Conduct Under Fire

By: John Glusman

Narrated by: Harry Chase

The fierce, bloody battles of Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines are legendary in the annals of World War II. Those who survived faced the horrors of life as prisoners of the Japanese.

In Conduct Under Fire, John A. Glusman chronicles these events through the eyes of his father and three fellow Navy doctors captured on Corregidor in May 1942. Here are the dramatic stories of the fall of Bataan, the siege of "the Rock," the daily struggles to tend the sick, the wounded, and the dying, during some of the heaviest bombardments of World War II. Once captive, the doctors and corpsmen waged a desperate war against disease and starvation for nearly three and a half years, amid an enemy who viewed surrender as a disgrace. To survive, the four POWs tried to function as a family. But the ties that bind couldn't protect them from a ruthless counteroffensive waged by American submarines or from the B-29 raids that burned Japan's major cities to the ground. Based on extensive interviews with American, British, Australian, and Japanese veterans, as well as dairies, letters, and war crimes testimony, this is a harrowing account of a brutal clash of cultures, of a race war that escalated into total war.©2005 John A. Glusman; (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

I wanted more

I was reading this via Audiobook, and I picked up an abridged version, so perhaps, some of my concerns would be addressed in the abridged edition. It wasn't until the very end that I saw what the book was actually about. The title speaks of 4 doctors, yet I felt them disappear often in to the larger narratives of the war, the POW at large, and really missed them. I wanted to know and understand these men, and felt like I had so few glimpses of them. This book seems really to have been written by a son of one of the doctors to make sense of it all. In the end, he speaks of the role of teacher changing hands. That is the father is the teacher of his own narrative and the son is the teacher of the broader context. I'm always challenged by these stories, because I do understand the Japanese cultural context for the brutality, yet, Japan was a signatory of the 1929 Geneva Convention. I do appreciate that the author let the brutality and the kindnesses come through on their own. It's an interesting book. It seems to me there a number of books more dramatic or more in depth.

Compelling Story

A little disappointed as I listened that only a fraction of the story surrounded the four doctors mentioned in the book’s description. With my Great Uncle having been a POW doctor I was hoping to learn more about what his experience had been like. However most of the story revolved around all that was happening around the doctors. That being said, the story was still very interesting, well written and well performed.

Outstanding chronicle

The author does an excellent job of describing the role and life of the military physician in war and captivity, including their need to provide leadership and demonstrate ingenuity.

A must-read/hear

It took me twice to listen and even went to Corregidor, Philippines to really appreciate this historical narrative. My dad was also part of the death march and luckily he escaped and survived to write his experience during his escape.. then surrender to get treatment for malaria. Mr. John Glusman ( I hope to meet him sometime) is an eloguent and erudite writer and his research and knowlege of the war in the Pacific is a lasting artifact of history worth retelling. Sad that the younger generations take the lessons of history too lightly but we are so lucky to live our lives today.