Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Product ID: 76017990
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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 conditions. Review: Good book. - It's a good book. in the beginning it gets confusing, especially if you are not tracking dates. But overall, a good write-up on Pacific war. Worth reading Review: Great historical rescue of POWs Bataan WW2 from Japanese prison camp. - Hampton Sides has wrote a great historical true story of the US Army Rangers, scouts and Filipino resistance fighters rescuing POWs captured at Bataan and others from the monstrous horrible Japanese prison/death camp Cabanaantuan in WW2 Philippines. The 342 page book was a page burner, exciting and extremely informative. The reader has an enjoyable learning experience that is exciting and fast paced. No boring parts. I read it in 2 days. Could not put it down. The reader learns about the Bataan death march and how the US prisoners and a few foreigners were tortured, used as slave labor, given almost no food ( a little rice now and then. They killed and ate what small animals they could ( rats, snakes etc...later they were able to grow vegetables in a garden)and allowed to get all kinds of diseases and vitamin deficiencies. Their bodies are recked with diseases from many parasites and dysentery from human and animal feces and urine contact. Almost no sanitation facilities. We see the Japanese as cruel monsters that killed some of the prisoners for pleasure and thought of them as non humans. Killing and torture are the norm. Hampton does show a very few Japanese that treated the prisoners with a slight degree of compassion. The US Army is in full swing with MacArthur and soldiers returning and taking back the Philippines with Filipino resistance fighter help. Because of this we see the Japanese taking over a thousand of the prisoners out of the prison camp to be shipped to Japan as slaves. The rest of the prisoners are non productive with many diseases and unable to work. US intelligence believes the remainder of the prisoners will be executed. We see a spy "High Pockets" an American women working at her bar/dance establishment giving US intelligence information about Japanese ship movements and troop placements. The prisoners had been in prison three years and they believed America had forgotten them, until the Rangers break into the camp to save them. A group of US Army rangers led by Lt. Colonial Mucci and Captain Prince with the help from scouts and Filipino resistance fighters storm the camp, kill the remaining Japanese there and free the prisoners. We see the firefight and the over 15 mile trip toward US lines using Philippine cattle and carts to carry the men that can not walk. Many of the saved POW weigh only 100 lbs and have lost their teeth, hair,eye sight, and have sores all over their bodies with different disabilities due to disease, parasites and vitamin deficiency. They are walking and non walking skeletons. I won't ruin the ending. Just say that the reader will get a deep empathy with the tortured prisoners and really praise the Rangers, scouts and Filipino resistance fighters for saving them. This is a true WW2 story and a history that should be shown so all will remember the atrocities committed on POWs. This has happened before and after. Will humankind ever stop the inhuman treatment of POWs, end wars forever or is it in the inner nature of humankind to kill each other? A very enlightening book. 5 stars
| Best Sellers Rank | #255,351 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #886 in United States History (Books) #1,689 in Military History (Books) #9,497 in Biographies & Autobiographies (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 8,036 Reviews |
P**N
Good book.
It's a good book. in the beginning it gets confusing, especially if you are not tracking dates. But overall, a good write-up on Pacific war. Worth reading
T**N
Great historical rescue of POWs Bataan WW2 from Japanese prison camp.
Hampton Sides has wrote a great historical true story of the US Army Rangers, scouts and Filipino resistance fighters rescuing POWs captured at Bataan and others from the monstrous horrible Japanese prison/death camp Cabanaantuan in WW2 Philippines. The 342 page book was a page burner, exciting and extremely informative. The reader has an enjoyable learning experience that is exciting and fast paced. No boring parts. I read it in 2 days. Could not put it down. The reader learns about the Bataan death march and how the US prisoners and a few foreigners were tortured, used as slave labor, given almost no food ( a little rice now and then. They killed and ate what small animals they could ( rats, snakes etc...later they were able to grow vegetables in a garden)and allowed to get all kinds of diseases and vitamin deficiencies. Their bodies are recked with diseases from many parasites and dysentery from human and animal feces and urine contact. Almost no sanitation facilities. We see the Japanese as cruel monsters that killed some of the prisoners for pleasure and thought of them as non humans. Killing and torture are the norm. Hampton does show a very few Japanese that treated the prisoners with a slight degree of compassion. The US Army is in full swing with MacArthur and soldiers returning and taking back the Philippines with Filipino resistance fighter help. Because of this we see the Japanese taking over a thousand of the prisoners out of the prison camp to be shipped to Japan as slaves. The rest of the prisoners are non productive with many diseases and unable to work. US intelligence believes the remainder of the prisoners will be executed. We see a spy "High Pockets" an American women working at her bar/dance establishment giving US intelligence information about Japanese ship movements and troop placements. The prisoners had been in prison three years and they believed America had forgotten them, until the Rangers break into the camp to save them. A group of US Army rangers led by Lt. Colonial Mucci and Captain Prince with the help from scouts and Filipino resistance fighters storm the camp, kill the remaining Japanese there and free the prisoners. We see the firefight and the over 15 mile trip toward US lines using Philippine cattle and carts to carry the men that can not walk. Many of the saved POW weigh only 100 lbs and have lost their teeth, hair,eye sight, and have sores all over their bodies with different disabilities due to disease, parasites and vitamin deficiency. They are walking and non walking skeletons. I won't ruin the ending. Just say that the reader will get a deep empathy with the tortured prisoners and really praise the Rangers, scouts and Filipino resistance fighters for saving them. This is a true WW2 story and a history that should be shown so all will remember the atrocities committed on POWs. This has happened before and after. Will humankind ever stop the inhuman treatment of POWs, end wars forever or is it in the inner nature of humankind to kill each other? A very enlightening book. 5 stars
W**S
... it could B a blockbuster film it is as good a book as I hav
This book is fab it could B a blockbuster film it is as good a book as I hav read
C**S
A must read by every war history buff!
An awesome account of just one small episode of the war between the U.S. and Japan during WW2. It is probably the best written true story account of a single WW2 action I have ever read! It documents of how a relatively small group of U.S. Military Rangers, in spite of great enemy odds against them, captured an entire P.O.W. camp and rescued over 600 U.S. and allied personnell. And they did it with a bare minimum of casualties to themselves or to those being rescued while inflicting huge losses on the enemy! The story also gives full credit to those of the local population who assisted the rescuers in their mission as well as to those rescued! It should be a must read by everyone as it recounts the best of mankind in a time when mankind was at its worse! I guarantee, read the first paragraph and you'll not put the book down until you've read the last sentence of the last paragraph of the book! Yes, it is written that inspiring and that good! To the few soldiers who willingly paid the supreme price in this heroic effort I say, "Greater love hath no man than he who lays down his life for his friends!" God bless them one and all, rescuers and rescued!
D**Y
A Great read.
Interesting read.
D**T
An exciting true life story.
The book was in mint condition and the story was very well written. I finished it in one sitting.
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
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