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Jim's Journey: A Wake Island Civilian POW's Story

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This is the story of a civilian POW contracted to help build a naval air base on Wake Island shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a thoroughly researched and compelling account of a young man whose early life and influences shaped him in ways that would only be beneficial to his efforts to survive terrible hardhips later. After playing a vital role as a civilian defender of Wake Island, Jim spent more than four years in various POW camps. On many occasions, he was a hairs breadth away from death, but his persistent courage and ingenuity sustained him. He used his intuitive understanding of Japanese culture to outwit the enemy in ways that required them to see things his way and thus spare his life. Japanese pride dictated that they give in to prisoners' demands at times in order to "save face". Jim's keen intelligence and resourcefulness kept him alert at all times as he constantly sought ways to help himself and his fellow prisoners to stay alive.
This book is a remarkable memoir, vivid and graphic, sometimes uncomfortably so, in its portrayal of the horrific experiences of the POWs and their unflinching will to survive. It is a living testimony to the freedom of the American spirit and should inspire great respect for all those men, whether military or civilian, who did not shrink from the responsibility of defending this country in a dark time of history. Some of these heroes,like Jim, were fortunate enough to live to tell us about it.

Jim's Journey: A Wake Island Civilian POW's Story is the compelling, true-life account of James A. Allen and his survival of 1,354 days of imprisonment as a civilian prisoner of war after being captured by the Imperial Japanese navy in December 1941 when the Marine garrison on Wake Island was finally overwhelmed. Jim was held in Japanese POW camps in China, Korea, and Japan. In addition to his eye-witness account of life as a POW, Jim's Journey also relates what happened to him when he was finally liberated and returned to America. It would be thirty-seven years before the U.S. government would official recognize that Jim and other eligible civilian POWs for their contributions to the dramatic defense of Wake Island against insurmountable hostile forces. Jim's Journey is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to the history of POW experiences arising from World War II in the Pacific Theater.

God Bless Jim and all his Wake Island buddies. There is a place already set aside in heaven for all of you.

This is a very detailed and educational story. It's great to have a personal account to better understand the sometimes forgotten history of Japanese POW's during WWII.

In "Jim's Journey: A Wake Island Civilian POW's Story," LA Magnino has done a magnificent job of recounting her father Jim Allen's experiences as a Wake Island contract worker, defender, and prisoner of the Japanese.
Jim's story is but a microcosm of the men, civilians and military alike, galvanized by the Great Depression whose paths led them into one of the greatest sagas of WWII history.
Magnino's writing style is clear and rivals many of the other Wake Island stories I've read. She carefully negotiates her father's less than colloquial English to extract a tidy narrative. Maginio's work also reveals, to the credit of her father's skills of observation, many details of the Wake experience not previously documented by historical scholars.
While I would not consider "Jim's Journey" a necessarily scholarly work itself, it does remain an important contribution to the historical records of WWII.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE THE OPINIONS OF ALL READERS!

I received this book for Christmas, autographed by the Author & Jim Allen from one of my daughters. The book is very well written and has lots of interesting photos and illustrations to complement and authenticate the story. It certainily gives those of us that were too young to fight or be involved in WW II a better insight of what transpired to our servicemen and civilians that were taken as POW's by the Japanese. The recoginition of the civilian POWs was a very long time in comming, which unfortunately happens all to frequently.

I would highly recommend this book for all.

It's interesting to see how a prisoner of war can recall with such detail, even though they may not have spoken of the ordeal in years... Magnino does a wonderful job of preserving Jim's memories... Especially interesting to those who know of Pearl Harbor, but not of other POWs and battles.