Having a father who was on Bataan and Corrigedor in WWII and part of the Death March and a POW for three and a half years, of the Japanese including the infamous Camp O'Donnel where four hundred American servicemen and two thousand Filipinos died a day, your beautiful missive on Victor resonated and I vividly remember reading the book. (I think we had to as seniors in high school). My dad's only comment about his experience in the war was that he was a 'guest of the emperor', as in Japanese emperor, for three and a half years. As incredible luck would have it, a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force who was studying for her Ph.D. with her specialization on why some POW's survived their experiences while others did not interviewed my Dad from June-October 1981. Hence we ended up with eighteen hours of tape. In the summer of 2021 a good friend, Mary Leon of Fishtown Productions LLC, agreed to transcribe the tapes word for word. My sister and I edited it and we put it in a book. There are several comments from my Dad about many of the issues Victor spoke to. One line I specifically remember was my Dad telling the Lt. Colonel, "You know, if you were animal you would have rolled over, stuck your legs up in the air and died. But the human spirit is something else. That will, that will to survive to beat anything is so incredible strong..." Thank you so much for your writing! It is truly a gift!!
One of my favorite parts of that book is when he discusses his imaginary conversations with his wife in times of suffering. He indicated that despite what might be observed, he was able to suffer less because of the value those imaginary conversations gave to him. There is a potential post here for you, I think, on the utility of faith in something, even despite the truth of reality.
Having a father who was on Bataan and Corrigedor in WWII and part of the Death March and a POW for three and a half years, of the Japanese including the infamous Camp O'Donnel where four hundred American servicemen and two thousand Filipinos died a day, your beautiful missive on Victor resonated and I vividly remember reading the book. (I think we had to as seniors in high school). My dad's only comment about his experience in the war was that he was a 'guest of the emperor', as in Japanese emperor, for three and a half years. As incredible luck would have it, a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force who was studying for her Ph.D. with her specialization on why some POW's survived their experiences while others did not interviewed my Dad from June-October 1981. Hence we ended up with eighteen hours of tape. In the summer of 2021 a good friend, Mary Leon of Fishtown Productions LLC, agreed to transcribe the tapes word for word. My sister and I edited it and we put it in a book. There are several comments from my Dad about many of the issues Victor spoke to. One line I specifically remember was my Dad telling the Lt. Colonel, "You know, if you were animal you would have rolled over, stuck your legs up in the air and died. But the human spirit is something else. That will, that will to survive to beat anything is so incredible strong..." Thank you so much for your writing! It is truly a gift!!
One of my favorite parts of that book is when he discusses his imaginary conversations with his wife in times of suffering. He indicated that despite what might be observed, he was able to suffer less because of the value those imaginary conversations gave to him. There is a potential post here for you, I think, on the utility of faith in something, even despite the truth of reality.
I love it. Very enlightening and motivational.