Historical fiction telling the story of a young American soldier's experience as a Prisoner-of-War during the Korean War. The story focuses on those who strongly resisted the Chinese efforts at re-education, what the American press called brainwashing. The Chinese called these men Reactionaries. In the spring of 1951, the prisoners in all the main camps refused to attend the Chinese "study" sessions. Was this coincidence or a planned action? The story follows young 'Swede' Hanson, a young kid from Minnesota who finds himself on a hilltop in Korea in July of 1950. He spends the war as a prisoner, face to face every day with an enemy American soldiers were not trained to fight. Swede decides not to give up and leads his fellow POWs in fighting back. He befriends a man he knows only as Buddha and is crushed when he cannot save him. He becomes Robin Hood and Rasputin. He helps sink a B-29 and steals what was stolen to sneak to others held in isolation. In the end, his physical scars are lesser than those on his soul.