12 Years Ago In Time

Jessica Lynch is hardly the first American to have suffered in captivity. TERRY ANDERSON made TIME's cover when he was released after being held for more than six years by the Islamic Jihad.

What is the best unit of measure for courage? Is it registered in the 2,455 days lost, the countless millions of ribbons tied, the prayers asked, the letters sent, the rumors of death, the hopes dashed and then raised again? Where did he find the generosity of spirit to smile when he walked out of captivity into a roomful of colleagues and told them, "You can't imagine how glad I am to see you. I've thought about this moment for a long time, and now it's here, and I'm scared to death" ... Here was a man who had been wrapped like a corpse from head to foot in adhesive tape and moved from one hiding place to another. He endured beatings and blindfolds and boredom, months spent chained to furniture, months without bathing, without real food or news of the world outside his grave. Yet there was no hatred, little bitterness, only that great wide smile and a promise of forgiveness that prompted millions who watched to wonder, How would I have fared? Would I have had that strength?

--TIME, Dec. 16, 1991