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When it rains it pours. No sooner do I finish one book on American prisoners of war in Japan during World War II than an even more provocative one appears. While Linda Hillenbrand brilliantly documented the remarkable life of Olympian Louie Zamberini and his survival at sea and in prison in “Unbroken,’’ Larry Colton gives an even more measured account of four sailors in “No Ordinary Joes: the Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life.”
Unlike Hillenbrand, who was already well known due to her best-seller, “Seabiscuit,’’ Colton has flown under the radar. He was a relatively unknown pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies in the late 1960s, and has written three fairly obscure books before this one. However, he has finally connected in a big way.
Ten years in the making, his writing is every bit as good as Hillenbrand’s, and, believe it or not, produces a storyline that is even more compelling.
What sets Colton’s book apart is the four men he covers.
They are the “everyman,’’ men who were products of the Great Depression where they were starving half the time, living in houses with no indoor plumbing, and alternately freezing or boiling to death depending on the time of year.
The men were a cross-section of America as they hailed from upstate New York, Texas, Oregon and Washington. Their lives were so difficult that all of them joined the Navy before Pearl Harbor simply to have a steady income. They actually enjoyed boot camp as it provided three square meals a day and a bed to sleep on.
Colton tells their stories by focusing on each one individually in alternating chapters but keeping the time line consistent. He examines their boyhoods, how they ended up in the Navy, life at Pearl Harbor after the war began (Honolulu was described as a dump, not a paradise), and the good times in Australia where the women were both plentiful and grateful to have the Americans there.
After two months of joyous living in Australia, the four men were assigned to the submarine “Grenadier” and went off on assignment. The captain, who was eventually hailed as a hero by most of his men, initially made a tactical blunder when he surfaced the submarine in enemy waters and left it open to attack. The resulting torpedoes wrecked the sub and led to capture by the Japanese. The “hero’’ label came after his men saw the way he was beaten and tortured on a daily basis (including severe waterboarding) yet managed to survive the war.
The captain’s men fared little better. They were constantly beaten and starved, and often suffered from disease. Their treatment was probably due to the Japanese guards wanting to find a way to feel better about themselves.
After all, they had to do something to feel superior since they hadn’t qualified for the regular army. They also thought it was unconscionable to be captured rather than commit “hari-kari.”
It should be noted though that there were some Japanese guards who showed kindness to the American prisoners. Their actions were heroic in their own way. The guards risked their own safety by showing compassion to the enemy. Brutality wasn’t universal.
As demoralizing as prison life was, post-war life was no picnic either.
All four of these men (and countless thousands of others) did not have it easy in the post-war world. Each one was touched by tragedy when it came to their own marriages and children. Fortunately there was at least one unexpected but beautiful outcome that made up for much of the despair (I won’t give away any more than that!).
Colton spent 10 years researching the stories of these four men. It was supposed to take a couple of years but the more involved he got the more complex his odyssey became.
The wait was worth it. The end result is a narrative so riveting that it’s impossible to put down. After reading this wonderful book you’ll know why these veterans deserved the moniker of “The Greatest Generation.’’
DAVID KENT is the Cooperstown Village Librarian.
Book Notes
January 27, 2011
Book Notes: Author Colton connects with latest book
- Book Notes
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- Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career' Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
- 'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
- Book takes readers on path for equal rights One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
- Piazza wasn't considered much of a prospect for the majors It's probably going to be a quiet few days in Cooperstown when Hall of Fame weekend rolls around this summer. The baseball writers did not elect anybody this year despite some heavyweight candidates. The problem was that at least three of the poster boys for the steroids era, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot for the first time. The writers were clearly making a statement when nobody got elected.
- Who would have thought e-books would be so popular? When I was in library school 25 years ago, a future concept was presented that seemed absurd at the time. It was the notion you could read books on a small computerized device about the size of a pocketbook.
- 2012 was a year of great films, future favorites The year 2012 was a blockbuster year for great films. Several of the movies up for Best Picture would have been runaway favorites almost any other time. They will make for easy pickings for the library when they become available on DVD.
- Blockbusters are not the only movies worth watching Hollywood makes enough movies that there are always a few that you don't hear about until they are on DVD. Sometimes they are simply horrible films that end their theater run quickly, but often they are "diamonds in the rough" that made their mark at film festivals.
- Mickey Mantle biography shows the good and the ugly It has become obvious in recent days that bestowing "hero" status on athletes is a misplaced priority.
- Book looks at 50 years of James Bond movies When I was in elementary school, James Bond was all the rage. For some reason I didn't see any of the early films with Sean Connery playing the infamous 007 British spy, but my siblings and several friends certainly did.
- Two thumbs up for the film 'Arbitrage" Arbitrage is a word that 99.99 percent of us probably never heard of until the movie with that title appeared. I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered why nobody had heard of it. It refers to Wall Street financiers and has a meaning so convoluted that I couldn't figure it out.
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