Publisher Description
In the bleak and bitter cold of a copper mine in northern Japan, a Chief Petty Officer of the U.S. Navy was given an opportunity to write a prisoner-of-war card for his wife. He was allowed ten words—he used three: “I AM ALIVE!” This message, classic in its poignancy of suffering and despair captures only too well what it meant to be a prisoner of the Japanese Army.
Now, acclaimed military historian Major Bruce Norton USMC (Ret.) brings to light a long-forgotten memoir by a marine captured at Corregidor in the spring of 1942 and interned for three devastating years by the Japanese. With unflinching prose, the words of Marine Sergeant Major Charles Jackson describe the fierce yet impossible battle for Corregidor, the surrender of thousands of his comrades, the long forced marches, and the lethal reality of the P.O.W. camps. Joining some of the most important eyewitness accounts of war, I AM ALIVE! is a testament to the men who fought and died for their country. Jackson’s unembellished account of what his fellow soldiers endured in the face of inhumanity pays tribute to the men who served America during the war—and shows why we would ultimately prevail.
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About the Authors
Charles R. Jackson was born in Virginia in 1898. After receiving a degree in civil engineering, he attended West Point, graduated, and served in the US Army until he resigned in 1925. He enrolled in the US Marine Corps as a private in 1927. During World War II, Jackson was captured on Corregidor and spent more than three years in Japanese prison camps. Besides receiving a Purple Heart and a Gold Star, he had the distinction of receiving a Silver Star for valor from the US Army.
Major Bruce H. ‘Doc’ Norton, USMC (Ret.) has been a combat veteran, a career Marine Infantry Officer, a military museum director, and an adjunct military history professor, and is an award-winning author of numerous books on and about the United States Marines.
About John Henry Cox
John Henry Cox is an actor and voice-over artist with many film, television, theater, and audiobook credits to his name. He has worked at such notable theaters as Circle in the Square, Cherry Lane Theatre, and the Public Theatre, and he has appeared in numerous New York Shakespeare Theatre festival performances. His film credits include Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and The Siege with Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, and Annette Bening.