Post by beirutvet on Mar 25, 2021 9:40:48 GMT 8
'Bataan and Beyond' by John S. Coleman
This is a rather concise and well written book by someone who was not only there but kept journals to aid in his recollections.
Captain John Coleman was in the Army Air corps attached to the 27th Materiel Squadron. So on the second day of the war, with no aircraft to tend to, he and his men rapidly found themselves pressed into duty as infantry. And he and his men brought to that job the seriousness that war demands. The book does not go into the overall big picture much but what I liked about it is that it gives great detail as to what he personally was seeing before the surrender. He gives sometimes day by day accounts of what his little corner of the war was like. Sometimes minute by minute, defensive line by defensive line accounts are what you can expect here.
On April 8th he and another officer were given instructions to get to Cabcaben and find passage to Corregidor but rapidly advancing Japanese troops and a bad case of malaria kept him from that rendezvous.
This is very much an eye witness account of his war on Bataan and his 3 1/2 years of captivity. Rarely do we see such detail into one soldiers view as to what was his and his alone personal story. Rarely does he give second hand story accounts, for the most part they are all his.
He recounted repeatedly how the men under his command were some of the best he had ever seen. During the fighting on Bataan, although they were starving and sick, he never heard his men complain. He was always marveling how as bleak as those days were, the morale of his men never wavered. When there were dirty and dangerous jobs to be done, and there were many for sure, he always got more volunteers than he needed. Even though he never mentions it, I have a feeling that the reason for all of this was the outstanding leadership he exuded and example he was always setting for the men under his command. He cared deeply for them and as a result they would have followed him to the gates of hell. Unfortunately, that is were the Japanese took them all.
He closed his Epilogue with these words which I very much appreciated. "These almost thirty years have been good years and, although I shall never forget the years spent in Prison camps, time has a way of healing. I was glad to be able to serve my country, still the best in the world, and if called upon I would gladly serve again."
Amen to that, my brother.
***1/2
Recommended
This is a rather concise and well written book by someone who was not only there but kept journals to aid in his recollections.
Captain John Coleman was in the Army Air corps attached to the 27th Materiel Squadron. So on the second day of the war, with no aircraft to tend to, he and his men rapidly found themselves pressed into duty as infantry. And he and his men brought to that job the seriousness that war demands. The book does not go into the overall big picture much but what I liked about it is that it gives great detail as to what he personally was seeing before the surrender. He gives sometimes day by day accounts of what his little corner of the war was like. Sometimes minute by minute, defensive line by defensive line accounts are what you can expect here.
On April 8th he and another officer were given instructions to get to Cabcaben and find passage to Corregidor but rapidly advancing Japanese troops and a bad case of malaria kept him from that rendezvous.
This is very much an eye witness account of his war on Bataan and his 3 1/2 years of captivity. Rarely do we see such detail into one soldiers view as to what was his and his alone personal story. Rarely does he give second hand story accounts, for the most part they are all his.
He recounted repeatedly how the men under his command were some of the best he had ever seen. During the fighting on Bataan, although they were starving and sick, he never heard his men complain. He was always marveling how as bleak as those days were, the morale of his men never wavered. When there were dirty and dangerous jobs to be done, and there were many for sure, he always got more volunteers than he needed. Even though he never mentions it, I have a feeling that the reason for all of this was the outstanding leadership he exuded and example he was always setting for the men under his command. He cared deeply for them and as a result they would have followed him to the gates of hell. Unfortunately, that is were the Japanese took them all.
He closed his Epilogue with these words which I very much appreciated. "These almost thirty years have been good years and, although I shall never forget the years spent in Prison camps, time has a way of healing. I was glad to be able to serve my country, still the best in the world, and if called upon I would gladly serve again."
Amen to that, my brother.
***1/2
Recommended