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.
Rescue at Los Baños is the spellbinding survival story of more than two thousand American and Allied civilian prisoners of war—men, women, and children—held in the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II, and the elite 11th Airborne Division’s heart-pounding mission in a race against the clock to rescue them from behind enemy lines
As U.S. victory in the Pacific drew near, Japanese soldiers at the Los Baños Internment Camp became increasingly sadistic and began systematically starving, beating, and killing their captives. Fearing the loss of more innocent lives, General Douglas MacArthur gave the 11th Airborne Division the dangerous mission of freeing these beleaguered men, women, and children in a deadly race against the clock. Rescue at Los Baños deftly weaves together dramatic accounts of the prison camp with detailed analysis of the complex military operation being planned and carried out, documenting the incredible story of the prisoners and those who risked their lives to save them.
"Reads like an adventure thriller and sheds new light on one of the most compelling stories of World War II. ... Anyone who enjoyed Laura Hillenbrand's
Unbroken or Mitchell Zuckoff's
Lost in Shangri-La should check this one out."
