Bataan Diary Copyright 2000, second printing
In addition to the personal accounts by James Rand of his army experiences in the Philippines, his capture on Bataan, and imprisonment in Japan, this book contains first hand accounts of the War in the Pacific, recorded by his two brothers: Willard Rand (Lt. Col. USMCR) and Paul Rand (C. P.O. USN, Ret'd)
IN LOVING MEMORY
James L. Rand November 21, 1912 - October 24, 1999
This second printing of Bataan Diary is dedicated to my husband of fifty-two years. Jimmy was a very kind and gentle man who sacrificed three and a half years of his life as a prisoner of war in World War II
Preface This is the diary of a $21-a-month soldier who was there when the Japanese invaded the Philippine Islands in December of 1941. As a mere private, a machine gunner and truck driver, he was not privy to high level military operations. He tells it like he saw and felt it. He experienced the war, capture, and final liberation with all its conflicting emotions: boredom, confusion, warm companionship, fright, discomfort, stupidities, cruelty, death, hunger, and pain. He was a young man who was homesick, who missed a girl friend and family, but who was tough and resilient enough to withstand star~ation, beatings and injuries that could have resulted in death. HI never lost faith", he said, "that some day the torment would end, that some day I would have a decent meal, that I would return to my home in the United States."
His story is told with actual excerpts from his diary, interspersed with personal interviews and official accounts from Army and Marine Corps records.