Thomas F. (hardtack) -
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. But I will admit the extensive background of the missionaries, told in the first part of the book, was a bit too much. If I wasn't as interested in the Filipino guerrillas of WW II as I am, I probably wouldn't have continued reading it.
But I'm glad I did, as, after finishing with the introduction of the missionaries, the book really took off. In fact, some of the information on the guerrillas of Negros and Cebu was unknown to me and I have almost two full shelves of the books on this greatest guerrilla resistance in history.
The author also does a fine job tying in the Army POWs who escaped the Japanese and the fascinating accounts of the children of the missionaries and the guerrilla fighters.
Then he covers some of the naval actions which may have been highly influenced by the capture of the Japanese "Z Plan" documents. The story of the Japanese efforts to recover the loss of their Navy commander-in-chief and his staff was also very interesting. This bloody account resulted in one American guerrilla leader barginning with the Japanese to release captured senior Japanese officers in return for the Japanese to stop massacring hundreds of Filipino civilians.
The author also goes a very good job tying in the action of the U.S. submarine service and the men who served in it. Few know that one-fourth of all U.S. submariners died in the war. The submarines are part of the story as one took over 40 American civilians of the islands to safety, but almost didn't make it. That trip was a wonderful part of the book.
Finally, the author relates the stories surrounding all the characters in the book, even the Japanese, from before the war to after it. He does such a good job at this I felt I really got to know all these people.
I did question the author's statement about the PB4Y modified B-24s for U.S. Navy use. But I looked it up and found this was correct. However, on one page he refers to USMC PB4Ys as photo-reconnaissance aircraft, but all I could find was some PB4Ys were used by the Marines as transport aircraft.
If you are looking for WW II stories which aren't covered elsewhere, this is a book you should read.
But I'm glad I did, as, after finishing with the introduction of the missionaries, the book really took off. In fact, some of the information on the guerrillas of Negros and Cebu was unknown to me and I have almost two full shelves of the books on this greatest guerrilla resistance in history.
The author also does a fine job tying in the Army POWs who escaped the Japanese and the fascinating accounts of the children of the missionaries and the guerrilla fighters.
Then he covers some of the naval actions which may have been highly influenced by the capture of the Japanese "Z Plan" documents. The story of the Japanese efforts to recover the loss of their Navy commander-in-chief and his staff was also very interesting. This bloody account resulted in one American guerrilla leader barginning with the Japanese to release captured senior Japanese officers in return for the Japanese to stop massacring hundreds of Filipino civilians.
The author also goes a very good job tying in the action of the U.S. submarine service and the men who served in it. Few know that one-fourth of all U.S. submariners died in the war. The submarines are part of the story as one took over 40 American civilians of the islands to safety, but almost didn't make it. That trip was a wonderful part of the book.
Finally, the author relates the stories surrounding all the characters in the book, even the Japanese, from before the war to after it. He does such a good job at this I felt I really got to know all these people.
I did question the author's statement about the PB4Y modified B-24s for U.S. Navy use. But I looked it up and found this was correct. However, on one page he refers to USMC PB4Ys as photo-reconnaissance aircraft, but all I could find was some PB4Ys were used by the Marines as transport aircraft.
If you are looking for WW II stories which aren't covered elsewhere, this is a book you should read.
