No Uncle Sam: The Forgotten of Bataan

by Anton Bilek, Gene O'Connell

On April 9, 1942, Gen. Edward King, commander of the Fil-American forces in Bataan, surrendered to the Japanese.  To this day, it remains the largest American army in history to surrender, numbering more than 70,000 Filipinos and Americans.  After the surrender the Japanese marched their captives to different locations in what became known as the Death March, a 55-mile stretch from Mariveles, Bataan, to San Fernando, Pampanga.  Thousands of soldiers died in the march; some were shot by their captors and others succumbed to disease, starvation, or painful dehydration. Anton F. Bilek was only twenty-two years old when he was captured in Bataan.  No Uncle Sam is his story of survival through the Death March, his imprisonment under horrific conditions in the Philippines and Japan, and his servitude as a slave laborer in the Japanese coal mines.  Bilek addresses the frustration, anger, fear, humor, hope, and courage that he and other Americans shared during their captivity and their silence about these experiences for many years after their release from the POW camps.  After almost 40 years Bilek decided to write about his experiences, and this memoir is the result.  Those who are interested in history and the incredible resilience of human beings must read this tale of survival.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Luke]

This is one AMAZING book! These guys really did go thru hell! I would recommend this book to anyone. Especially a younger crowd. My generation (I was born in 1969) doesn't really have a grasp on what war time or war itself is like. Especially war in the 1940's. This author had dysentery, baribari, malaria. He was beaten, abused, left to die. He went thru it all and still lived to tell about it! I had the privilege of meeting this author and he is such a sweet, reserved guy. I can't imagine what it may have been like. Our easy lives in the country are indebted to men like him who went thru hell, just so we could enjoy freedom. A debt that we could never repay. This book is a MUST READ.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting memoir of a Bataan death march survivor. As the Japanese attacked military service members with little to no combat training were handed rifles and told they were now infantry and thrown into the front lines of battle. Over 72,000 allied troops surrendered to the Japanese. Only about 56,000 survived the death march. He experienced the POW camps in the Philippines and the slave camps in Japan where he was forced to mine coal for the Japanese. He saw the atom bomb explosion in Nagasaki. The author shares his harrowing experiences with sickness, watching comrades be murdered in front of him helpless to do anything about it, and the mindset it took to be a survivor. Grateful that after years of silence this soldier decided to tell his story so that those that did not survive could not be forgotten.

[Tom Mccutchan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book. Some of it is hard to get through because the authors paint a very visceral picture of some events. This is a special book because I worked with Tony's son. My copy is signed by the author, so it is staying on my shelf.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and I met with the author. Amazing story and man

[Chris "captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting first hand acount of the Bataan Death March

[Mr Crider · Rating 2 out of 5]

weird sad true but a very hard read