Beyond Courage: One Regiment Against Japan, 1941-1945 (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A vivid narrative of the men of New Mexico's 200th and 515th Coast Artillery (AA) units. Cave skillfully tells a story of hardship, bravery, unspeakable treatment, and a never-dying belief that their country would liberate them. They were the first unit to fire on the enemy in the Philippines and the last organized unit to lay down their arms when surrender came.

Review

"... a properly seen work about the heroic... ." -- Paul Horgan

"... a properly seen work about the heroic... ." -- Paul Horgan

"An important book for those who understand that some of the greatest wartime heroics take place behind barbed wire, unnoticed and unmatched." -- Flashpoint

"An incredible story. A testament to the ability of human beings to endure." -- El Paso Times

"Comprehensive and meticulously researched. Cave's remarkable writing gifts make this good, reliable book even better." -- New Mexico Magazine

"Comprehensive and meticulously researched. Cave's remarkable writing gifts make this good, reliable book even better." -- New Mexico Magazine

"Gives by far the best report yet on the homefront needling by the Bataan Relief Organization in the protest against the Europe-first-and-almost-only policy of the U.S. Government." -- The Cellar Book Shop

"New Mexicans at their best. I salute Dorothy Cave for this very worthwhile undertaking and years of unwavering dedication." -- -- LTG Edward G. Baca, Former Chief, National Guard Bureau

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Product Details

• Paperback: 466 pages
• Publisher: Yucca Tree Press; Revised edition (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881325148
• ISBN-13: 978-1881325147
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #247,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #40 in	Books > History > Asia > Philippines
  #47 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > New Mexico

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Focuses on one doomed unit from New Mexico the 200th Reg., February 13, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Hot Springs, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

Dorothy Cave has really done an excellent job of research and storytelling with this book. She was able to accuratly document the fate of many of the soildiers that were mobilized in 1940 in New Mexico.

I hope that Dorothy Cave will write a second book on the 200th and include more of the research material that would mean so much to the relatives and decendents of the warriers of the 200th Regiment.

Since I was born in Silver City NM and am now a member of the New Mexico National Guard, I request that all new Officers assigned to my Battalion to read Beyond Courage so that they may better understand the importance that history may place on their contirbution to New Mexico and the United States.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Heros display fine mettle amid gruesome horror, July 14, 2001

By	Robert J. Wisner (Las Cruces, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews

When I first moved to New Mexico in 1963, I became aware that many of the troops on the Bataan Death March came from New Mexico. They used to have an annual reunion here in Las Cruces, and I met a few of those men.

This book is by a professor of history at Eastern New Mexico University, who is I think a relative of one of the men on the march. The book entails the experiences of the 200th and 515th Coast Artiliary units, which were based in New Mexico.

I had always imagined that the worst part of their ordeal was the 60-mile forced march (and at war's end in 1945, I traversed that 60 miles in a jeep, a truly terrible ride in the Philippine heat and humidity). But far worse were the trips those heros made in the holds of enemy cargo vessels. They were put in the holds, so crowded that everyone had to stand, where the human urine and excrement simply dropped to the deck for everyone to stand in, and where people died standing up. The cruelty was worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

These units were the first to fire on the Japs and the last to lay down their arms when surrender came. And you learn of the espionage these guys performed when doing their slave labor in the factories and the mines of Japan and Manchuria. Such labor, and the treatment forced on the prisoners, were in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, of which Japan was a signatory.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author is a superb writer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read, January 27, 2007

By	anonymous (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Courage: One Regiment Against Japan, 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

Cave has done her homework following the New Mexicans through the Bataan Death March and labor camps.