HomeBooksGhost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission |
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 Fascinating Aug 23, 2010
I am not even someone who is fascinated by war stories but this account is so well written and engaging and heart rending that you can not put it down.
When David Halberstam died I figured that was the end of greatest non-fiction story teller ever, until I picked up this book. Mr. Sides recounts a story in the same manner, giving background history, personal anecdotes and histories. Everything he writes about engages you completely. this story, aside from being an amazing part of history, but personal and military, is so well told you can not stop reading and crave for more at the end.
I can't recommend this book enough.
 History we tend to forget Aug 03, 2010
The Pacific theater of WWII is usually forgotten when WWII is discussed. A terrific novel which tells some of the story.
Philippines war zone. Jul 22, 2010
Absolutely engrossing and vivid picture of suffering, cruelty and tragedy of war...war between two empires on the neutral ground. This is classic and together with "Ship of Ghosts" will present quite powerful description of Pacific WWII and fate of captured American POWs.
One to Remember Jun 22, 2010
Before you start reading this book make sure you are free for the next few days. Once you start you will not stop until it's finished. The author somehow is able to trap so many emotions around war into each few pages. And the story is believable, yet incredible. Bringing all of these pieces together is rarely this well done. Overall the story and writing are really way above other books in its class. The only novel that seems to come close in terms of a great war drama, with memorable scenes, is the Naked and the Dead.
a triumph of the human spirit over the most daunting of odds May 20, 2010
GHOST SOLDIERS: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission, by Hampton Sides (356 pgs., 2001). As an amateur historian & a lover of American History, it was a shock to learn about this incredible episode in American military history & how little remembered it is in our history books. It shamed & surprised me that nothing of this heroic rescue mission was ever taught in any of my Social Studies or American History classes, from elementary school right through High School & on through University, even including seminar classes. Some of the historical silence may be traced back to the men themselves. As the author wrote in his Acknowledgments section, "The men of Bataan are famous for their iron reticence. They're stoics. Seldom in our history has such a large group of men endured so much and complained so little."
This book is about the largest rescue mission of POWs during wartime in the history of the U. S. armed forces. On January 28, 1945, 121 specially chosen U. S. Army Rangers slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. They marched thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs, mostly American soldiers from near certain death in a hellish Japanese prison camp. The majority of those rescued included the last survivors of the dreaded Bataan Death March. Joining the Rangers were 280 native Filipino guerilla fighters. During the actual rescue, over 1,000 Japanese soldiers were killed. There were four deaths on the American side. Two were POWs who were simply too far gone & died soon after rescue. Two were Rangers, including their surgeon. The Filipinos suffered no deaths & had 24-wounded. After this fight, the Rangers & their Filipino allies, still had to cart & hand carry over 500 now former POWs back to the American lines. Thankfully, in the three days it took to complete the mission the Americans had pushed their lines ten miles further, so the rescuers now had to "only" travel twenty miles to freedom, instead of the original thirty.
This was a huge story & celebrated all across the U.S., when it happened. Journalists of that time wrote that this story would be remembered as long as history is taught. This rescue would be celebrated as a triumph of good over evil, of the human spirit to survive in the face of the most daunting of odds, & of our determination to risk all to save those who had already sacrificed so much. However, the battles for Iwo Jima & Okinawa and the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki soon eclipsed the story of this rescue & it faded from public consciousness. We remember a foolish suicidal blunder by Custer & a heroic & suicidal stand by the Spartans; yet, we do not remember & cherish this rescue which ended in triumph for those rescued & those doing the rescuing. Above all it ended with the triumph of all of humanity's good qualities over it's negative & evil qualities.
Did this book push this tremendous episode of U.S. history back to the forefront of American public consciousness? Sadly, the answer must be no. This book was published in 2001. It is now 2010 & only now has this story entered into my private consciousness. Why does the public crave to celebrate the inanities of life when altruistic & heroic episodes like this are left to wither on the vine of history & of public memory?
The men who were rescued had survived the infamous Bataan Death March. Much has been written about this march. The author explains how this came about in gruesome detail. The survivors of that march who lived long enough to see this rescue had survived three years of living hell & torture at the hands of their Japanese captors.
Sides details these horrors with graphic & explicit words; but he does try to present a fair & balanced picture & even details some acts of kindness from some individual Japanese soldiers. Nevertheless, no balanced or nuanced narrative can ever diminish the horrors these POWs survived. Once the Americans re-landed in the Philippines, they made it their mission to rescue these POWs & free this camp.
This story is celebrated in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in Fort Benning, Georgia. It needs to be celebrated & remembered & brought back in the public consciousness of the American people.
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