Passing of a patriot: Hilaire du Berrier -- daredevil pilot, intelligence operative, and hard-hitting journalist -- was literally on the front lines of the freedom fight around the world. He will be missed.

The New American › November 18, 2002

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The American prisoner with the French name was barely conscious as his battered body hit the concrete floor of his 5' x 8' wooden cage. Every muscle, bone, and pore throbbed and screamed with pain. It would be some time before he would recuperate sufficiently to roll over and whisper to one of the six cellmates of various nationalities sharing the cramped cage with him. Having thrown him in the cell, the brutal guards grabbed one of his unfortunate cellmates to replace him in the torture chamber.

The prisoners were in their second week of torture sessions, and the officers of the Kampetai, Japan's equivalent of the Gestapo, were experts at their cruel business. Part of their torture was psychological: One never knew what to expect, but whatever came it was certain to be excruciatingly painful. Sometimes they used the rack. Or they simply beat the prisoners with their hands, fists, clubs, bamboo rods, or metal-tipped sticks. There was also the Kampetai version of water torture: A cloth was placed over the mouth and nostrils and water gradually poured on it until the saturated cloth created the sensation of drowning. The nearly suffocated victim was then revived and the process started all over again.

After 13 days of torture, the American lay on the floor sobbing, fearing that the next session would break him. "How much longer can this go on?" he asked himself in desperation. "I can't take any more. I can't hold out." As he was sinking into despair a rough but soothing voice startled him. It was John Cook, head of the British spy ring in Shanghai. He had received some especially brutal treatment and soon would die of his internal injuries. In great pain, the old Englishman crawled across the floor and reached out to the young American, his comrade in suffering. "Hey, lad, do you happen to know what day it is?" he asked. "A...

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