In the know

Rep. Beauprez taken with Rep. Johnson’s love story

The Rocky Mountain News last week asked various members of the community what books bring out the romantic in them. For Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.), the answer was simple: The Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW’s Story, an autobiography by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), a prisoner of war in Vietnam for seven years.

Beauprez told the paper, “I serve in Congress with a man named Sam Johnson. His wife is Shirley. He served in Vietnam and was a prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton. His wife was told by the military, by her pastor, by numerous friends, ‘Shirley, you’ve got to give it up. He’s probably not coming home.’ She didn’t give it up. When he was finally released from that hellhole — out of his seven years there, three and a half were in solitary confinement — he was disfigured, he was crippled, he had to undergo a number of surgeries — but she stood by his side, through no news and through the bad news. Even now, in their 70s, they are like a teenage romantic couple.”

(The Johnsons’ love story is included in the biography.)

Johnson was released from his years of captivity in Vietnam on Feb. 12, 1973 — 33 years ago last Sunday. He and his wife shared their love story with a group of congressional spouses yesterday, Valentine’s Day.

Is it S