Conduct Under Fire: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945

by John A. Glusman

The fierce, bloody battles of Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines are legendary in the annals of World War II. Those who survived faced the horrors of life as prisoners of the Japanese.

In Conduct Under Fire, John A. Glusman chronicles these events through the eyes of his father, Murray, and three fellow navy doctors captured on Corregidor in May 1942. Here are the dramatic stories of the fall of Bataan, the siege of “the Rock,” and the daily struggles to tend the sick, wounded, and dying during some of the heaviest bombardments of World War II. Here also is the desperate war doctors and corpsmen waged against disease and starvation amid an enemy that viewed surrender as a disgrace. To survive, the POWs functioned as a family. But the ties that bind couldn’t protect them from a ruthless counteroffensive waged by American submarines or from the B-29 raids that burned Japan’s major cities to the ground. Based on extensive interviews with American, British, Australian, and Japanese veterans, as well as diaries, letters, and war crimes testimony, this is a harrowing account of a brutal clash of cultures, of a race war that escalated into total war.

Like Flags of Our Fathers and Ghost Soldiers, Conduct Under Fire is a story of bravery on the battlefield and ingenuity behind barbed wire, one that reveals the long shadow the war cast on the lives of those who fought it.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, American History, Medicine

608 pages, Hardcover

First published May 3, 2005

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative non-fiction war novel. As a Filipino, I recommend this book to all who would like to know what really happened during World War II in the Pacific. There are no exact words to describe how I really felt while reading this book. I took me 2 weeks (along with another fiction) to finish reading this because I savored each word as I would really want to understand the events that happened especially in the places mentioned in the book such as Corregidor, Bataan, Mariveles, Cabanatuan and Bilibid. The story is centered on the lives of 4 American doctors who got caught in the war but the author also mentioned some valiant yet unsung Filipinos who suffered more than the other races. For my takeaways, I learned and primarily struck by the following:
(1) President Roosevelt, who was then the US President, intentionally prioritized the war in Europe "Europe First" so Philippines suffered in the hands of the Japanese for 3 years waiting for MacArthur to fulfill his promise when he said "I shall return" aboard the submarine that left Corregidor silently after the fall of Bataan.
(2) The savagery of Japanese was unspeakable. They violated the Geneva war agreement of not bombing hospitals with the Red Cross sign visible atop its roof.
(3) Many soldiers in Bataan died of malaria and other diseases - Filipinos, American and Japanese included.
(4) Dengue was still not fatal during that time. Now it is killing a lot of Filipinos all year round.
(5) I had been in Corregidor once and now I appreciate more what really happened in Malinta Tunnel. How they hid from the Japanese bombs that they defecated, urinated, starve and died inside the tunnel. It is so depressing.
(6) The "kuwan" (written: quan) almost became an English term during the time in Bilibid just like "bundok" was adopted in English as "boondock" or mountain.
(7) That the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war and saved more lives than if it was not done and the savagery of Japan continued for more days or months. This is contrary to what I felt when I read John Heshey's Hiroshima a couple of months back.
I have been to Japan thrice and I casually mentioned to a collegue my parents' tales of cruelty by Japanese army during the war (my mother and father were 7 and 6 years old when this happened). He mentioned that all of those might not be true as historians tend to exaggerate.
Whether true or not, the monuments and the actual places in Corrigedor and Bataan speak for themselves. They are the living testaments of what really happened. I also like the way Glusman puts it: "Morality is the first victim of war." In other words, war is not right.

[Jennifer Bohnhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long and powerful narrative on the lives of four doctors who joined the military during World War II and were sent to the Philippines. Glusman, the son of one of the doctors, follows them through the Japanese invasion, the battle for Corregidor, the horrors of POW camps, the doctors' removal to Japan, the end of the war, and its aftermath. He provides thought provoking information on how U.S. policy affected reparations to POWs and how the harrowing experience of these men have been overshadowed by both the Holocaust and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is an important story, and I'm grateful Glusman told it.

[Seth Augenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underappreciated history.

[Bob Clover]

One of the very best books about ww11 in the pacific. Hard to put this book down and mr. glusman describes everything plus to keep your attention.. Highly recommended for all war history buffs.

[Anthony Bracciante · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the remarkable account of 4 US Navy doctors that survived the battle for Bataan and were captured during the surrender of Corregidor in the Philippines. It tells of their ordeal in surviving imprisonment by the Japanese and their heroic efforts to save the lives of their patients. Ultimately, one of the doctors lost his life to an American submarine as did over 10,000 Allied prisoners who were transported in unmarked freighters known as "hell ships" sunk by the US Navy submarines. The japanese made no efforts to rescue these prisoners when the ships were sunk and in some cases machine gunned survivors in the water. The fire raids against Japan are fully detailed as the 3 surviving doctors bore witness to the destruction of Kobe where they were held prisoners. The question is raised about the morality of using atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.. The author who is the son of one of the doctors concludes with a discussions of the trials of Japanese war criminals. He discusses how Japan was never made to pay the same level of reparations that Germany was even after the atrocities japan committed against the people of China, Korea and Southeast Asia.

[Lorrie Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew enough about the war in the Philippines, then I read this book! I actually knew very little. This is an eye-opening, honest account of four Navy doctors taken prisoner by the Japaneses and their stories of pain, suffering and survival but also their courageous ability to carry out the daunting task of attempting to treat their fellow POW's under unbelievable conditions. Wonderful book and something I will never forget which gave me a better understanding of the actions of both sides.

[Camden Alvarado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a tie between not good and really good, my reason being that the whole idea of transitioning to different retrospectives isn't something I like. But even though I disliked the that part of the book it was a very good reed.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the courage and tenacity these four American POWs had despite the torture and suffering they experienced at the hands of the Japanese. It definitely gave me a unique perspective on the physical and nutritional aspects of surviving prisoner of war camps.

[Maryjane Nordgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intricately researched, detailed account following four Navy physicians who became POW in the Philippines and endured three and half years of captivity. At times Glusman's journalism approach was instrumental in the reader being able to take in the horror of their reality.

[Donna Herrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of American POWs in the Pacific during WWII. Fascinating, horrifying

[Hélène · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about war and the treatment endured by POWs is a lesson about remembering not to constantly complain about life's everyday discomforts. What humanity is capable of inflicting on others is deeply disturbing. NO MORE WAR

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a family relative who was an American Marine who fought in the Pacific war in WWII. He was captured at Corregidor and spent over 3 years as a POW of the Japanese, first in the Philippines and then later in Japan where he was used as a slave laborer during his captivity.

This book mirrors much of what must have been the same path as my family relative.

If I could give the books more stars, I would. I recommend it very very highly. We know much about Germany and Hitler and the Nazis and the Concentration camps and the Holocaust. But how much do we know about the Pacific Holocaust? Because Holocaust it was.

The Germans killed 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The Japanese killed 17 million people in WWII, Chinese and Philippino and then Americans and British and Australians and all those nationalities who fought with the Allies. Germany has made war reparations to POW's and their families. Japan has paid 1% of the amount that Germany has paid. Germany has apologized for the Holocaust, and has mandated that the Holocaust is taught in all German history books. Japan has never apologized to the POW's it used for slave labor, and references to the Bataan Death March or the Burmese Railway are not covered in most Japanese history books.

American POW's in Japanese camps experienced a 34 to 37% mortality rate.
American POW's in Mediterranean camps experienced less than a 1% mortality.

In comparison, German POW's in Russian camps experienced a 45% mortality rate, and Russian POW's in German camps experienced a 60% mortality rate.

American POW's in Japanese camps were more than twice as likely to die within 2 years of liberation than other WWII vets.

Being an American POW in Japan for 3 years added 10 to 15 years to a man's age.

These facts I found sobering, and sad.

The author speculates on the different morality approaches between the Germans and how they handled the wrong they did, and the Japanese and the wrong they did. Germans have a "guilt based" morality. They did evil, they have apologized and paid reparations and made an effort to "make things right". They mark places in their country where atrocities happened... they try to teach their history and not gloss over the evil.

Japanese have a "shame based" morality. There is no avenue for apology or reparations, because if you lose face the only option is suicide. You repay for the shame you have brought on yourself and your country and your emperor only by killing yourself. Japan has no places marked in their country that mark the POW camps where Allied POW's were used for slave labor. They have erased that part of history, and do not teach it.

[Davina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this via Audiobook, and I picked up an abridged version, so perhaps, some of my concerns would be addressed in the abridged edition. It wasn't until the very end that I saw what the book was actually about. The title speaks of 4 doctors, yet I felt them disappear often in to the larger narratives of the war, the POW at large, and really missed them. I wanted to know and understand these men, and felt like I had so few glimpses of them. This book seems really to have been written by a son of one of the doctors to make sense of it all. In the end, he speaks of the role of teacher changing hands. That is the father is the teacher of his own narrative and the son is the teacher of the broader context. I'm always challenged by these stories, because I do understand the Japanese cultural context for the brutality, yet, Japan was a signatory of the 1929 Geneva Convention. I do appreciate that the author let the brutality and the kindnesses come through on their own. It's an interesting book. It seems to me there a number of books more dramatic or more in depth.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of this book seemed simple and compelling---the story of four doctors who were Japanese prisoners during World War II. Unfortunately, this was a terribly confusing book. For example, there so many people involved as part of the narrative, I still didn't know at page 150 who the four doctors were; I also found myself continually referring to the index to try and figure out exactly who was who in this book.

Also, the author decided to include a comprehensive history of World War II as part of the book. Do we really need to read yet another re-telling of War Plan Orange, or the history of the Phillipines? It was not neccesary in this particular book.

The recipe for a book like this isn't magical; simply tell us about their experiences. Unfortunately, the author couldn't accomplish that simple task.

[Tony Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gripping chronicle of courage in captivity, of sacrifice and survival, Conduct Under Fire recounts the fierce, bloody battles of Bataan and Corregidor through the eyes of the author's father and three fellow navy doctors taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942. During their three and a half years of imprisonment, the doctors struggled daily against disease and starvation, fighting for their own lives as well as the lives of their fellow prisoners. Based on extensive interviews with American, British, Australian, and Japanese veterans, as well as diaries, letters, and war crimes testimony, Conduct Under Fire is an unforgettable account of bravery and ingenuity, one that reveals the long shadow the war cast on the lives of those who fought it.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book loosely follows the stories of four doctors from there arrival in the Philippines on the eve of war, through the battles of Bataan and Corregidor and captivity in Bilibid prison and the Cabanatuan prison camp, and aboard death ships to further captivity in Japan. There was a lot of very interesting detail. Much that was new to me related to their time in Japan and the trials of trying to practice medicine in such dire circumstances.

As previously mention it would have been nice if the story kept closer to the main narrative and did not try to provide as much general background to the war in the Philippines. I never got chance to get a feel for the four Doctor's as individuals.

If you have a strong interest in the Pacific war or military medicine, you should read this book.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was not enough meat. It felt like the book of Genesis in the Bible, "he begat them and they begat some more." I understand it's non-fiction, but I'm waiting for the action. I warmed up to the book about halfway through, once the Japanese had captured the island. And honestly, I struggle to justify that I couldn't get into the book until the action started- am I just a thrill-seeking, unaware, comfortable Millennial with no respect for the suffering of the past? It did a good job making me aware of the scale of the conflict and made me question my understanding of its consequences, so I guess it did what it was supposed to do.

[Megargee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Hillenbrand wrote Undaunted, Glassman chronicled the experiences of four four US Navy physicians (one Glassman's father) who were captured when Corregidor fell and were imprisoned in Japanese prison camps throughout WW II. A history, it has an index and is heavily annotated, which I like.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will finish listening to this book today (4/25/07). It's been a fascinating account of surviving as a P.O.W. during WWII. Neither side is spared examination... but I came away more convinced that dropping the A-Bombs saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mans inhumanity to man. Very good! Long but not tedious at all.

[Joe]

Very slow and boring.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

KInd of a rambling tale of Dr's in WW2 under Japanese as POW 's