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Ladataan... Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue MissionTekijä: Hampton Sides
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Kirjaudu LibraryThingiin nähdäksesi, pidätkö tästä kirjasta vai et. Ei tämänhetkisiä Keskustelu-viestiketjuja tästä kirjasta. A really interesting , if more than a little, disturbing account. War tends to bring out the extremes people are capable of, bith good and bad, and this book illustartes that very clearly ( ) Well-written, breath-holding, stomach-churning, laughs, and tears fill the pages of [Ghost Soldiers] by Hampton Sides. It is the story of just over 100 soldiers, including members of the 6th Rangers, trekked through the rice paddies and fields to free the 513 POWs at the Cabanatuan Camp in the Philippines with little time to plan and no time to spare before the prisoners would be put to death by the departing Japanese. The book combines moment by moment movements of the rescuers, events transpiring in the camp, and individual cameos of the people involved - Japanese and American, prisoner and liberators. This book tells of the relatively unknown heroic rescue by US Army Rangers of Allied prisoners of the Japanese in the Philippines during WWII. The author covers not only the rescue itself, but also related information, such as the surreptitious provision of much-needed supplies needed to offset the brutally negligent treatment of the prisoners. The perspective alternates between the prisoners and the rescuers, at first jumping forward and backward by several years, which may be off-putting to some readers. I thought it was informative, but it was difficult for me to read about the atrocities, which were described in graphic detail. I had read In the Kingdom of Ice by this author, which was outstanding, so I think that l may have had unrealistic expectations for this one. Ghost Soldiers is the first book by historian and author Hampton Sides. Initially published by Doubleday, it’s been available in paperback since 2002. It tells the story of the rescue of American POWs from the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines in January of 1945. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942 it was then an American Commonwealth on the path to independence. The invasion forced the largest surrender in American history. Once under Japanese occupation after the Battle of Bataan, between 60,000 and 80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were forcibly marched some 65 miles to Camp O’Donnell - the infamous Bataan Death March. During the march the Japanese engaged in severe physical torture and random killings of the prisoners. It’s estimated that between 5000 and 18000 Filipinos, and 500 to 650 American soldiers died. Hundreds of the Allied troops who survived the march were housed in the POW camp in Cabanatuan. Their treatment at the camp did not improve. Some prisoners were tortured, and others executed without cause. Food and clothing were meagerly provided, and sanitary conditions were poor. Disease became rampant and led to many hundreds of deaths. The war began to turn in October 1944, with the American forces under General MacArthur retaking the Philippine island of Leyte after the largest naval battle in history. This caused the Japanese to take as many able bodied POWs as possible from Cabanatuan, to be transported back to Japan where they were used as slave labor in factories producing war materiel. The camp at Cabanatuan, which had at its peak held some 8000 prisoners, held only around 500 Allied POWs, mostly Americans, by January of 1945. They were the sickest and weakest of those who had survived the Bataan Death March and what came after. American forces were pushing ever closer to Cabanatuan. The American command was aware of the camp, and they feared that the retreating Japanese would murder all the remaining prisoners. Their fear was not unfounded, as they had learned that exactly that fate had already been meted out by the Japanese at another prison camp on the island of Palawan in December. On January 30th a combined force of Filipino guerilla fighters, US Army Rangers and Alamo Scouts, under the command of Lt. Col. Henry Mucci staged a prison break. Operating behind enemy lines, they surprised and overwhelmed the Japanese and freed the POWs. The prisoners were successfully transported back to the US front lines, and many later safely returned to the US aboard a Navy transport ship, which was itself a target of the Japanese forces. Sides’ account of all of this is thoroughly researched and reported. It’s a well done book that illuminates a part of the history of World War II that, until his book, had not received much attention since the war concluded. Sides contacted many of the POWs and worked with them to gather information and put the story together. There is an interesting Q&A with the author on the Powell’s Books site that tells how he became interested in telling the story. The book received the 2002 PEN USA non-fiction award, and led to more than one television documentary. It is the partial basis for the 2005 film The Great Raid (which unfortunately was a box office bomb). RATING: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended to anyone with interest in the history of World War II. ei arvosteluja | lisää arvostelu
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Biography & Autobiography.
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HTML:NATIONAL BESTSELLER ? ??The greatest World War II story never told? (Esquire)??an enthralling account of the heroic mission to rescue the last survivors of the Bataan Death March. On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation. In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying Kirjastojen kuvailuja ei löytynyt. |
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Google Books — Ladataan... LajityypitMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.5425History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War II Campaigns and battles by theatreKongressin kirjaston luokitusArvio (tähdet)Keskiarvo:
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