They Fought Alone: A True Story of a Modern American Hero

by John Keats

Overview

When the American forces in the Philippines surrendered in May 1942, a mining engineer named Wendell Fertig chose to take his chances in the jungle. What happened to him during nearly three years behind enemy lines is the amazing story that John Keats tells in They Fought Alone.

With the aid of a handful of Americans who also refused to surrender, Fertig led thousands of Filipinos in a seemingly hopeless war against the Japanese. They made bullets from curtain rods; telegraph wire from iron fence. They fought off sickness, despair and rebellion within their own forces. Their homemade communications were MacArthur’s eyes and ears in the Philippines. When the Americans finally returned to Mindanao, they found Fertig virtually in control of one of the world’s largest islands, commanding an army of 35,000 men, and bringing a measure of hope to a beleaguered people.

John Keats, who also served in the Philippines, captures all the pain, brutality, and courage of this incredible drama. They Fought Alone is a testament to the ingenuity and sheer guts of an authentic American hero.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630260767
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	07/07/2015
Pages:	442
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

John Keats (1921–2000) was the author of eleven books, including The Crack in the Picture Window, School without Scholars, and The Insolent Chariots. He wrote the award-winning television play Conformity, and his articles have appeared in more than thirty national magazines.

Read an Excerpt

For the three Americans, each step was a wrench and pull, for their shoes sank into the suck and squelch of the trail; the foot ahead, sinking, could find little purchase from which to pull up the foot that followed; meanwhile the warm rain beat down through the billion leaves of the forest and ran down their collars and, mingling with their sweat, collected inside their waists at their belts, and soaked through the canvas packs. They worked through the wet and the muck in a stifling heat, swinging bolos to clear the new vines that had looped across the trail since the last travelers had come that way, and by noon on their first day they were tired beyond caring.

They had also reached that point of fatigue where no man will admit to another that he is tired, each subconsciously thinking if he can make it, so can I, and the sight of the spindly barefoot children was a constant reproof that drove them (and, of course, the children) for yet another hour through the mold-smelling wet tangle of the jungle web.

Each of the three Americans was a proud, powerful man. Fertig was tall, deep-chested, with the long flat muscles of the trained athlete that he still was in his early forties; Hedges, outwardly a wisp of a man, was yet compounded of sinews bound together by anger; Offret was a stocky engine built for . brutal wear. Yet this jungle through which Fertig could not stride; which Offret could not smash; which Hedges could not sear or lay waste—this thing of ooze and give and grip; this steaminess and wet slap of leaves; this all-surrounding, dark, unending one-foot-at-a-time wrench and skid—brought all thought to nothing and spent their strength on nothing.

Table of Contents

Book One: Surrender / 3 Book Two: Decision / 75 Book Three: The Dragon’s Teeth Book Four: Harvest / 169 Book Five: Morgan / 263 Book Six: War / 315 Envoi / 433 Appendix / 447

Editorial Reviews

"This remarkable story of guerrilla fighting in the Philippines during World War II is a serious military book that is also an acutely perceptive study of human nature under almost unbearable stress. Taken at either level, it is absorbing reading. . . . More remarkable still, though it contains death, torture, and desolation, it bubbles with humor.” —S. L. A. Marshall, The New York Times Book Review

“A true and admirably researched account of an American hero who refused to accept defeat. His courage was incredible and his resourcefulness equally so. . . . I have read scores of books in this genre and Keats’ is one Of the best.” —Chicago Tribune

“An engrossing account about one of the most unusual heroes of World War II . . . reads like a novel but is based on fact...a remarkable addition to the Nation’s history of World War II, as well as being a tribute well deserved by a man.” —San Francisco Sunday Chronicle

“An inspiring story—one which proves, among other things, that Americans can, when necessary, fight a successful guerrilla war.” —New York World-Telegram and Sun

“A compelling and rewarding tale of endurance and character.” —Time

From the Publisher