Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

In April 1942, a key World War II battle, the Battle of Bataan in the Bataan Peninsula of the Philippines, then an American colony, was coming to an end. The American troops were slowly losing to the invading Japanese whose “onslaught had been merciless” (50). The Americans ended up in the Bataan Peninsula through gradual withdrawal from other parts of the Philippines, per General Douglas MacArthur’s War Plan Orange. However, the plan was underpinned by the idea of being supplied by the US, which did not happen because “President Roosevelt had decided to concentrate American resources primarily in the European theater,” sacrificing the Philippines in the process (61). In this context, “MacArthur was both a victim of Roosevelt’s deceit and a purveyor of false hope himself” (62).

The US troops of the 2nd Battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment in Bataan “knew that the situation was hopeless,” as General Edward King was about to offer surrender (50). The US soldiers were “gaunt, shell-shocked, addled with nerve fatigue” (50). Multiple diseases, from malaria to typhus and dengue fever, ravaged the troops, while there was a lack of basic medicines. The troops were also running out of supplies, so they were forced to eat whatever came their way, like monkeys.