User:JYoung130/Josh Young's Summer Reading Technology Project

Overview
For my project, I will analyze the two main conflicts that take place in the book, Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. Ghost Soldiers is a non-fiction book about the American raid by the 6th Ranger Battalion on the Cabantuan prison camp in World War II. The book also takes place form the perspective of the American prisoners and even describes the Fall of Bataan, which ended with an American surrender and explains how all of the Americnas were taken captive.

Conflict #1: World War II (Japanese vs. Americans)
The most broad conflict in Ghost Soldiers is World War II, specfically The Philippines Campaign The eariler parts of the book describe The Fall of Bataan which took place when the Japanese Imperial Navy invaded Manila, the current capital of The Phillipines. General MacArthur, the commander of all U.S. forces in the Philippines ordered a retreat to the mountainous Bataan Peninsula east of Manila, where they would try to hold off the Japanese until reinforcements came. However, reinforcements never came and after three months of defensive warfare, the Japanese were gaining ground against the American forces, and so GeneralKing, reccognizing the futility of further resistance, surrendured to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. The book also focuses on the retaking of the Philippines by America in 1945. However, oncwe the American forces landed on the island of Luzon, they were unable to move on into Manila becuase of the risk that the Japanese would kill all of the POWs at the nearby Cabantuan prison camp. Becuase of this risk, General MacArthur sent the 6th Ranger Battalion behind Japanese lines to liberate the prison. The Raid on Cabanatuan took place on the night of January 30, 1945. The leader of the 6th Ranger Battalion, Colonel Henry Mucci, sent 125 men to liberate the prisoners. The raid was a complete success, with nearly all of the Japanese guards killed and all of the prisoners liberated, and only two of the Rangers dead. The prisoners were sent back to U.S. lines where they returned to America via ship.

Conflict #2: The Prisoners vs. The Guards
After General King surrendered Bataan, all of the American and Filipino soldiers were sent to prison camps. The one Ghost Soldiers focuses on was located near the city of Cabanatuan, about 100 miles north of Manila. The Japenese prison guards there treated the American prisoners very badly. The gave the prisoners very little food, as little as one small handful of a rice for an entire day. Water as well, was a scarce resource and many prisoners went for days on end without it. The contlict between the guards and the prisoners was very one-sided. Any prisoner that broke a rule or couldn't keep up with that day's work could be beaten, deprived of the little water they had, and even killed, all depending on the mood of the guards. To prevent escape attempts, the Japanese executed nine men when a prisoner escaped, motivating them not to escape for the sake of others. Tension would often flare up between the prisoners and the Japanese but the Americans learned to control themselves or be killed. Life went on that way until the POWs were liberated by the Rangers on January 30, 1945.

Related Articles

 * Cabanatuan Raid
 * The Fall of Bataan
 * Bataan Death March
 * The Philippines Campaign
 * Ghost Soldiers