Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides (Analysis)
Marek Sulich
Mr. O'Connor
American Literature
1 March 2011
Ghost Soldiers The novel, Ghost Soldiers, written by Hampton Sides, is a great work of literature, depicting the true horrors of war, friendship, and the one thing that was never lost, hope. The non-fictional book takes place in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of the islands from 1942 and goes through three gruesome years to end in the year of 1945. The book begins with the idea of surrendering Bataan, an American occupied area of the Philippines, because of the severe amount of wounded and very little defense to last out or defeat the incoming Imperial Army. General Edward King formally surrendered Bataan and this marked the start of what would be later called the Bataan Death March which was a grueling and painstaking exodus of prisoners and one of the largest surrenders the Americans had made. During the exodus, the Japanese were relentless, taking victims for sheer revenge and the enjoyment of picking on someone of a now lower status than they were. If a soldier would be falling behind during the march a Japanese soldier wouldn't shoot him because they believed bullets were precious but instead they would stab the prisoner in the abdomen with their bayonet and twist it around to cut up the intestines and leave the body were it had just died. The prisoners were also stripped of any items on their person that were deemed valuable or if a Japanese soldier simply wanted a certain item. One account of this was when a prisoner had a ring from West Point and a Japanese soldier wanted the coveted ring, since the prisoner's finger had swollen he could not get the ring off so the Japanese soldier took the prisoner's hand, placed it against a tree and cut the man's finger off to get the ring. The Japanese were also cruel beyond belief during the prisoners' stay at the P.O.W. camp. The men had very little to eat and disease quickly engulfed them, measly diseases that would normally have not
Mr. O'Connor
American Literature
1 March 2011
Ghost Soldiers The novel, Ghost Soldiers, written by Hampton Sides, is a great work of literature, depicting the true horrors of war, friendship, and the one thing that was never lost, hope. The non-fictional book takes place in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of the islands from 1942 and goes through three gruesome years to end in the year of 1945. The book begins with the idea of surrendering Bataan, an American occupied area of the Philippines, because of the severe amount of wounded and very little defense to last out or defeat the incoming Imperial Army. General Edward King formally surrendered Bataan and this marked the start of what would be later called the Bataan Death March which was a grueling and painstaking exodus of prisoners and one of the largest surrenders the Americans had made. During the exodus, the Japanese were relentless, taking victims for sheer revenge and the enjoyment of picking on someone of a now lower status than they were. If a soldier would be falling behind during the march a Japanese soldier wouldn't shoot him because they believed bullets were precious but instead they would stab the prisoner in the abdomen with their bayonet and twist it around to cut up the intestines and leave the body were it had just died. The prisoners were also stripped of any items on their person that were deemed valuable or if a Japanese soldier simply wanted a certain item. One account of this was when a prisoner had a ring from West Point and a Japanese soldier wanted the coveted ring, since the prisoner's finger had swollen he could not get the ring off so the Japanese soldier took the prisoner's hand, placed it against a tree and cut the man's finger off to get the ring. The Japanese were also cruel beyond belief during the prisoners' stay at the P.O.W. camp. The men had very little to eat and disease quickly engulfed them, measly diseases that would normally have not
Cited: Sides, Hampton. Ghost Soldiers: the Epic Account of World War II 's Greatest Rescue Mission. New York: Anchor, 2002. Print.