When the American forces in the Philippines surrendered in May 1942, a mining engineer named Wendell Fertig chose to take his chances in the jungle. What happened to him during nearly three years behind enemy lines is the amazing story that John Keats tells in They Fought Alone.
With the aid of a handful of Americans who also refused to surrender, Fertig led thousands of Filipinos in a seemingly hopeless war against the Japanese. They made bullets from curtain rods; telegraph wire from iron fence. They fought off sickness, despair and rebellion within their own forces. Their homemade communications were MacArthurs eyes and ears in the Philippines. When the Americans finally returned to Mindanao, they found Fertig virtually in control of one of the worlds largest islands, commanding an army of 35,000 men, and bringing a measure of hope to a beleaguered people.
John Keats, who also served in the Philippines, captures all the pain, brutality, and courage of this incredible drama.
They Fought Aloneis a testament to the ingenuity and sheer guts of an authentic American hero.
Book One: Surrender / 3Book Two: Decision / 75Book Three: The Dragons TeethBook Four: Harvest / 169Book Five: Morgan / 263Book Six: War / 315Envoi / 433Appendix / 447
The time: 1942.The place: The Japanese-occupied island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
The story: A stirring true account of a man who refused to be defeated.
For the three Americans, each step was a wrench and pull, for their shoes sank into the suck and squelch of the trail; the foot ahead, sinking, could find little purchase from which to pull up the foot that followed; meanwhile the warm rain beat down through the billion leaves of the forest and ran down their collars and, mingling with their sweat, collected inside their waists at their belts, and soaked through the canvas packs. They worked through the wet and the muck in a stifling heat, swinging bolos to clear the new vil³¯
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