The next time you are browsing in the philosophy section of the bookstore, pick up a tome on stoicism, flip to the index, and look under the letter “S.” Don’t be surprised if you spot an entry for “Stockdale, James.”

In many respects, Navy Vice Adm. James Stockdale (1923-2005) was the personification of the all-American hero. A native of Abingdon, Ill., Stockdale never lost his distinctive Midwestern twang. A summary of his life reads like a series of checked boxes: He graduated from the Naval Academy, became first a test pilot and then a fighter pilot, married Sybil — the only wife he would ever have — and fathered four sons.