Abandoned on Bataan: One Man's Story of Survival [Paperback]

Oliver Craig Allen (Author), Mildred Faye Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Abandoned on Bataan: One Man's Story of Survival is a remarkable and enduring tale from a living survivor of the Bataan Death March, one of the most horrifying events of World War II. The story by Oliver 'Red' Allen is dedicated to his two sons on the 60th anniversary of the event.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Crimson Horse Ent. & Pub. Co. (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971318417
• ISBN-13: 978-0971318410
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lest we forget the horror that is war., March 8, 2003

By 

Timothy E. McMahon (Lincoln, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abandoned on Bataan: One Man's Story of Survival (Paperback)

Lest we forget the horror that is war.

Standing, as we are, on the cusp of what historians will call the Second Gulf War, the world is confronted once again with the terrors and brutality that warfare stirs in the human psyche. Each of our living generations carries distinct and vivid imagery of what those horrors are. The further back in time our collective memories stretch, the more brutal warfare becomes. Tragically, as our technology has advanced, our ability to wage a lightning war -- an antiseptic Blitzkrieg if you will -- has become so profound that the youngest of our generations have forgotten, or never learned, just how terrible war can be. In a world where our most recent conflicts have seen more friendly fire casualties than deaths attributable to combat, to be captured, tortured, and deprived of basic human necessities is now something of an anachronism to Americans in the 21st century.

To counter our fading memories, Oliver Craig Allen, with the help of his wife Mildred Faye Allen, has given us one man's perspective of the grim realities faced by thousands of American prisoners of war during World War II ' many of whom never returned home alive. The Allen's do not attempt to tell the sweeping and rich history of American combat in the Pacific during the war, nor have they put together a comprehensive history of Bataan, the Death March or even of the unit in which Red Allen served. Rather, this is a story of survival in the face of almost unimaginable brutality at the hands of Japanese captors. Throughout the story, the reader is met head-on with Allen's completely honest assessment of himself, not as a hero or otherwise notable figure but as a simple young man who ended up in a terrible situation from which there was little hope of escape. Allen's gritty determination and tenacious will to survive is perhaps the most salient feature in this work which traces Red Allen from the years prior to his enlistment through his freedom from captivity and to his return to life as a civilian deeply affected by his experiences in combat and captivity.

Among the many prominent facets of this work is Allen's depiction of the ever-present fog of confusion and chaos that surrounded the battle for the Philippines and life as a captive of the Japanese. This story does an exceptional job in painting a clear picture of the fall of the Philippines and the abandonment of our armed forces thereafter. As a stand-alone memoir, Abandoned on Bataan is a good read about a terrible time. It is also valuable as a component in the larger story of the hell that was life as a prisoner of war under a Japanese captor with only the vaguest regard for individual dignity and human life.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modest astonishing memoir!, March 3, 2003

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abandoned on Bataan: One Man's Story of Survival (Paperback)

One man's story of survival, as told to Mildred Allen. A teenage American GI recounts his years (1941-1945) of starvation, torture & germ warfare as a prisoner of war of the Japanese Empire in the Philippines & Manchuria.

ABANDONED ON BATAAN isn't about great generals or mighty battles, it is much, much more important, for it is about the survival of human dignity, compassion & hope against all odds. Yes, Red Allen ponders on the differences between cultures. Yes, his perspective of his captors is all-American, his point-of-view, however, is both prosaic & honest.

Yearning to become a pilot, teenager Oliver Allen answers the call to duty as the storms of war rumble over Europe & China. Unable to attain his dream of flying planes, he enlists anyway & is immediately shipped to the West Coast, on to Hawaii & then across the Pacific to the Philippine Islands into the maw of the Japanese advance.

That Red Allen survives is due as much to the simplicity & hardscrabble of his Texas childhood during the Great Depression as to the ebullience of his youth, not to mention pure damn luck!

Embedded in this memoir is history as well as a mystery. What were the reasons the world went to war in Europe & in Asia, & what were the feathers the POWs found in their Red Cross packages & parcels from home?

ABANDONED ON BATAAN is an astonishing read. Profoundly modest, detailed & authentic. Time & time again, this prototypical survivor has the opportunity to dwell on self-pity & whine about horrific injustices visited upon him & his fellow POWs, however, he rarely does so, to his credit. It's the story that counts & the Allens have written a riveting memoir.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First person account of a WWII POW captured on Bataan, April 20, 2003

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abandoned on Bataan: One Man's Story of Survival (Paperback)

"Abandoned on Bataan" is the detailed memoirs of Oliver Allen, one of may American soldiers left behind on the Bataan peninsula during World War II. Most people with even a basic knowledge of the history of the war in the Pacific know of the Bataan death march and the condition of the people when they were rescued from camps in China and Japan. What we generally don't know much about is what happened between those events. Oliver Allen's story fills in that detail with his personal experiences. He details the treatment received (including the rare instances of kindness shown by individual soldiers), the daily life in the camp, the work details, the health conditions, and the eventual liberation. It is a story of strength in the darkest hours of human travesty, it is a story of surviving, and it is a story of winning against all odds. For those with an interest in history and in particular an interest in Bataan or the war in the Pacific in general it is a highly recommended read.