About book Tears In The Darkness: The Story Of The Bataan Death March And Its Aftermath (2009)
Disclaimer - my uncle survived the Bataan Death March, but died at Bilibid prison hospital in Manila just weeks before it was liberated. I read this to get a sense of what his 3 yrs in captivity must have been like.The book loosely follows the life of a Montana cowboy through the ordeal, though the cowboy gets sent to Japan as a slave laborer while it appears my uncle never left the Philippines.I was expecting the book to be full of Japanese atrocity against the prisoners and there is plenty of that. However, I think the authors do a good job of reminding the reader that nothing is ever completely black and white. They explain the brutality of the Japanese army in general and how the brutalized easily become brutalizers. Surrender was not an honorable option to a Japanese soldier so they were disdainful of Allied soldiers who surrendered. Significant questions are raised about the extent to which the Japanese commander (Gen. Homma)knew what was happening during the March.I recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII in general and certainly to all with interest in the war in the Pacific. An incredible chronicle of the events leading up to, surrounding and following the Bataan Death March, April 1942.The protagonist in this non-fiction chronicle is Ben Steele, a native of Billings Montana and still with us. Ben's story is interwoven with material from diaries and journals as well as other source material from those Americans, Filipinos and Japanese who were there. Ben, developed the ability to sketch while a captive and his sketches are scattered throughout the narrative. This story is not for the faint-hearted as the descriptions of what, not only the defenders went through, but also the Japanese aggressors is the stuff of nightmares. The authors intersperse the description of events in 1941-46 with flashbacks of Ben Steele's earlier years. They cover the impending conflict with Japan, the invasion, the Battle of Bataan, The Death March, the prisoners life as captives at Camp O'Donnel, the Bicol peninsula, Bilibid prison and hospital, Camp Cabauantan, the hellships and the mines of Japan, all places Ben Steele survived.The book ends with Ben as a survivor, art student,family man and eventually an art teacher at Eastern Montana College in Billings. The authors also added a non-essential chapter on the trial of General Homma who commanded the Japanese forces in the Philippines. They obviously sympathized with the General and try to show that he really had no idea of what was going on but was railroaded in a trial and eventually executed by firing squad. The authors are also less than admiring of General MacArthur and take many opportunities to imply he was less than a great leader. It was that aspect of the book that moved me to rate it as a four rather than a five star read. Not that I am an unquestioning admirer of the General but rather see both his talents and his faults. If you are interested in an excellent biography of MacArthur, I suggest reading "American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964" by William Manchester. I review it elsewhere in Goodreads.
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Very good book. It really gives you a sense of what it's like to be a Prisoner of War.
—Ohala
