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Ghost Soldiers

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description Ghost Soldiers Overview

Ghost Soldiers is a 2001 narrative non-fiction book by Hampton Sides that recounts the World War II rescue mission at Cabanatuan prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines. The book details the January 1945 raid by U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas who liberated over 500 Allied prisoners of war who had survived the Bataan Death March. Winner of the PEN USA award for nonfiction, the book spent 24 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and interweaves the rescue mission narrative with accounts of the prisoners' three years of captivity under Japanese control.

help Ghost Soldiers FAQ

What rescue mission does Ghost Soldiers recount?

Hampton Sides reconstructs the January 1945 raid on the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines. U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas worked together to free more than 500 Allied prisoners.

Why were the prisoners at Cabanatuan in such danger?

Many were survivors of the 1942 fall of Bataan, the Bataan Death March, and years of brutal captivity. As American forces returned to Luzon, planners feared the prisoners might be killed before they could be liberated.

Is Ghost Soldiers a novel or a work of history?

Ghost Soldiers is narrative nonfiction, published in 2001. Sides uses military records, survivor testimony, and individual stories to present documented events with the pacing of an adventure story.

How is Ghost Soldiers connected to the film The Great Raid?

The 2005 film The Great Raid dramatizes the same Cabanatuan rescue and draws partly on Ghost Soldiers. The film stars Benjamin Bratt and James Franco, while Sides's book provides substantially more background on the prisoners, Rangers, and Filipino guerrillas.

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