Reddit reviews Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

Gruesome comes in different levels. If you haven't, I'd suggest reading into the treatment of prisoners of war at Japanese camps. Ghost Soldiers or really anything about the veterans of Bataan should give you an idea.

Pacific Theater:

Ghost Soldiers

Flyboys

There's a great book that details the lives of these POWs and what they went through before being rescued.

In particular, it's about the Bataan Death March, how those soldiers were placed in prison camps, and their eventual rescue. I don't normally consider myself a history buff, nor do I usually read non-fiction, but this book is the exception to that. Absolutely must check it out.

Thanks for posting!

For those interested, read the book Ghost Soldiers which covers the internment and eventual raid & rescue of these POWs.

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission https://www.amazon.com/dp/038549565X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FfkGDbDF5HWJ6

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416580514/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xhkGDbR6PKMNJ

Probably my two favorite and inspirational stories about our Brothers.

Six Frigates Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TK0TJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_sjkGDbWMAAEA7

Is also pretty interesting if you like Squidly stuff.

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue

by: Hampton Sides

It's a great book about soldiers who where left behind when MacArthur bailed on them in the Philippines. The book takes accounts from survivors. By the end of the book you will thoroughly hate "dugout Doug". Do a google search for "Dugout Doug".

When he left his troops in the Philippines, he did so because the president ordered him to do so. That wasn't much of an excuse because throughout his career he constantly bucked the authority of those above him and didn't follow orders from the president on multiple occasions when he didn't agree. He earned the nickname "dugout Doug" because at the first sign of bombardment he would high tail it to his bunker and rarely came out while his troops defended the peninsula. He told his men to fight to the end and then bailed at the first opportunity. Ask any soldier if they would leave their joes, they will all tell you never, presidential order or not. Also this blurb from Wikipedia pretty much sums up this asshole...

>On 1 January 1942, MacArthur accepted $500,000 from President Quezon of the Philippines as payment for his pre-war service. MacArthur's staff members also received payments: $75,000 for Sutherland, $45,000 for Richard Marshall, and $20,000 for Huff. Eisenhower—after being appointed Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF)—was also offered money by Quezon, but declined. These payments were known only to a few in Manila and Washington, including President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, until they were made public by historian Carol Petillo in 1979. The revelation tarnished MacArthur's reputation.

He wanted to nuke China during the Korean war. Harry Truman wouldn't let him though. The guy was a grade A asshat and coward.

Ghost Soldiers is one of my absolutely favorite books.

It most definitely was

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Soldiers-Account-Greatest-Mission/dp/038549565X

One of the better accounts of POW's in the Pacific. Mostly because a large percentage of them were killed/otherwise disposed of when the war was in its closing days, which the book goes into the account of. Most of these men were prisoners from the earliest days of WWII, and held by an enemy who considered surrender in battle to be the ultimate dishonor.