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the soldier’s situation, he would be, above all else, a fighting man and remain such. It would be the discipline of the soldier that would help sustain him through the difficulties of his ordeal. It did not mean that he had to die to uphold the ideals of the code, but he had to be prepared to do so from the very beginning in order to fulfill his role as a fighting man. This part of the code was considered so significant that it was repeated in spirit in the last article to remind the soldier of what he was. The soldier was to support the interests of the United States and to oppose its enemies, whether in combat or captivity.
    The second article meant that the soldier may never voluntarily surrender while still able to resist the enemy. He did not have to be able to fight, or even defend himself. But he had to exhaust all possible means of escape short of dying without inflicting any damage or losses on the enemy. As long as the leader of a unit had the power to evade the enemy, break out of encirclement, or resist the enemy’s approach, he was bound to do so. A leader could not order his men to lay down their arms even if the unit was surrounded, isolated from friendly forces, unless his men no longer had the means to resist—meaning they were out of ammunition, unarmed, or wounded and unable to continue the fight.
    It is in article three of the code where a soldier is directed to continue the fight even while a prisoner of war. The fight is not an active one of armed combat but the harder battle of resistance. It is in this arena that the soldier tries hardest to not be exploited by the enemy. Resistance includes fighting against the very real problems of physical and mental stress and manipulation, mistreatment, neglect—particularly when denied medical treatment for wounds received when captured, or political indoctrination and torture.
    Part of the means of a soldier’s resistance to the trials of being a POW is his duty to try and escape. If he is not able to escape for reasons of illness, wounds, or other physical limitations, he should extend every effort to help his fellow prisoners escape. In the Geneva Convention of 1949, it was stipulated that a prisoner had the right to escape and could not be punished for the attempt outside of disciplinary action and additional surveillance of the individual. Nor could a POW be punished for minor infractions of the law done to support his escape attempt, such as simple theft, forgery (falsifying papers), and being out of uniform (wearing civilian clothing) unless he had committed an act of violence against or caused the loss of life of enemy personnel or the local population.
    In the last part of article three, the POW is instructed that he may not accept any special treatment offered by the enemy in return for favors or cooperation. Privileges and better treatment have been offered to POWs in exchange for their promise (parole) not to escape. The promise from a prisoner usually involved his signing a document of some kind that signified an agreement with the enemy. This also meant that the prisoners were not to accept an early release from captivity by the enemy, particularly in exchange for information or statements that could be used against fellow POWs.
    Furthering this principle, article four stated that POWs will not work against each other while in captivity or do anything that would bring harm to other prisoners. If there was knowledge of an upcoming escape attempt or that a particular POW may have specific information, a prisoner had to keep that to himself. No matter how great the temptation to give that information over to the enemy, particularly if it would damage the well-being of another prisoner, a POW was not to give it over.
    To help reinforce that the POWs were still considered members of the military, their command structure while imprisoned was specified in article four. Leadership would be of great importance in resisting the enemy, or