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Title: Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship, the Oryoku Maru by Judith Pearson ISBN: 0-451-20444-1 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Harrowing Story of Atrocities and Survival
Comment: Author Judith Pearson has written a riveting tale about the improsonment and ultimate mistreatment of American POWs by the Japanese. The story centers around Estel Myers, a young man who joins the Army as a corpsman. After serving a tour in China, Myers was assigned to the Philippines shortly before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese invaded in mid-December, 1941, and Myers was taken prisoner by the Japanese.
Myers suffered for two years in a Japanese prison camp with very little food or water, but his ultimate punishment was soon to follow. The Americans had turned the tide against the Japanese,and were fighting their way back to re-capture the Philippines. Realizing this, the Japanese began loading their POWs on "Hell Ships"; grossly overloaded freighters; for the long voyage to prison camps in Japan. Myers was loaded aboard the ship Oryuku Maru with approximately 1,600 other POWs. Only about 400 arrived in Japan alive. Myers survived the sinking of the Oryuku Maru as well as transfers from two other Hell Ships before reaching Japan.
The conditions on the ships were much worse than in the camps. Each man was allotted approximately 1/4 cup of rotten rice per day, along with a tiny amount of water. Men were unable to sit or lay down in the holds of the ships due to the massive overcrowding. Sanitary facilities amounted to a bucket lowered by the Japanese. The death rate was astounding. In the later stages of the voyage, as many as fifty men were dying per day.
Upon reaching Japan, many of the men were put to work on docks, in coal mines, or building defense shelters. Many died, but some, including Myers, managed to survive to be liberated by the Americans. Myers eventually succumbed years later due to the toll taken on his body by the Japanese.
This is an eye-opening book. The atrocities committed by the Japanese are unbelievable, and it is a miracle that Myers managed to survive for so long. Read this fine book and live the life of a POW.
Rating: 5
Summary: History from the human perspective
Comment: Bravo! What a terrific story Judy Pearson tells! I have always had trouble slogging through military history books because
I'm not interested in the weaponry or tactical details. This book weaves these battles into a compelling human interest story. I wanted to keep reading when I came to the last page.
Rating: 5
Summary: pure hell
Comment: I've read a few books on the experience of pow's, i've just finished louis zamperini's "devil at my heals" and i've also read tinneys "Bataan death march". What these guys suffered was pure hell. Its impossible to imagine the despair they felt.Its a very good book but it makes you sad. Read "zamps" book if you want a happy ending.
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Title: Prisoners of the Japanese : Pows of World War Ii in the Pacific by Gavin Daws ISBN: 0688143709 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 16 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March by Lester I. Tenney, James B. Stockdale ISBN: 1574882988 Publisher: Brasseys, Inc. Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Surviving Bataan and Beyond: Colonel Irvin Alexander's Odyssey As a Japanese Prisoner of War by Irvin Alexander, Dominic J. Caraccilo, Ken Hechler ISBN: 0811715965 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Bataan Death March: A Survivor's Account by Wm. E. Dyess, Charles Leavelle, Stanley L. Falk, William E., LT.Col. Dyess ISBN: 0803266332 Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War by Gregory F. Michno ISBN: 1557504822 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $36.95 |
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