POW-83

Rating:
Summary: One mans journey through the worst part of WWII
Review: "POW-83" is a very moving and informative non-fiction book. The author details the life story of a young man who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and is drafted into the army nine months before Pearl Harbor. He fought on Bataan and Corregidor until he was captured in 1942. What happened to those brave American soldiers in the Japanese Death Camps will horrify you. The author also manages to put together the final moments of most of the 750 American POW's aboard the Japanese "hell Ship" the Shinyo Maru, on September 7, 1944. When only 83 men escaped. The events recorded in this book are part of history and should not be forgotten.The author's style was simple and to the point. There's no fluff or filler here. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: One mans journey through the worst part of WWII
Review: "POW-83" is a very moving and informative non-fiction book. The author details the life story of a young man who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and is drafted into the army nine months before Pearl Harbor. He fought on Bataan and Corregidor until he was captured in 1942. What happened to those brave American soldiers in the Japanese Death Camps will horrify you. The author also manages to put together the final moments of most of the 750 American POW's aboard the Japanese "hell Ship" the Shinyo Maru, on September 7, 1944. When only 83 men escaped. The events recorded in this book are part of history and should not be forgotten.The author's style was simple and to the point. There's no fluff or filler here. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: The horrific story of how American POW J. Mackowski escapes
Review: In the foreword, John Wallace describes how he encountered a quiet former prisoner of W.W.II in his upstate New York town. Wallace befriends the man, John Mackowski, and soon takes an interest in bringing the amazing story Mackowski had to tell out into the world.

POW 83 is a powerful account of the Japanese atrocities committed against captured American forces whom had occupied the Philippines prior to Japanese conquest. Mackowski's story is compelling and moving, as the reader can only wonder how many times the survivors of these concentration camps had to evade death. Wallace tells the story just as it happened; with all the near experiences Mackowski encountered. However, what is best about this novel isn't in the text. Had the Allied forces not been successful in defeating Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in the last World War, certainly so many stories like Mackowski's would never have been told. The Democratic freedom of speech would no longer exist had the Allied Forces failed in their efforts. So alas, what is so truly compelling about POW 83 is just that Mackowski's story is finally being told (like so many others). Mackowski's horrible ordeal represents the enormous sacrifice of an entire generation of young men and women, for the sake of Democracy.

In our modern age, it is almost impossible to read POW 83 and accept that such a travesty could occur. The sadness is that everything Wallace writes in POW 83 is fact.

Rating:
Summary: "Outstanding and Compelling!
Review: This is an important book told in authentic and entertaining fashion. This razor-sharp tale of American Prisoners of War in the Japanese Death Camps, their struggle, their pain, holding onto their honor while being savaged by guards should be mandatory reading for every American. John Wallace has remarkable talent and has produced an excellent book.! "

Donald B. Hutton Author: Barron's Guide to Military Careers