An Incredible Saga of Seaman Hegdahl - American Hero - Page 13

Prison Compound

You can say anything you want to an officer as long as you smile and say "sir." One siesta period he said: "Hey, Beak, you went to college and studied government; do you know the Gettysburg Address?" We got a brick (no paper or pencils for the criminals) and started to write it out on the tile floor until we got it correct. Then he stopped me with the question: "Can you say it backwards?" Well, who would want to say the Gettysburg Address backwards? Certainly not the Jesuits at Georgetown and especially not me. Doug could say it backwards, verbatim, rapidly. I know because I could track him from the written version we had on the floor.