History

Don Jose, An American Soldier's Courage and Faith in Japanese Captivity

Title: Don Jose, An American Soldier's Courage and Faith in Japanese Captivity
Author: Ezequiel L. Ortiz and James A. McClure
Genre: Non-Fiction Biography
Reviewer: Barbara Peacock

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 086534857X

In 1941 the Japanese invaded the Philippines with overwhelming force and forced the surrender of American troops at Bataan and Corregidor. Prisoners of war were subjected to brutal captivity and thousands did not survive. This is the story of an American soldier who survived and became a hero. When American troops liberated the Niigata POW camp after the Japanese surrender, Corporal Joseph O. Quintero greeted them with a homemade American flag that had been sewn together in secrecy. The son of Mexican immigrants, Joseph Quintero grew up in a converted railroad caboose in Fort Worth, Texas, and joined the Army to get $21 a month and three meals a day. He manned a machine gun in the defense of Corregidor before his unit was captured by the Japanese. When prisoners of war were transported to Japan, Joseph survived a razor-blade appendectomy on the ''hell ship'' voyage. In the prison camp he cared for his fellow prisoners as a medic and came to be known as Don Jose. Joseph's narrative is an enlisted man's view of the war with first-hand descriptions of conditions in the POW camps and personal glimpses of what he and his buddies did, endured and talked about. The authors have drawn on other histories and official documents to put his story into perspective and focus on a little-known chapter of World War II.

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Ortiz, Ezequiel L. and McClure, James A.

Once Upon a Time…

The coffee shop lights were dim. I could not make out the faces of the folks sitting in the far corner. I opened my book and thumbed to a short story titled, Andrew. It was one of my favorites. It was about two soldiers whose paths crossed in the wilderness as they found their way home after the Civil War. It was about dealing with having killed ― and it was about dealing with your own approaching death. Those are risky subjects for a writer ― but for once, I nailed it. At least, I thought so.

I cleared my throat and began.

Remembering the First Ashore on Omaha Beach

June 6, 1944…

D-Day…

0600 hours / Six o’clock in the morning…

Omaha Beach…

Easy Red Sector…

Hell was about to happen!

          I was a Pharmacist’s Mate in the Sixth Naval Beach Battalion. They assembled and trained our unit under hush-hush conditions. The reason for all the security was that our only mission was to be the first regular unit to land on the beach. They started training us before anyone even knew where the invasion would be. We certainly didn’t know when it would happen.

Wound in the Mind, A

Title: A Wound in the Mind
Author: Francis J. Partel, Jr.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Fran McGraw

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B00361FBVS

It is 1968. The US naval war in Vietnam is at peak level of intensity. USS Ticonderoga, Attack Carrier 14, is in the Gulf of Tonkin for her fifth combat cruise of the war prosecuting Operation Rolling Thunder. The historical naval novel has moved forward from the Napoleonic Wars of C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian to the modern navy. The ships and weapons may have changed, but time-tested traits of courage and leaderhip remain very much in demand.

Ltjg. Cannon has just returned to his stateroom when Gunnery Sergeant Mates phones him to take on the defense of a marine's marine who won the Navy Cross in the brutal Hill Fights of Khe Sanh in 1967. LCPL Cachora is charged with assault and battery while on liberty in Hong Kong. Ltjg. Cannon along with Ens. Chase take on an uphill struggle to defend their client. With the odds stacked against them, they creatively mount a spirited defense. This is the thrilling drama of Cahora's court-martial.

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Partel, Francis J., Jr.

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