn't talk about it but there was something very different about him that gave me the deepest respect.

[JustTired]

As a kid, I knew a guy from WW2 that was a prisoner of war of the Japanese for 3 years. He survived the Baton Death March.
He was an incredible man.

[levimoore]

This was the lightest summary of SERE I've ever heard.

[Girthbrooks]

Went Camp McCall for SFAS and got to talk to a Vietnam POW when a SERE class was about to graduate. I almost cried listening to some of his stories it’s insane how bad they had it. It puts the importance of the training into perspective

[StuartHollingsead]

My uncles father was a pow. He survived by eating bugs. Anything that crawled within reach.
When he got back he said he was never going to stop eating good food, and never let someone else tell him what to eat. Needless to say he became morbidly obese. During open heart surgery the dr's said they can not operate due to how bad he was. He died shortly after.

[beverlypeterson]

I worked for the SERE at Ft Rucker (now Ft Novosel) school for 5 yrs & it was the greatest honor ever to be a part of the training of our military pilots. I pray for them every single day.

[dk]

I knew a SERE instructor in the 90's. There's points of the training that really try to give a taste of the hostility and mind games. Sere school was developed because of what we was realized after the Korean war. POWs we're literally brainwashed with torture and abuse to the point that after years of captivity under the enemy service men had lost the ability to speak English. Sere was developed to train our servicemen and women how to survive under those circumstances.

[SGTUSMCVET]

I’m glad to hear a seal say that sere school was tough. That training was so much intense psychological stress. The physical stress is real and mild compared to what a pow would experience, but they explained that every rifle but in reality represents a broken bone, every time you pass out represents a rape. Etc. I was in training with pilots, spies, seals, army rangers etc. Very much an eye opener.

[jakesanchez]

I knew a man who was a POW during his time in the Vietnam war. He was a local guy in the area I worked in, and would be really friendly but you could tell he was dead behind his eyes. So joyful as person, and always positive but just no light behind his eyes if that makes sense. He had his drinking/drug issues that caused his life to be shorten but it’s understandable for times he went through. He showed his scars of his tips of his fingers were they inserted bamboo sticks in them while torturing him.