Surviving Bataan and Beyond: Colonel Irvin Alexander's Odyssey As a Japanese Prisoner of War

by Irvin Alexander, Dominic J. Caraccilo (Editor)

Recounts the author's experience as a prisoner of war

Genres: Military Fiction, World War II, Military History

340 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 1999

Reviews

[jim bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Real Americans of Yore

Wonder if our pampered citizens of today could hold up as well as those veterans did, and keep going? No PTSD over mass butchery they were exposed to 24/7 for years and bloody years either!

[Toni Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my studies of World War II I have mostly read about the war in Europe. I chose this book to learn more about the war in Asia.
It was interesting to learn the Japanese perspective about surrendering. For the Japanese to surrender was to bring shame and humiliation upon your unit and country. Therefore, when a soldier was captured he was expected to commit suicide in order to maintain honor for himself and his country. And those who were captured and returned to the Japanese army (who didn't commit suicide) were then executed by their own men! This world view helped me more fully understand why they treated their prisoners of war the way they did. I still don't believe it was right, but it did help me understand some of their motives.
I was also appalled with the amount of waste that is part of war. Whenever a unit or command believed they would be captured, they would destroy everything - supplies, food, machines, aircraft - everything! I realize that they didn't want the enemy to have those things, but it still disgusts me.
This book had a lot of details about battles and battle plans (more than I really wanted to learn ;-), but I agree with Alexander's conclusion - "Above all else, I have learned from my experiences that as terrible as war is, it is preferable to loss of freedom."

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this POW because of the freshness of the account. Although it was first published in 1999, Col. wrote his memoirs in 1949. Alexander writes from the perspective of a mid-level commander allowing him to combine a critical eye of events leading up to the defeat of U.S. and Philippine forces as well as his very personal view and struggle in living as a POW in various camps in the Philippines, Japan and Korea. He was a Lt. Col. serving as a post quartermaster and 45 years old when the Japanese invasion began. His thoughts are summarized in one of the last paragraphs of his story: "Better men than I were dead, and worse men than any of the dead had not been touched. Several times I heard the comment that the many deaths we suffered demonstrated that all life was nothing but a fight for the survival of the fittest. If the fittest survived, I failed to discover what they were fittest for, because they seemed to include the physically strong and weak, the wise and the foolish, and the saints and the sinners."

[Mrs. Hassig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took some 13 pages of notes on this book alone. Triangulating sources, I hope that Colonel Irvin Alexander's experiences will help me describe what Eddie went through during his time as a Japanese prisoner of war. Sadly, Eddie didn't make it, but thankfully Colonel Alexander did so I can use his source material for my book. This book is not for young people. It is hard to read this and not have ill feelings towards the Japanese. I have to keep remembering that these are men from a different culture some 70 years ago. Great insights into Alexander's imprisonment. I'm really glad I read this book!

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colonel Irwin Alexander was one of the Americans who fell into Japanese hands after the fall of Bataan in the Phillipines. This his his story of surviving the Bataan Death March and Japanese POW camps. A good look at the horror of war.