Reunited... After 10 years' imprisonment, Mr. Vo Dai Ton, with his wife, Tuyet Mai.While a prisoner for 10 years, Mr. Vo Dai Ton, 54, memorised about 1,000 poems and information for three books despite having a rope placed around his neck, his hands and l

Reunited... After 10 years' imprisonment, Mr. Vo Dai Ton, with his wife, Tuyet Mai.While a prisoner for 10 years, Mr. Vo Dai Ton, 54, memorised about 1,000 poems and information for three books despite having a rope placed around his neck, his hands and legs shackled, and being beaten senseless twice a month."I had to try to keep myself alive," he said at his home in Greenacre, in Sydney's south-west."They tried breaking my spirit, but they could not."The spirit of survival kept me going."Now reunited with his family, the former poet and colonel in the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam is dictating his verse and his books to typists. October 7, 1992. (Photo by Steve Christo/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).