Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Hampton Sides
Language: English
Pages: 384
ISBN: 038549565X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.
In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.
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Company Ranger named Teddy Richardson leapt up from the ditch, bounded across the road, and tried to bash open the padlock on the gate with the butt of his tommy gun. This proved impractical, so he fished out a .45 automatic pistol from his side holster with the intention of blasting the lock open. Just as he drew this weapon, however, a Japanese guard from within the compound managed to raise his rifle and fire at Richardson. Judging by the muzzle flame, the assailant appeared to be only thirty
this person must be an American prisoner, so they lowered their weapons. Then the figure wheeled about and took off toward the enemy quarters yelling frantically in Japanese. Realizing it was a ruse (Americans fighting in New Guinea and Guadalcanal had often encountered Japanese soldiers speaking snippets of convincing English to confuse GIs and thus buy a few precious seconds in tight situations), the two Rangers opened fire and dropped the imposter in his tracks. Following the camp’s central
thanked the lieutenant for his many kindnesses and then said goodbye. The guards had separated the officers from enlisted men and grouped them together in order to interrogate them about various war plans and installations. The Japanese were especially interested in confirming a rumor that had apparently taken on mythological proportions within the Imperial Army—that there was a secret tunnel connecting Corregidor to Bataan. Individual questioning went on much of the morning, and then later in
was iffier. By then he wondered whether he’d be just another gimp, as lame as the POWs he was supposed to be leading to safety. Gingerly, he slipped his socks and boots back on, keeping his secret to himself. One of the Balincarin Filipinas approached Prince and offered him a rare treat: a chicken egg. Like everyone else, the captain had grown weary of canned and reconstituted Army food. He accepted the gift with profuse thanks but then wondered what to do with it. The egg was raw, and none of
hit the floor in a cluster. The explosion blasted off the stern of the Oryoku Maru and ignited a fire in the hold. Some two hundred men died instantly. “After the impact of the explosion,” Taylor remembered, “a hail of falling debris and planks rained down on us. Then there was a moment of complete silence, not a scream or a moan, when everything seemed to be over.” Semiconscious, Taylor struggled to his feet and inspected his wounds. He’d taken a piece of shrapnel in his hip and one in his
