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Bataan Death March: A Survivor's Account
The hopeless yet determined resistance of American and Filipino forces against the Japanese invasion has made Bataan and Corregidor symbols of pride, but Bataan has a notorious darker side. After the U.S.-Filipino remnants surrendered to a far stronger force, they unwittingly placed themselves at the mercy of a foe who considered itself unimpaired by the Geneva Convention. The already ill and hungry survivors, including many wounded, were forced to march at gunpoint many miles to a harsh and oppressive POW camp; many were murdered or died on the way in a nightmare of wanton cruelty that has made the term "Death March" synonymous with the Bataan peninsula. Among the prisoners was army pilot William E. Dyess. With a few others, Dyess escaped from his POW camp and was among the very first to bring reports of the horrors back to a shocked United States. His story galvanized the nation and remains one of the most powerful personal narratives of American fighting men. Stanley L. Falk provides a scene-setting introduction for this Bison Books edition. William E. Dyess was born in Albany, Texas. As a young army air forces pilot he was shipped to Manila in the spring of 1941. Shortly after his escape and return to the United States, Colonel Dyess was killed while testing a new airplane. He did not survive long enough to learn that he had been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 6, 2017
1.5 stars
Just really, really, really not my style of book. It's told from a soldier's account, so the description of his days and activities was very monotone and this book lacked a lot of depth and personality. It was brutal and important to recognize the tragedy he experienced, but this book was just incredibly racist, even though that was the normal attitude toward the Japanese during WWII. Additionally, I was just really shaken and disappointed at the attitude of "As soon as we escape, we're gonna re-enlist to get revenge!" I disagreed with the entire concept, and although I sympathize with the struggles they went through, I really didn't enjoy the callous and condescending voice of Dyess.
(Also i'm so confused why we're reading non-fiction in a literature course???)
Just really, really, really not my style of book. It's told from a soldier's account, so the description of his days and activities was very monotone and this book lacked a lot of depth and personality. It was brutal and important to recognize the tragedy he experienced, but this book was just incredibly racist, even though that was the normal attitude toward the Japanese during WWII. Additionally, I was just really shaken and disappointed at the attitude of "As soon as we escape, we're gonna re-enlist to get revenge!" I disagreed with the entire concept, and although I sympathize with the struggles they went through, I really didn't enjoy the callous and condescending voice of Dyess.
(Also i'm so confused why we're reading non-fiction in a literature course???)
May 15, 2014
Three weeks ago I was priviledged to meet a Bataan Death March survivor in his 90's which inspired me into reading this book. Not many of these guys are left and I probably won't have the honor to meet another one.
This was an excellent WWII tale of survival to complete on the 69th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy and the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Midway (the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier was struck by Japanese torpedoes on June 6, 1942 and ultimately sank the next day on June 7th). After the Allied defenders of the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in Manila Bay, Philippines capitulated to the Empire of the Sun, the captives were marched in the blazing tropical sun over 80 miles north to various POW camps without food or water. Many horrible and inhumane deaths occurred because of the atrocities committed by the soldiers of Imperialistic Japan. Lt. Colonel Dyess, a native of Texas, was a P-40 Warhawk pilot who survived the Bataan Death March and ultimately escaped from the Japanese POW prison system in the Filipino Archipelago. The account he wrote here was the first time the American public was introduced to the Japanese atrocities of WWII when published in January 1944, over a year-and-a-half BEFORE Japan's unconditional surrender in September 1945. The story is still as powerful today as it was when first put into print 70 years ago. Ironically, the author didn't live to see the impact his story had in America. He died shortly before Christmas 1943 at the age of 27 while test flying a new P-38 Lightning fighter at Lockheed's aeronautical engineering facility in Burbank, CA. Dyess would ultimately receive the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.
I highly recommend to anyone, history buff or not, to read Dyess' story. After reading a book like this, if anyone brings up the argument "we shouldn't have dropped the bomb on Japan," you can legitimately retort with the comment: "kiss my a-- and go f--- yourself." Afterall, General Doolittle claimed the following sentiment in his autobiography: we shouldn't feel guilty for having used atomic energy against Japan, for it saved more lives by avoiding a bloodbath with an invasion of their homeland.
This was an excellent WWII tale of survival to complete on the 69th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy and the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Midway (the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier was struck by Japanese torpedoes on June 6, 1942 and ultimately sank the next day on June 7th). After the Allied defenders of the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in Manila Bay, Philippines capitulated to the Empire of the Sun, the captives were marched in the blazing tropical sun over 80 miles north to various POW camps without food or water. Many horrible and inhumane deaths occurred because of the atrocities committed by the soldiers of Imperialistic Japan. Lt. Colonel Dyess, a native of Texas, was a P-40 Warhawk pilot who survived the Bataan Death March and ultimately escaped from the Japanese POW prison system in the Filipino Archipelago. The account he wrote here was the first time the American public was introduced to the Japanese atrocities of WWII when published in January 1944, over a year-and-a-half BEFORE Japan's unconditional surrender in September 1945. The story is still as powerful today as it was when first put into print 70 years ago. Ironically, the author didn't live to see the impact his story had in America. He died shortly before Christmas 1943 at the age of 27 while test flying a new P-38 Lightning fighter at Lockheed's aeronautical engineering facility in Burbank, CA. Dyess would ultimately receive the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.
I highly recommend to anyone, history buff or not, to read Dyess' story. After reading a book like this, if anyone brings up the argument "we shouldn't have dropped the bomb on Japan," you can legitimately retort with the comment: "kiss my a-- and go f--- yourself." Afterall, General Doolittle claimed the following sentiment in his autobiography: we shouldn't feel guilty for having used atomic energy against Japan, for it saved more lives by avoiding a bloodbath with an invasion of their homeland.
August 20, 2008
May be hard for some to read. Very vivid. I was crying at times and sick to my stomach at others. An amazing piece of history.
December 24, 2013
It was really nice to read his personal account of what happened. Helped top of Escape from Davao nicely. Definitely want to reread again soon.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews