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Rating: 
Summary: A Perfect Storm, Manchurian Style
Review: Any reader who is curious about the Korean War, and about the prisoner-of-war experience in particular, needs to read this book. This is the little-known story of American soldiers caught off-guard and unprepared for the wrong war at the wrong time, in the wrong place. The stories of capture, torture, and incarceration are shocking enough. But the author makes it clear that the POWs' challenges did not end with their release. Added to the survivors' physical and psychological burdens from the war was a humiliating reception at home. This was on two levels: indifference on the part of the public, and the paranoid scruitiny of the McCarthy-era government, which made far too much of supposed brainwashing. It's a breathtaking story to which most Americans remain oblivious today. When reading this book, the reader wonders how he/she might cope in this situation. At least this exercise generates a great deal of respect for the men to somehow survived to share their recollections for this book. I'm withholding a fifth star only beacuse of the almost excusive focus on American G.I.s. There are British, French, Canadian, Turkish, and many other U.N. troops whose POW experience is noteworthy.
Rating: 
Summary: REMEMBERED POW OF A FORGOTTEN WAR
Review: THE AUTHOR MANAGED TO PLACE THE PROPER TONE AND ETHOS
GIVING A TRUE EXPERENCIAL VIEW OF THE POW'S EXPERENCE.IT IS THE FIRST BOOK I READ FROM AN AUTHOR AND NOT A EX-POW
WHO PROVIDED THE TRUTH IN THIS TIME OF OUR MILITARY HISTORY. AS AN EX-POW OF THAT WAR I FEEL IT SAID AND INDEED GAVE A PROPER
ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY PART OF 1950-1951, AND THE HERRENDOUS
CONDITIONS THAT EXISTED. IT IS MY HOPE SCHOOLS WILL SECURE THIS BOOK FOR THE LIBRARY AND THE HISTORY TEACHER WILL RECONMEND THE STUDENTS TO REVIEW IT FOR ASSAYS.
Rating:
Summary: Manchurian Canddate? Not! Good men suffered.
Review: The film Manchurian Candidate was held up, because JFK was killed just before it was to be released. As a suspense film, it was very good. As a history , or metaphor for American soldiers caputured in the Korean War, it was and remains false and ugly. New Yorker, a magazine long noted for good reporting, contributed to what amounted to a "black list" of our military men with stories that were, at best gross exaggerations of true stores. This book, at last, gives the men who were incarcerated for months and years in that cold barren countr -a voice. In the tradition of Studs Turkel, they tell of their experience. Mostly men hastily trained, they faced brutal captors and brutal conditions. If few were "heroic",very very few betrayed either country or colleague. Despite the sensational blather that followed. Worse!. When freed, they were put on ships and rather than receive care & TLC they were subject to interrogation Even back home, the Army , the FBI hounded some. This was the time of our own "red terror" I was drafted to the USMC-- and am proud to read that the Marines did not harass their men after they were freed. Care & treatment floundered . I know, I worked at the VA Hospital in Dayton Ohio for 20 years. Nearly 30 years later the government made rules that made sense. Former Prisoners of War received a special focus, with the presuption that after such lengthy exposure to brutal contidions, many medical & emotional problems were very likely to show up. Combat vets do not often talk about the events that lead to PTSD. Former POWs. have an additional memory bank of horror This book is not a "plea for help". It is a bit late anyway. But if you can put aside your need for mere flag waving, this book will give insights about war and it cosequences. I found a new respect for these men. I thought I had some understanding, but my vision was nearly that of a blind man
Rating:
Summary: Manchurian Canddate? Not! Good men suffered.
Review: The film Manchurian Candidate was held up, because JFK was killed just before it was to be released. As a suspense film, it was very good. As a history , or metaphor for American soldiers caputured in the Korean War, it was and remains false and ugly. New Yorker, a magazine long noted for good reporting, contributed to what amounted to a "black list" of our military men with stories that were, at best gross exaggerations of true stores. This book, at last, gives the men who were incarcerated for months and years in that cold barren countr -a voice. In the tradition of Studs Turkel, they tell of their experience. Mostly men hastily trained, they faced brutal captors and brutal conditions. If few were "heroic",very very few betrayed either country or colleague. Despite the sensational blather that followed. Worse!. When freed, they were put on ships and rather than receive care & TLC they were subject to interrogation Even back home, the Army , the FBI hounded some. This was the time of our own "red terror" I was drafted to the USMC-- and am proud to read that the Marines did not harass their men after they were freed. Care & treatment floundered . I know, I worked at the VA Hospital in Dayton Ohio for 20 years. Nearly 30 years later the government made rules that made sense. Former Prisoners of War received a special focus, with the presuption that after such lengthy exposure to brutal contidions, many medical & emotional problems were very likely to show up. Combat vets do not often talk about the events that lead to PTSD. Former POWs. have an additional memory bank of horror This book is not a "plea for help". It is a bit late anyway. But if you can put aside your need for mere flag waving, this book will give insights about war and it cosequences. I found a new respect for these men. I thought I had some understanding, but my vision was nearly that of a blind man
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