WWII bought much suffering to the military that deserved for their nation. The only thing possibly worse than having to fight was being a prisoner of war as Ike Hylton was for several years of that war. This book was written by Ike's son to get the word out of what a hero and great gentleman his Dad was. Shortly into the war the Japanese captured Ike and he was subjected to so much misery from beatings, forced marches, lack of food and water, placed in situations where there was no room to sit down or rid your body of human waste, and much more . The Japanese soldiers, some seeming doing all they could kill their prisoners off so there would be more food for them, treated every man like they were not human.
The parts of the book that tell about Ike Hylton are great. The experiences that the author was told to by his Dad were drawn from many previous years of his ninety-plus age. The only part I did not especially like about this book is the many pages of philosophy from James Hylton. He got off on a tangent that might have meant so much to his life but it had very little to do with his Dad's military life. The first forty-eight pages could have been told in about ten pages and still gotten his personal thoughts of life and all that life entails in his mind. Anyone that lives a good moral life does not need the long sermon that was given. It had me wondering if the entire book was written as such but thankfully when the author got directly to his Dad, his writing was very good. His description of what his Dad went through will bring tears to any reader. How humans, if you could call the treatment the Japanese cave their captives- human, could do such things is beyond my mind.
Ike lived a great life and it is a miracle that he made it through all those forced marches and existence in the filthy places in which he was placed. After the military, Ike became a US Marshall for many years and he appeared to enjoy that work. But when he was trying to sleep, his past kept coming back to him and interrupted most times of rest and sleep. I have read many books about WWII including the treatment of prisoners and from that information I know that there is no doubt that Ike went through the experiences stated in this book and possibly worse. As of the time this book was written, Ike was still going well while in his nineties. There are so few men left from that war that the ranks become thinner every day. God bless Ike, others like him, and his son for writing about Ike's life.