When the Korean War broke out, the United States dispatched large numbers of troops to Korea. In the midst of fierce battles, some American soldiers were captured by North Korean forces. The prisoners faced starvation, bitter cold, disease, and even brutal beatings and torture. Inside the prison camp, all they could do was survive one day at a time.
Among them was Robert Wilkins, an American soldier who had been a car salesman before his deployment. To lift the spirits of his fellow captives, he began describing the cars he used to sell—promising a special discount if they all made it home safely. His passionate “sales pitch” caught on, and before long, he had taken more than 500 orders.
When the armistice was declared, Wilkins returned home alive and kept his promise he had made to his comrades. His remarkable sales record drew widespread attention, but what stayed with many was something he said in an interview: selling cars in that grim prison camp had helped both him and his fellow prisoners forget their suffering. In that place, he had been the only car salesman—but the cars he “sold” became a symbol of hope. And hope, more than anything else, gave them the strength to endure and make it home.
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