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Hour of Redemption: The Heroic WWII Saga of America's Most Daring POW Rescue

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This is a gripping narrative chronicle of the US Army Ranger-led raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp in World War II, in which over 500 ragged POWs were liberated and half-led, half-carried to US lines.

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

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About the author

Forrest Bryant Johnson

12 books13 followers
Forrest Bryant Johnson was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1935. He acquired the nick name “Frosty” while captain of the high school swim team and continued to use that name for many years. He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1957 with degrees in psychology and chemistry, working at the YMCA in the evenings and life guarding during summer months to pay his tuition. He had planned to go on to medical school but had neither the funds (no student loans in those days) nor the grades required by the only medical school in the state. While at the University he was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity, the American Chemical Society and the Kentucky Archeological Society.

After graduation, Forrest was employed as an assistant chemists at a local industrial coatings manufacturer. In 1960 he entered the army as a private and received Basic Infantry Training at Fort Knox, Ky. In 1961 he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and completed company grade officers training at Ft. Sam Houston, graduating with a grade of “Superior”. He went on to serve an additional eight years with the army completing his service with the rank of captain. Returning to civilian life and the coatings company, he was assigned the Iowa territory as a salesman and lived in Cedar Rapids. He was promoted to the Chicago territory and lived in Naperville, Ill. Soon he resigned to work with another company. His last position there was Sales Director. During those days in the Chicago area Johnson became interested in ancient Egyptian history and owned two Basenjis. He wrote his first book, Basenji Dog From The Past, published in 1972 by a small Chicago company. It was revised and re-released in 1992. Long out of print, the books are sought by collectors.

In 1970's the Chicago Tribune contracted with Johnson to lead an expedition into the swamps of Northern Minnesota to search for or prove or disprove the existence of an ape man reported to be roaming the wilderness there. The resulting Tribune article brought such an interesting response from the readers that Johnson wrote a fiction satire based on the subject, titled, The Strange Case Of Big Harry. Self published as, “Frosty Johnson” in 1972.

During the mid 1970s’ he wrote Hour of Redemption, World War11 non fiction, published by Manor Books in 1978 and republished in 2002 by Warner Books. In 1982 Johnson relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and wrote two fictions, Tektite and What Are You Doing Derby Day?. In 2008 his true World War 11 story, Phantom Warrior was published by Berkley and the same publisher released his Last Camel Charge in April, 2012.

Forrest Bryant Johnson has been married to former Japanese singing star, Chiaki Keiko (Chieko Takeuchi) for over twenty five years. Together they conduct desert scenic tours in and around the Las Vegas area. They also enjoy the friendship of three cats, “Brother”, “Dot com” and “BB”. Forrest has four adult children by previous marriage.

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45 reviews
February 10, 2008
This is an absolutely amazing book, and I HIGHLY recommend it!!
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