WE SURVIVED WARS CRUCIBLE A true Story of Imprisonment and Rescue In World War II Philippines A large pit is ready for the mass execution of 2,147 prisoners in the Los Baos concentration camp. At dawn, paratroopers of the 11th Airborne drop from the sky. Filipino guerillas overpower Japanese guards. During the night, fifty-four amphibious tractors have crossed the large lake, around Japanese lines. They arrive, and take all the prisoners to safety. It is one of the most perfectly executed rescues of World War II. That is but the climax of the exciting story Stephen Smith tells, of his captivity in the Philippines, with his wife Viola, and teen age son Paul. It begins as he enters Manila Bay on a Coast Guard cutter, while bombs are dropping, and sunken ships are still burning. The family lives under house arrest by the Japanese Army in Manila for two and one half years. With no connections to banks in the U.S., Stephen must find enough money to buy food for 70 fellow missionary prisoners. Daring young Paul, gets a big bang out of celebrating the fourth of July, right in front of his armed Japanese captors. A hardened Japanese veteran of Manchuria, China and Bataan, reveals his hidden humanity. While others are being beheaded in Fort Santiago, a Japanese guard risks his own life to spare the life of a Filipino friend. At risk of his life, Stephen provides an American flag to a Filipipno guerilla for use in signaling American submarines. In all this struggle, how can the Smiths find the physical, emotional and spiritual resources to survive the crucible of war? This book tells how.

For two weeks during the spring of 1942, the Bataan Death March--one of the most widely condemned atrocities of World War II--unfolded. The prevailing interpretation of this event is simple: American prisoners of war suffered cruel treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors while Filipinos, sympathetic to the Americans, looked on. Most survivors of the march wrote about their experiences decades after the war and a number of factors distorted their accounts. The crucial aspect of memory is central to this study--how it is constructed, by whom and for what purpose. This book questions the prevailing interpretation, reconsiders the actions of all three groups in their cultural contexts and suggests a far greater complexity. Among the conclusions is that violence on the march was largely the result of a clash of cultures--undisciplined, individualistic Americans encountered Japanese who valued order and form, while Filipinos were active, even ambitious, participants in the drama.

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A compelling, straightforward narrative by a World War II veteran who served his country with great distinction.