This is a true story of the experiences of just one military man in his life and death struggle while in the Pacific Theater during World War II, the war that has been recorded as being the greatest and perhaps one of the most tragic wars in the history of the United States. It is the war in which some 55 million died and some 3 million more are unaccounted for. It is also the war in which the United States suffered its greatest and most humiliating defeat - that of the loss of the entire Philippines. The story opens with the peaceful and relaxing island life, then carries the reader through the days of intense combat, the facing of the enemy as ammunition and supplies expire, the horrible experience of being captured, the brutal days of torture and slave labor as a prisoner of war and then on to the wonderful return to freedom back in the arms of the United States. In so doing it gives the reader an insight into that period not covered in most U.S. history. It points out the confusion that led to the "writing off" of the entire Allied forces in that faraway theater. It is this part of history that some of our great leaders would like to forget. Those who erred are not to be blamed, for we all do make mistakes. It is however, only by revealing them that we can avoid such in the future and hope that it will be knowledge helpful to generations to come.