From the New York Times bestselling author of Sons and Soldiers
comes the incredible true story of one of the greatest military rescues
of all time, the 1945 World War II prison camp raid at Los Baños in the
Philippines--a tale of daring, courage, and heroism that joins the ranks
of Ghost Soldiers, Unbroken, and The Boys of Pointe du Hoc.
In February 1945, as the U.S. victory in the Pacific drew nearer, the
Japanese army grew desperate, and its soldiers guarding U.S. and Allied
POWs more sadistic. Starved, shot and beaten, many of the 2,146
prisoners of the Los Baños prison camp in the Philippines--most of them
American men, women and children--would not survive much longer unless
rescued soon.
Deeply concerned about the half-starved and ill-treated prisoners,
General Douglas MacArthur assigned to the 11th Airborne Division a
dangerous rescue mission deep behind enemy lines that became a deadly
race against the clock. The Los Baños raid would become one of the
greatest triumphs of that war or any war; hailed years later by Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell: "I doubt that any
airborne unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Baños
prison raid. It is the textbook operation for all ages and all armies."
Combining personal interviews, diaries, correspondence, memoirs, and
archival research, Rescue at Los Baños tells the story of a remarkable
group of prisoners--whose courage and fortitude helped them overcome
hardship, deprivation, and cruelty--and of the young American soldiers
and Filipino guerrillas who risked their lives to save them.
