ben survived both times. otis did not. henry died of pneumonia in a japanese p.o.w. camp. >> skardonif, if i could have cried, i would have cried. >> alfonsi: all together, ben was a prisoner of the japanese for over 1,000 days. he was finally liberated from a camp in manchuria, china by the soviet army in august, 1945. this is the first picture that was taken of him after he was freed. beverly is his given name. that was a happy guy in that picture. yeah, you look very thin here. >> skardon: well, i wasn't askin' for compliments. >> alfonsi: he came home to south carolina and taught english at clemson, where he was beloved by his students. endured. >> skardon: i never spoke about it until i was 80 years old. i felt humiliated. >> alfonsi: humiliated. >> skardon: we had surrendered. yes, ma'am. i, that was one thing that i had a hard tug with in my own mind. we surrendered. we gave up. >> alfonsi: it doesn't matter that he was awarded two silver stars and two bronze stars for gallantry and heroism in combat on bataan. when you came back to the united states, did you feel like a hero?