WHAT DOCUMENTED WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE GREATEST GENERATION AFTER
WORLD WAR II. >> THIS MORNING, HE BRINGS US A
STORY OF REMARKABLE VETERANS FROM THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
>> Reporter: I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME AT A REUNION RECENTLY.
AND ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE STORIES COMING OUT OF VIETNAM,
OF COURSE, INVOLVE THE AMERICAN PILOTS, IMPRISONED IN THE NORTH,
IN BRUTAL CONDITIONS, MANY FOR YEARS, SEVEN, EIGHT YEARS.
AND SO MANY EMERGED AND PICKED UP THEIR LIVES, RESUMING THEIR
MILITARY CAREERS. THEY WERE BOUND BY BROTHERHOOD
AND THE EXHILARATION OF FLIGHT. I JOINED SOME OF THEM FOR A
REUNION IN SAN ANTONIO. ♪♪
GENERAL CHUCK BOYD, U.S. AIR FORCE RETIRED, HAS NEVER LOST
HIS LOVE OF FLIGHT. NOT EVEN AFTER ALMOST SEVEN
YEARS IN A NORTH VIETNAMESE PRISON.
>> THERE IS A SPECIAL BOND THAT EXISTS BETWEEN MEN WHO, NOT ONLY
SURVIVED, BUT IN MANY WAYS
PREVAILED, UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES.
>> Reporter: BOYD WAS SHOT DOWN ON APRIL 22nd, 1966.
AND EXPERIENCED SOME OF THE WORST THE NORTH VIETNAMESE
PRISON SYSTEM HAD TO OFFER. INCLUDING THE HANOI HILTON.
SO DID JULIUS JAROW AND TOM CURTIS.
IS THERE A TIME, A WEEK OR A MONTH, WHEN YOU DON'T REMEMBER,
WHERE YOU WERE WHEN YOU WERE IN PRISON?
>> EVER-PRESENT FACT. >> Reporter: FACING ISOLATION
AND TORTURE, THE P.O.W.s WERE DESPERATE TO COMMUNICATE WITH
ONE ANOTHER. BUT WOW?
>> THE SIXTH PILOT THAT WAS TAKEN PRISONER WAS A GUY NAMED
SMITTY. AND HE REMEMBERED LEARNING ABOUT
A TAP CODE CAUGHT IN SURVIVAL SCHOOL.
>> Reporter: THE TAP CODE THAT HARRIS TAUGHT THEM WAS BASED ON
A FIVE-BY-FIVE MAY TICKS. WITH THE LETTER "C" STANDING IN
FOR "K." >> IF YOU TAPPED ONCE, AND
PAUSED AND TAPPED AGAIN, IT WAS AN AT A."
IF YOU PAUSED AND TAPPED TWO TOGETHER, IT WAS A "B."
>> Reporter: EVERY TAP, EVERY WORD, MEANT HOPE.
>> WE DID IT RELIGIOUSLY. I LEARNED THAT COMMUNICATION WAS
THE KEY TO MY SURVIVAL. >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> WITHOUT THAT, I WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY.
>> Reporter: BY CHANCE, ANOTHER CAPTURED PILOT WAS A SPANISH
LANGUAGE WIZ. KEN FISHER BECAME A TAP CODE
PROFESSOR.
>> HE WOULD SEND WORDS. AND THE GUY BETWEEN THE CELL
WOULD COME OVER AND TAP THEM ON OUR WALL.
AND WE WOULD COLLECT THEM IN OUR MINDS.
>> Reporter: ALL BY TAP? >> BY TAP.
>> Reporter: HOW GOOD WAS YOUR SPANISH WHEN YOU TRIED IT BACK
HERE? >> I FOUND OUT THAT EVERYTHING
THIS MAN HAD TAUGHT ME WAS CORRECT.
ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. >> Reporter: IT WASN'T JUST A
LANGUAGE. IT WAS A LIFELINE.
ASTONISHING, ALL THREE EMERGED FROM CAPTIVITY SPEAKING SPANISH
FLUENTLY. THAT'S SOMETHING YOU LEARNED
ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN WORKS. AND HOW ENDLESSLY POWERFUL IT
IS. >> THE BRAIN IS NOT LIKE A
COMPUTER DISC. IT DOESN'T GET FULL.
THE MORE YOU PUT INTO IT, THE MORE IT EXPANDS.
AND BECOMES GREATER. >> Reporter: PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT
MATTERS EARNED THE HARD WAY. >> ANY DAY THAT THE DOOR HANDLE
IS ON YOUR SIDE, IT'S A GOOD DAY.
>> Reporter: TO HONOR THOSE THAT DID NOT RETURN, AND TO CELEBRATE
THOSE WHO DID, BOYD LEADS A CEREMONIAL MISSING MAN FLYOVER.
SOARING HIGH, FOREVER FREE. QUITE REMARKABLE.
I COULDN'T LEARN SPANISH WITH AN INSTRUCTOR STANDING IN FRONT OF
ME. BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING
REALLY ELSE TO DO. AND WHAT THEY ALL SAID WAS THAT
THE BRAIN HAS SO MUCH GREATER CAPACITY THAN WE REALIZE.
AND AS YOU KEEP TESTING IT, IT KEEPS EXPANDING ITS ABILITY TO
DEAL WITH YOU. THEY TALK ABOUT THE THINGS THEY
REMEMBER THEY DIDN'T KNOW HAD BEEN BURIED IN THEIR BRAIN.
AND THAT WAS ACTIVATED IN PART BY THIS EXERCISE.
>> IT'S SO INTERESTING. THEY WENT THROUGH AN INCREDIBLE
ORDEAL, TORTURED, THE REST OF IT.
BUT THAT HUMAN CONNECTION WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THEM.
SEVERAL OF THEM TOLD YOU, IF IT WEREN'T FOR EACH OTHER, THEY
WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT. >> WE'RE GOING TO DO A STORY ON
"NIGHTLY NEWS" THAT DEALS WITH JUST THAT.
TWO GUYS THAT GOT THEIR FINAL 100th FLIGHT.
AND THE OTHER PEOPLE IN PRISON. AND THE FACT