The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

The full story of the daring mission that inspired Ghost Soldiers

Before General Douglas MacArthur could fulfill his stirring promise of “I shall return” and retake the Philippines from Japanese control, a remarkable rescue mission would have to take place. Captured American soldiers had been held at the notorious Cabanatuan prison camp for more than thirty-three months. Emaciated and ill from brutal mistreatment, a mere 511 POWs remained from the 25,000-strong fighting force that MacArthur had been ordered to abandon on February 23, 1942.

On the morning of January 28, 1945, a small band of Army Rangers set out on an audacious and daring rescue effort: to penetrate thirty miles into Japanese controlled territory, storm the camp, and escape with the POWs, carrying them if necessary.

William B. Breuer recounts in searing, meticulous detail, based largely on interviews with survivors—the hellish battles of Bataan and Corregidor, the horrors of the Bataan Death March, and the harrowing efforts of guerilla fighters. A classic of its kind, The Great Raid tells the full story of this episode with a breadth and depth of detail that goes far beyond other accounts, including Hampton Sides’s best-selling Ghost Soldiers. The Great Raid is a thrilling true-life adventure story and an inspiring testament to American heroism and grit. And, as retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey asserts in his introduction, The Great Raid is an “important book for our current military and political leaders to read.”

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The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

The full story of the daring mission that inspired Ghost Soldiers

Before General Douglas MacArthur could fulfill his stirring promise of “I shall return” and retake the Philippines from Japanese control, a remarkable rescue mission would have to take place. Captured American soldiers had been held at the notorious Cabanatuan prison camp for more than thirty-three months. Emaciated and ill from brutal mistreatment, a mere 511 POWs remained from the 25,000-strong fighting force that MacArthur had been ordered to abandon on February 23, 1942.

On the morning of January 28, 1945, a small band of Army Rangers set out on an audacious and daring rescue effort: to penetrate thirty miles into Japanese controlled territory, storm the camp, and escape with the POWs, carrying them if necessary.

William B. Breuer recounts in searing, meticulous detail, based largely on interviews with survivors—the hellish battles of Bataan and Corregidor, the horrors of the Bataan Death March, and the harrowing efforts of guerilla fighters. A classic of its kind, The Great Raid tells the full story of this episode with a breadth and depth of detail that goes far beyond other accounts, including Hampton Sides’s best-selling Ghost Soldiers. The Great Raid is a thrilling true-life adventure story and an inspiring testament to American heroism and grit. And, as retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey asserts in his introduction, The Great Raid is an “important book for our current military and political leaders to read.”

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The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

by William B. Breuer
The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

by William B. Breuer

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Overview

The full story of the daring mission that inspired Ghost Soldiers

Before General Douglas MacArthur could fulfill his stirring promise of “I shall return” and retake the Philippines from Japanese control, a remarkable rescue mission would have to take place. Captured American soldiers had been held at the notorious Cabanatuan prison camp for more than thirty-three months. Emaciated and ill from brutal mistreatment, a mere 511 POWs remained from the 25,000-strong fighting force that MacArthur had been ordered to abandon on February 23, 1942.

On the morning of January 28, 1945, a small band of Army Rangers set out on an audacious and daring rescue effort: to penetrate thirty miles into Japanese controlled territory, storm the camp, and escape with the POWs, carrying them if necessary.

William B. Breuer recounts in searing, meticulous detail, based largely on interviews with survivors—the hellish battles of Bataan and Corregidor, the horrors of the Bataan Death March, and the harrowing efforts of guerilla fighters. A classic of its kind, The Great Raid tells the full story of this episode with a breadth and depth of detail that goes far beyond other accounts, including Hampton Sides’s best-selling Ghost Soldiers. The Great Raid is a thrilling true-life adventure story and an inspiring testament to American heroism and grit. And, as retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey asserts in his introduction, The Great Raid is an “important book for our current military and political leaders to read.”


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780786151554
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 10/27/2005
Edition description: Unabridged

About the Author

William B. Breuer is the acclaimed and award-winning author of thirty-four books focusing on World War II, the CIA, and the FBI, as well as the Korean War. Fourteen of his books have been selections of the Military Book Club. He lives in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Patrick Lawlor, an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and Audie Award finalist, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer who has worked in America and Europe. He has been an actor and stuntman in both TV and film. He lives in Milwaukee.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgmentsxv
Introductionxvii
1Deep in Hostile Territory1
2Roosevelt Abandons the Philippines6
3Legion of the Living Dead18
4Sixty Miles of Atrocities31
5"Situation Fast Becoming Desperate"43
6"You Are Enemies of Japan!"52
7Miss U and Her Underground66
8Secret Radios and Boxcar Smugglers77
9An Audacious Escape87
10Manila's Notorious Club Tsubaki101
11Alamo Scouts and Rangers113
12Thumbs Down on a POW Rescue Scheme123
13Eagles Soar Over Cabanatuan134
14Hell Ships and Vanishing Guards147
15A Perilous Mission161
16Cross-Country Dominos169
17Creeping Up on a Dark Stockade182
18Pandemonium Erupts in the Night190
19Stealthy Trek by Carabao Caravan203
20Hamburgers, Tears, and Freedom211
Epilogue220
Notes and Sources233
Index245
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