After America’s harbor in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, was bombed, the United States decided to enter World War II, and a new theater, or area, of battle opened up in the Pacific Ocean.
But United States’ troops, along with thousands of Filipino soldiers who fought alongside them, were overtaken in the Philippines by a fiercely determined Japanese navy, and many Americans and Filipino fighters were killed or captured.
These American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) were forced to endure the most horrific conditions on the deadly trek known as the Bataan Death March. Then, the American servicemen who were held captive by the Japanese military in Cabanatuan Camp and others in the Philippines, faced beatings, starvation, and tropical diseases. They lived under the constant threat of death.
The US Army Rangers were unable to forget their comrades’ fate and concerned that these POWs would be brutally murdered as the tides of war shifted in the Pacific. So they undertook one of the most daring and dangerous rescue missions of all time. They were aided by the “Angels of the Underground,” the Sixth Ranger Battalion and courageous Filipino guerrilla soldiers. Together they set out on an uncertain and treacherous assignment. Often called the Great Raid, this remarkable story, however, remains largely forgotten.
Award–winning author Deborah Hopkinson presents an extraordinary and unflinching look at the heroic servicemen and women who courageously weathered the worst of circumstances and conditions in service to their country, as well as those who answered the call to save their fellow soldiers.
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“Introductory military music sets the tone, and Ramon de Ocampo speaks in a style reminiscent of radio broadcasters of the day. When the US surrendered the Philippines to the Japanese, most Americans there became POWs. De Ocampo delivers their many direct quotes with stoicism and fortitude and provides expert pronunciations of Filipino names and locations. The book culminates in the daring rescue attempt to save prisoners.”
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