Man’s most precious possession, second only to life, is freedom. ~ Col. Ben Purcell, Clarkesville, GA
42 years ago today, on March 30, 1973, Col. Ben Purcell and his wife Anne were reunited after five-and-a-half years apart. This photo captures the moment they first embraced upon his arrival back home in Georgia at Bush Field at Fort Gordon in Augusta. During his speech to the crowd gathered there that night he spoke these words from his heart, “Man’s most precious possession, second only to life, is freedom.”
Col. Purcell was the highest ranking U.S. Army officer held as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He was released at the end of the war during Operation Homecoming along with 590 other American POWs.
Col. Purcell served out the remainder of his 30-year military career after returning and retired to his home county of Habersham in 1980. He and Anne opened a Christmas tree farm outside of Clarkesville, became active in local church and civic activities, traveled the world sharing their Christian testimony, wrote a book called Love and Duty and Ben served as a Georgia State Representative.
He passed away on April 2, 2013 at the age of 85.
