Endorsements for
Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later

" Surviving as a POW during the Vietnam War was the ultimate test of one’s courage, stamina, and mental toughness. But for some, the most daunting challenges lay beyond the prison walls as they tried to pick up the pieces of their lives. The stories in “Open Doors” show us that memory can be its own prison, and that liberating oneself from the past can be the most courageous act of all."

--Lou Reda
Executive Producer, Lou Reda Productions, Inc.

“ Jamie’s black-and-white sepia toned prints, shot with one camera and one lens, and Taylor’s profiles--character studies really—show how these men rebuilt their lives after they came home from a season in Hell. They make an inspirational story of hope, opportunity and second chances. The underlying theme to both the exhibit and this book is found in the words of former POW Cdr. Paul Galanti: “There’s no such thing as a bad day when you have a door knob on the inside of the door.”

--Joseph L. Galloway, April 2005
Author of We Were Soldiers Once and Young

“ A powerful testimonial to courage and endurance, Open Doors is a group portrait that
keeps faith with those who kept the faith. A singular addition to our literature about the Vietnam War.”

--Rick Atkinson
Pulitzer Prize Winner and Author of An Army at Dawn

“This book gives you an intimate look into the current lives of our POWs 30 years after returning from Vietnam, focusing on how they rebuilt their lives – professionally and personally. This inspirational story of hope and opportunity that details what these men made of their second chance at freedom can give us all some perspective for our own lives.
We appreciate the efforts Jamie and Taylor made to give these men the recognition and credit they have so richly earned – and for giving us role models to emulate.”

--Ross Perot

It's a remembrance of sacrifice, a testament to courage and, more than that, Open Doors is a celebration of life by a band of heroes.

-- Tom Philpott, author of Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim Thompson, America's Longest-Held Prisoner of War

"Two years ago in remarkable photography and now in moving prose Howren and Kiland dispell forever the myth that there was only one "greatest generation." A wonderful tribute to thirty men of iron."

--Robert C. McFarlane
Chairman
Energy and Communications Solutions LLC

“ This book should be required reading for the 230,000 employees of my former department and the youth of America.”

--Anthony J. Principi
Former Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs

We owe a substantial debt to the two young authors of Open Doors. They have compiled portraits of 30 former POW’s, who once endured the most brutal treatment at “Hanoi Hilton”—and have now moved on successfully with their lives. In so doing, they have countered the myth perpetrated by some who opposed our policy in Vietnam that our veterans of that struggle are “ruined neurotics” or similar canards.

--James Schlesinger
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense under the Ford/Nixon Administration, Former U.S. Secretary of Energy under the Carter Administration, Director of Central Intelligence in 1973

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