Give Us this DayIn April 1942, Sidney Stewart, a 21-year-old U.S. Army enlisted man, was captured at Bataan. For nearly three and a half years, until he was liberated by the Russians in Manchuria, he remained a prisoner of war. Here is his account of this long and terrifying captivity. "It is one of the most harrowing and debilitating chronicles that I have read. . . . He describes the ordeal brilliantly; he harbors no resentments apparently, and he has emerged from an inferno of bestiality with utter serenity." -- Maxwell Geismar, Saturday Review "An impressive and moving book." -- David Dempsey, New York Times "His is no ordinary prisoner-of-war story; better written than most, it contains no tales of swashbuckling defiance. . . . The force of this book is its testimony to the indomitable strength of the human spirit." -- Manchester Guardian "The plain narrative of this story would by itself have been fascinating, but this book is far more than a story, it is a work of art." -- André Siegfried, Academie Francaise "Sidney Stewart's composed narrative is one of the most noble documents ever penned by a prisoner of war. The companions he writes about remained men to the end, until at last only one man remained; he survived to write this unforgettable, this magnificent story." -- George Slocombe, New York Herald Tribune [Paris] |
Contents
Manila | 9 |
Bataan Peninsula Luzon Philippine Islands | 42 |
Fall of Bataan | 64 |
Camp ODonnell Luzon | 82 |
Davao Penal Colony Southern Mindanao | 99 |
Davao Penal Colony Davao Mindanao | 108 |
Summer | 119 |
AugustOctober | 133 |
En Route to Japan | 160 |
Tennis Court Olongapoo Luzon | 180 |
Christmas | 193 |
January | 202 |
Formosa to Japan | 217 |
Modji Japan | 234 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
afraid afternoon American asked Bataan began benzedrine beri-beri beside bodies bombs burning Camp O'Donnell carabao Christmas cold Corregidor crawled crying dark dead dirty bastards eyes face faint Father Cummings fear feel feet fell felt fight Filipinos fire floor foxhole friends going gone grabbed gripped guns hair haitai hand head heard hold hope inside Jap guards Japan Japanese John jungle knew laid laughed legs live looked Luzon malaria Manila Maurii Mindanao morning move never night Nips Pasig River planes pray pulled quinine Rass reached rice roar screamed ship shook sick slowly smiled smoke Sodium Amytal someone soon Stew stood Suddenly talk things thought told tried truck trying turned violin voice waited walked wall wanted watched Weldon and Hughes wondered wounded yelled