Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath Paperback – Illustrated, March 2, 2010

One could almost write a book about the book, so moving and well done is this account of one of the worst atrocities ever committed during modern warfare. Michael Norman has, with his wife Elizabeth, given us a book that should be the definitive report on this tragic event and does not pull punches, squarely placing blame for its happening on General Maniac Douglas MacArthur, whose blind leadership and refusal to regard Japan as anything but a third rate guerrilla outfit, despite that country's swift and brutal takeover of Manchuria including the horrifying Rape of Nanking in 1937. History will probably never totally agree on the events that made Pearl Harbor the massacre it was, although I refuse to believe the attacks were allowed to happen as an excuse for a Pacific war. That kind of inexcusable conduct by war hawks and evil U.S. politicians wouldn't really happen until Vietnam, the first war for profit, failure to heed warnings about 9-11, or even being complicit, which I think is the case, and the Iraq/Afghanistan fiascos, which are stories of U.S. corruption and genocide of its own military personnel for another day. Pearl Harbor was integral in the line of events that made Bataan and the brutal POW prison camps and other camps both in China and mainland Japan possible. The sinking of most of the Pacific fleet meant the delivery of troops, ammunition and supplies to the Philippines would not be possible for a year or more as the country struggled to build new warships quickly as possible, knowing Japan was knocking not just on the Philippines, but were dangerously close to Australia, having conquered Singapore and the Indonesian islands. MacArthur even then was obstinate and refused to accept the gravity of the situation, when he could have pulled back to Bataan and Corregidor on Manila Bay, brought back food supplies, which would have been more than enough to sustain the troops for a couple years but thoughtlessly and idiotically ordered to stay in warehouses and rot after the Americans and Filipino began their withdrawals for a dig in stand off when the Japanese would inevitably invade. Instead, bombers and fighters took out Clark Field first, waking up army personnel used to cushy duty, not being properly warned of the situation. The ground invasion first faltered, as U.S. resistance was effective, but quickly food and health ran out, and when Japanese reinforcements arrived, the U.S. and Filipino troops were already starting to starve on meager rations and contract every disease in a tropical climate one can imagine. As the Normans point out, MacArthur lied to his men, painting a rosy picture of imminent reinforcements he knew would never arrive before basically deserting his charges and hiding out in Australia but controlling all media to make it look like he was the magnanimous hero, when in reality he left poor Jonathan Wainright, a two star general to face the indignity of having to surrender to the Japanese. FDR, in a radio broadcast, was at least honest, telling the country the Philippines were basically a lost cause because the Navy simply couldn't break the Japanese territory with next to no Navy to run the gauntlet. Surrender after a desperate battle came, and then the march itself. The book follows Ben Steele, a 22 year old Montana ranch boy, who enlisted in the Army Air Corps and found himself stationed in the Philippines and subjected to the terror of the march and imprisonment. The atrocities were horrifying, as were the casualties from malaria, beriberi, a disease that comes from a thiamin deficiency that causes extreme swelling of the limbs and fluid retention in the internal organs and often kills its victims as they drown in their own body fluids, diarrhea, dysentery, starvation and other terrible things. But this book doesn't end at the arrival at O'Donnel Prison camp. We get the whole story, POW life, the Japanese point of view, and yes, there were some Japanese soldiers who were equally horrified at what their officers were telling them to do, the military trials and finally for Ben Steele, the return home and adjusting to normal life once again. Expertly written and researched, "Tears in the Darkness" is a moving book that tells us how ruthless and evil the Japanese were, every bit the sadistic racist scum they were at that time. Even today the march, the rape of Nanking and other terrible acts of cruelty are not taught in Japanese schools. Because the U.S. and other European nations were anxious about communism, especially Russia and China under Mao Tse Tung, they quickly "forgave and forgot" Japan's culpability and instead relied on them as economical allies, and overall, the Japanese army and its long list of sadistic monsters were treated very lightly compared to the thorough trials of Nuremburg and other courts to deal with former Nazis. Our WWII veterans were of uncommon strength and courage. Not to belittle any service personnel, whom I deeply respect and thank for their sacrifices, the situation in WWII was so dire, and the demands so great, that no country since has met such daunting situations. I can't recommend this book enough.

... an orgy of sadistic cruelty...The horrible story of the Bataan death march is not nearly as well known as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The dropping of both atomic bombs in August 1945 seems to overshadow all previous crimes of the Japanese occupational forces, e.g. their massacre of the citizens of Nanking in China (committed in January 1937), and others, of which the Bataan march could be described as an orgy of sadistic cruelty.In January 1942 the American and British troops, defending the Philippine Islands, were left without the necessary logistic support from USA. Already toward the end of February, President Roosevelt ordered the Commanding General Douglas McArthur to withdraw to Australia. Also in Australia was the stockpile of US supplies for the troops, but unsent to the soldiers on the Philippines after the Japanese attack on the islands had been launched. So the American troops soon had to cut their daily food rations in half. Consequently, on the 9th of April, when they had to surrender to the Japanese, all were hungry, emaciated and weak. On top of this, many were already sick with dysentery, malaria, or both. They had the sickening feeling that their country, for which they had fought in the far-away Philippines, had abandoned them.Already their first encounter with the Japanese troops to which they surrendered, was a shock for them. The Japanese soldiers had taken away their heavy knapsacks and ordered the weakened Americans to carry them, entirely neglecting the poor physical status of their captives. Later, when the supreme Japanese General Masaharu Homma ordered all the enemy troops on the Bataan Peninsula to be moved some 100 km north, their ordeal could not be imagined by any civilized person. Long daily marches, mostly without food or even without water, suffering rain or hot sunshine, steady beating, bayoneting, or even sporadic murder became more a rule than an accident for the poor victims. Occasionally a Japanese officer beheaded a prisoner with his sword for the slightest disobedience. Whole groups of prisoners were diverted, to be shot and thrown down a slope or into an abyss.The sadistic torture by their captors became especially apparent, when e.g. a Japanese car met the marching troops. The soldier suddenly opened the car door to hit several Americans so hard that they fell down. For those who were hit too much and could not stand up fast enough, their fate was sealed. The following cars ran over them, until the unfortunate prisoners became entirely flat, like a cat, on a highway. The maltreatment did not end when they eventually arrived at their destination. Insufficient food and poor hygienic conditions spread dysentery. Practically no medical care and almost no medications caused numerous fatalities.For those, who survived, the worst was still to come. The Japanese put them on ships to be transferred to Japan. Sailing on the battered freighters lasted up to two months - providing the ship was not sunk by an American submarine. The prisoners, who were stuffed into the cargo area, had to suffer daily temperatures over 40 C (104 F), without enough water or food. There were no toilets or other sanitary facilities. The life of that sick, dirty, emaciated, hungry and thirsty crowd soon became degraded to a pure Darwinian survival of the fittest. The strongest of them, who survived, must eventually work in Japanese mines. There the lodging and food were much better, but still too poor to support hard labor in of the mines. Their ordeal (and of those, who were left on the Philippines) was over after August 15, 1945, when Japan surrendered.The entire book is entwined with the story of an enlisted boy, Ben Steele, who went through the complete ordeal described above. This gives the narrative a sense of first hand experience. Steele, who later became a professor of painting, has also contributed numerous drawings of his times during the Japanese captivity, which illustrate the book.After the war the Japanese military commanders were put before the Court for their war crimes. The main culprit was the supreme commanding general Masaharu Homma. Though he had traveled over the road where the prisoners were being driven northwards, he said he did not see anything unusual: no dead on, or near the street, no beating or stabbing by his troops, less so any systematic killing. And all those down the line of command were just "obeying the orders from above". For those of us, who have survived the Italian and German occupation in Europe, such excuses of the culprits who must defend themselves before the Courts, established after the war, look very familiar...This very informative and well-written book should be read by all those, who keep lamenting how inhuman the American atomic bombing was. Such reading might help achieve some balance in their opinion of the crimes committed during WWII.

This historical tome reads like a novel, yet is so well-researched and cited, that is feels weighty like an academic college assignment (not a negative comment). The authors achieve great balance through interviews and "cross-checks" of subjective data, statistical references, and a somewhat unique secondary storyline of the protagonist, Ben Steele. In some ways the decision to offer a parallel account of Steele's background and life is risky against the anguishing account of the Bataan Death March. But Steele's story offers a sort of break, a needed breather, before the reader dives back into horrific events of the Bataan soldiers. The story is set up well, sensibly paced, and wraps up with ease. A compelling story that has emotional punch and a chilling effect on the reader who cannot but feel a bit pulled down by the inhumanity presented.

Great sketchings or drawings and great story. 7/10

Haven't fished yet, hafd the way, but excellent. With Deep look into Japanese army's nature, discribed the event as tragedy to human not only to the Americans and Philippines, I'm kind if grateful to the authors.

A frank and no punches pulled account of the World War 2 fight between US and the Japanese troops and the Bataan Peninsular Death March where untold attrocities took place at the hands of the Japanese.First read about in the John Grisham book `The Reckoning` it prompted me to buy Tears in the Darkness to read the full story.Both books take you to a different place.

Stunning read

Well researched and interesting story. Different writing style utilizing flash backs.