62 pages • 2 hours read
Hampton SidesGhost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 2, Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 2: “Harrow Hell”
Book 2, Chapter 8 Summary
On the afternoon of January 30, 1945, the Rangers began crossing the Rio Grande de la Pampanga, a large river in Luzon. They were lucky that the river was “in its more placid, winterized state” because crossing it when it is fully engorged with 500 sick POWs “would have been unthinkably dangerous” (288). Mucci did not fully trust the guerillas: The guerillas were used to a different type of fighting than a direct confrontation with the professional Japanese Army. Mucci, as a leader, was extremely charismatic. The photographers, however, were dismayed that the raid would take place in the dark.
Arriving outside the camp at 5:45pm, “the Rangers could see that it was no impregnable citadel” (292). Strategically conquerable, Cabanatuan “was a world unto itself” which made it intimidating (292). Mucci’s and Prince’s men comprised C Company and Alamo Scouts totaling about 90. Meanwhile, F Company, 30 men in total, led by Lieutenant John Murphy, headed to the rear of the camp. C Company had to jump over earthen dividers in an “awkward hop” in the field “exposing themselves more conspicuously” (295). The guards did not notice them. The Rangers “felt utterly exposed” near the sentinel posts (295). They heard a bell from the inside the camp, thinking it was an alarm—it was the time-keeping triangle used by prisoners. Dusk arrived at 6:40pm.
Book 2, Chapter 9 Summary
In early January 1945, the prisoners of the Cabanatuan camp saw a red glow in the sky and thought that the US was planning to land in Luzon—a moment they had been “dreaming about for a thousand days” (300). The increased flight activity overhead-–“dogfights between American and Japanese planes”—confirmed their suspicions (300). Sometimes the prisoners waved pilots and used “crude SOS signs” featuring “semi-facetious messages like Bring More Tobacco” (301). At the same time, they worried about Japanese reprisals, and “the hope for Japanese mercy seemed naïve” (302).
The Cabanatuan prisoners learned about the December 1944 massacre on Palawan Island at the Puerto Princesa camp—a satellite of Cabanatuan—through the Bamboo Telegraph. By then, the Cabanatuan camp housed the sickest prisoners—since the healthier prisoners had been taken to Japan—“with just enough American doctors, medics, and engineers to keep the place feebly up and running” (303). The prisoner population shrunk from 6,000 to 500. Requiring extra food and supplies also needed by the retreating Japanese Army, they had every reason to fear for their lives.
Then the Japanese closed the Farm and informed Colonel Duckworth and Dr. Hibbs that they were leaving but that they had to stay behind. The commandant promised to leave a month’s supply of rice and, two days later, “The Japanese swung open the front gate and…left” (308). The prisoners began to explore the Japanese side of the camp and found “a tremendous cache of food stored in their warehouse” (308). They were now well fed—condensed milk, sake, rice, canned food, and sugar—and rapidly put on weight. Yet they also wondered whether they could escape their “jailorless jail” safely or be killed (308).
One major concern was that there were thousands of Japanese troops passing through the area all around the camp. The soldiers outside the camp “only stared in bewilderment” (313), appearing shell-shocked. Some wore torn uniforms and seemed wounded, suggesting that the tide of war was changing. For a time, the Japanese troops even shared their food with the prisoners and “kind of let [them] run the camp” (314). By the middle of January, “the Japanese side dramatically swelled,” tanks arrived, and armed sentries climbed the watch towers (318). The Cabanatuan “prisoners bristled at the realization that they were prisoners again” (318).
Part 2, Chapters 8-9 Analysis
The structure of Part 2 mirrors Part I in a number of ways. Earlier, the author called the events of late 1944-early 1945 “Bataan in reverse” (88). The author uses this format for contrast and to create suspense heading into the rescue mission. Also, the historical events in question naturally lend themselves to organizing the text in this way. If, at first, the US Army was slowly losing to the Japanese and withdrawing from the area in the spring of 1942, then in October 1944, General MacArthur returned to the Philippines, and it was the Japanese Army that was withdrawing. It was the American soldiers who were malnourished, wounded, and shell-shocked as they surrendered in 1942. In early 1945, however, the POWs spotted the Japanese troops passing by the camp in a similar state: poorly prepared, shell-shocked, and in tattered, bloody uniforms. The same mirror effect applies to the psychological state of the POWs. It was at its lowest point during the Bataan Death March and the early days at the prison camps, gradually improving as they learned of the US re-invasion of the Philippines.
The psychological state of the prisoners of war is also part of the author’s ongoing theme of human survival. In January 1945, the prisoners found themselves in a situation that, in some ways, seemed even more uncertain than their previous years in captivity. On the one hand, they were encouraged by the US airplanes flying over their heads and hearing the good news about MacArthur’s return to the islands. On the other hand, they learned of the Palawan massacre of the POWs in the previous month. The Cabanatuan residents knew that they were the weakest remaining prisoners—a testament to the prisoner-of-war abuse—and that the retreating Japanese required their food. It was logical for them to fear being killed.
This combination of hope and fear was complicated further by the fact that, for several days, the Japanese guards simply left after threatening the prisoners’ potential escape with death. The captors also left the prisoners to their own devices. This question is relevant to The Social Organization of the Cabanatuan POW Camp theme. The POWs experienced something akin to Stockholm Syndrome. It was not quite an attachment to their captors, but rather a sense of predictability and protection against the unknown. The guards also provided the prisoners with a point of reference. Now, the unknown and the unpredictable—the transient Japanese troops—were outside their gates. It is not entirely surprising that the prisoners of war did not escape. The POWs’ health was poor, the troop situation outside was beyond their control, and the threat of reprisals rang true considering the previous “blood brothers” executions. The arrival of new Japanese troops using the camp for their stay and the reinstatement of guards returned their sense of “normalcy.” Overall, this incident is a fascinating case study of human psychology and social organization.
The author also continues to explore another ongoing theme, camaraderie, in the case of the rescue raid. After all, teamwork was paramount to the success of the mission. First, the different groups did not know each other before the mission. Second, the US Rangers and the Filipino guerillas were used to two different types of warfare. The former was a professional army, while the latter relied on skirmishes. The two had to work together as a well-functioning team to rescue the POWs. Third, Companies C and F each had their own role in the raid, approaching the camp from different directions and not having the ability to communicate at the height of the raid. They, too, needed to work as part of a single whole. The glue that held this diverse team together was Colonel Mucci. His charisma and leadership skills were the unifying factor in the raid. Overall, as the author shows, their camaraderie was as equally important to the rescuers as it was to the rescued.
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