Overview

Twenty-one year old Daniel J. Pitzel enlists in the USMC, and completes basic training in San Diego. He sails aboard the SS Saratoga, on the Pacific side of the Caribbean, for practical seamanship. At the end of his first hitch, Daniel reenlists in the Marine Corps and joins the 4 Th Marines ending up in Shanghai, China. Marines considered themselves lucky if they were posted to Shanghai, where many foreign troops protected the International Settlement and their Consulates. Daniel's main duty was guarding sections of the perimeter of the Settlement. The 'Brass Rail, ' a restaurant and lounge was the Fourth Marine's main hangout. It was located on 'Blood Alley' and allowed Taxi Dancers, prostitutes, and gambling. Marines liked being posted to Shanghai, because the American dollar bought four Shanghai dollars. When Daniel's time for reenlisting arrives, he becomes a volunteer fireman, in the Marine Reserve. He also becomes the Manager of the Brass Rail. In 1938 the Japanese invade China. The International Settlement is safe. In 1940, Daniel marries a Russian girl who lived most of her life in Harbin, China. War with Japan is imminent. In 1941 Daniel is conscripted and is sent to Olongapo on the eastern coast of the Bataan Peninsula. Pearl Harbor is bombed and Daniel cannot get back to Shanghai and Vera. Daniel, a gunnery sergeant, defends Bataan for three months under severe conditions. There is little food and many Marines succumb to Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Beri Beri. Bataan falls along with Corregidor where Daniel is captured. He spends over three years in POW camps. Later he is taken to Japan aboard a Japanese 'Hell Ship'. He is a slave laborer in a Japanese coal mine for a year. The A-Bomb destroys Hiroshima; the war ends. Daniel is reunited with his family

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9781478779056

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