Vietnam Vet, ex-POW, Robert Purcell

Vietnam veteran spent nearly eight years as a POW, keeping his honor and sense of humor

By CHRIS VAUGHN 

cvaughn@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — Sometimes the measure of a man comes from the stories people tell about him.

And there are a lot of stories circulating now about Robert Purcell, an Air Force pilot who spent an almost incomprehensible time — July 27, 1965, to Feb. 12, 1973 — in a North Vietnamese prison.

Col. Purcell — Percy to those who knew him — died in his home in Fort Worth on Sunday.

Here’s one of those stories.

A prison guard came into Col. Purcell and retired Air Force Col. Bernard Talley’s cell one day. He wanted them to bow.

Col. Purcell wouldn’t. Following his lead, Talley refused, too.

The guard slapped Purcell. Then he slapped him again harder. Then again.

"Why don’t you hit me harder?" Col. Purcell said.

The guard closed his fist and struck. Punch after punch followed.

Col. Purcell repeated his request. The guard kept complying, until he quit because his hands hurt.

When the guard left their cell, Col. Purcell asked Talley to tap out a message to the other prisoners using the code they developed to communicate with one another through walls.

"Tell them Magoo understands English," Col. Purcell said, using the nickname for that guard.

That was Col. Purcell to all who knew him — stubborn, tough as nails, loyal and witty in the darkest hours.

He’d had more than his fair share of dark hours.

After a fall he took at home the last day of 2005, Col. Purcell was paralyzed and considerably weakened physically. A bout of pneumonia finally took its toll last weekend. He was 78.

No one ever heard him complain.
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