When the man was face to face with the reality of death and began to panic, does this part of the story prove his words to be true: “All a man had to do was to keep his head, and he was all right?” Why or why not?

In my opinion, the reality of death proves the man's words to be false... keeping his head would have changed nothing, he would have succumbed regardless. That does not mean, however, that I do not find this quote to be correct in a number of different circumstances.