Some Survived

by Manny Lawton

Book Overview

Manny Lawton was a twenty-three-year-old Army captain on April 8, 1942, when orders came to surrender to the Japanese forces invading the Philippine Islands. The next day, he and his fellow American and Filipino prisoners set out on the infamous Bataan Death March--a forced six-day, sixty-mile trek under a broiling tropical sun during which approximately eleven thousand men died or were bayoneted, clubbed, or shot to death by the Japanese. Yet terrible...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565124340
• ISBN13: 9781565124349
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Courage and the American spirit at its' best

I am reviewing the 1984 hardback edition of this book which was entitled "Some Survived. An Epic Account of Japanese Captivity During WWII." Although this is not the first book on The Death March I have read, it is probably the best. It is well written and easy to read. The thing I liked best was the fact that not only did it give, in great detail, an eye witness account of the atrocities committed by the Japanese on American POW's in the Phillipines, it went on to describe life in the camps after the march, then on to a very detailed description of their treatment on the 'Hell Ships' that took the prisoners to prison camps in Japan. This is not a book of despair only. It is also of faith, guts, determination, and final victory by Manny Lawton and a few others that survived this horrible period of time. It also prompts us to remember those that didn't. God Bless them.

An important historical documentation

On April 8, 1942, Manny Lawton was a 23 year old army captain stationed on Bataan when orders came down to surrender to the Japanese who had invaded and captured the Philippine Islands in the opening months of World War II in the Pacific Theatre. Lawton and his fellow U.S. troops and their Filipino allies were compelled to endure a six-day, sixty-mile trek forever after known as the Bataan Death March, during which approximately eleven thousand men died of exhaustion or were murdered by the Japanese by bayoneting, clubbing, or simply shooting their prisoners outright. By the time the war ended in August 1945, about 57 percent of the American troops who surrendered to the Japanese on Bataan had died in confinement at the hands of the enemy. Some Survived: An Eyewitness Account Of The Bataan Death March And The Men Who Lived Through It is an important historical documentation and seminal contribution to World War II Pacific Theatre reference collections.

Japanese Atrocities at Their Worst

This is an amazing report of an American soldier held captive by the Japaese in the Phippines and the island of Japan itself for three and one-half years after his capture in World War II.How he could remember the details of brutal beatings, starvation and resulting illnesses is almost beyond belief. His experiences with fellow prisoners runs the gamut from the highest heroism to utter selfishness. Every day he looked forward to freedom, only to be repeatedly disappointed until that memorable day when he met the invading U.S. forces and he knew that he was free ,atlast! The dscription of his home coming is heart wrenching as it was for all of us on our return. This book's contents are enough to make almost anyone swear to never buy another Japanese produced article.met h

excellent, tears you to the heart

This account is the best I've read of many books on the POWs of the Japanese. It puts the reader in the gruesome reality of the Bataan Death March and all that followed in Camp O'Donnell and the hellships. The lesson learned is one of survival through almost unsurmountable horrors. Anyone who reads this account will have nothing to complain about. Judy Garofano (garofano@mail.idt.net), Queens, NY

A first-rate, inspiring chronicle of survival.

The author, Manny Lawton, was among the small percentage of survivors of the Bataan Death March. He tells the story not just of the last days before the Japanese takeover of Corregidor and of the walk itself, but also of the years of tribulations that the remaining survivors somehow endured. The book is an outstanding account of the little-known story about what took place subsequent the Death March, and is a tribute to the human spirit.