Prisoners of War

The former prisoner of war, who died Saturday, told Terry Gross: "My experiences have made me so appreciative of the opportunities that I've been given." Originally broadcast in 2000 and 2005.

Laura Hillenbrand -- the award-winning author of Seabiscuit -- has returned in fighting form with her latest nonfiction biography, Unbroken. The story of a pilot who survived a crash against all odds speaks to the indefatigable human spirit and our collective will to overcome.

Director Laura Poitras set out to make a documentary that followed a prisoner released from Guantanamo Bay. But her movie about Salim Hamdan became more complicated when she met Hamdan's brother-in-law Abu Jandal, an enigmatic man and Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard. David Edelstein says the film is a fine one, full of "haunting ambiguities."

New York Times writer covers national security issues; he discusses what the newly discovered documents reveal about Bush Administration policy, and what the fallout from their release may be.

Fresh Air film critic David Edelstein reviews Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary from Errol Morris about the treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq in 2003.

Former fighter pilots Ed Mechenbier and Ron Bliss. During the Vietnam War they were both shot down, and became POWs in Hanoi. They are interviewd in the new documentary "Return with Honor." The film was made by Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders, the team that made the Oscar winning film, "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision."

Film critic John Powers reviews Paradise Road and Daytrippers.

Eric Lomax was captured by the Japanese during World War II. He was used as forced labor to help build the Burma-Siam railroad. He was also tortured by the Japanese. He has reconciled with the Japanese interpreter present during his beatings. His book The Railway Man: A P.O.W.'s Searing Account of War, Brutality and Forgiveness (W.W. Norton & Company 1995) chronicles his story from WWII and his life 50 years later.

New York Times reporter Chris Hedges is based in Cairo, where he covers the Middle East. Terry will talk with him about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in countries like Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, and Jordan. She'll also talk with Hedges bout being held captive at the end of the Gulf War by Saddam's Republican Guard. He was held along with NPR's Neil Conan.

Bob Simon is the CBS News correspondent who was taken prisoner during the gulf war and held for six weeks. He's just written a book about the experience called "Forty Days." (Putnam) In it, he describes the indignity and loss of control he felt as a captive. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Reporter Robert Sam Anson. While a young reporter for Time Magazine in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, Anson was captured by the North Vietnamese and their allies in the Khmer Rouge. He's written a book about that experience, but also about Time's reporting of the war. For much of the war, according to Anson, Time's hawkish stance compromised the work of its reporters, himself included. Anson's earlier books include "They've Killed the President!": The Search for the Murderers of John F.

The Australian miniseries, about prisoners in World War II, is presented in full in a new home video release. Critic Ken Tucker says it powerfully illustrates the cultural divide between Great Britain and Australia.