Vietnam Prisoners of War recall their experiences and the inspirational story of how they not only survived their imprisonment, but found growth and gratitude afterwards. In their reflections can be seen the humanity that belies the unfathomable circumstances they survived, and how the Naval Academy’s principles of leadership and camaraderie helped guide them through the darkness. Their stories are juxtaposed with those of recent Naval Academy Midshipmen who are facing the COVID pandemic and applying those same foundational values to their own experiences of trauma and post-traumatic growth, of communication and disinformation, of the trials of solitary confinement and isolation.