What I’m reading – Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

I’m rereading an oldie but a goodie titled Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. As much as I like the book, I’m surprised I’ve never reviewed it before.

So, what’s it about? Picture it.

The setting: a few hundred men in a backwoods POW camp in the Philippines. These men are among the survivors of the Bataan Death March. Most of them are too sick to be of much use to the Japanese, even as slave labor.

Complication: We’ve invaded. The Japanese forces know the writing is on the wall. And they’ve already begun killing their POWs.

Solution: Send a company of Rangers in behind enemy lines to save these men.

Almost sounds like something Tom Clancy would have dreamed up. But he didn’t.

Every word in the book is true, from the march into captivity, to the rescue by the Rangers, to the return to American lines in ox-drawn carts.

Now, what I like about it. There’s very little in this book you’ll find in the history texts. Why? Because it’s about people. From the men in the camp, to a courageous woman outside the wire who risked her life to help them, to the men who went in and rescued them.

These are stories of people up to their eyebrows in something amazing. Much of it is based on interviews with the people involved or research through old records. It’s an incredible piece of work and a must-read for any student of World War II.