P.O.W. in the Pacific: Memoirs of an American Doctor in World War II

Rating:
Summary: It's a page-turner; I read it in one sitting.
Review: Overall, it's a fine book, and I'm glad I read it. The maps were very helpful, as were the introductions to each chapter that put Dr. Donovan's experiences in the larger context of events. But I have some beefs: (1) It *sounds* like an old man telling the story. Even if the authors had not disclosed this, you could still tell because Dr. Donovan telescopes interesting details & stories in the way old men often do. My other concern about this oral history is the 50 year delay between the events and the re-telling, as time selects memories and the hard edge comes off the stories. (2) The chapter on the home front was uninteresting. The wife's experience seems little different from the thousands of wives of POWs/MIAs in the history of warfare. I did like the "stopped bumping" description, though. :-) (3) It would have been nice to have at least a paragraph or two on how the author's war experiences affected his post-war life. What are the long-term effects of experiences like this? 50 years of hindsight would have been valuable in this regard. (4) I'm a military physician, so I was looking for medical details about captivity. I can fully understand why they may have been omitted, however. I can only hope that I never have to endure what Dr. Donovan did, and if I do, that I can measure up with the same courage, skill, and resourcefulness that he displayed.