Living in the Shadow of a Hell Ship
Georgianne Burlage
(Editor)
Description
U.S. Marine George Burlage was part of the largest surrender in American history at Bataan and Corregidor in the spring of 1942, where the Japanese captured more than 85,000 troops. More than forty percent would not survive World War II. His prisoner-of-war ordeal began at Cabanatuan near Manila, where the death rate in the early months of World War II was fifty men a day. Sensing that Cabanatuan was a death trap, he managed to get transferred to the isolated island of Palawan to help build an airfield for his captors.
Malaria and other tropical diseases caused him to be sent to Manila for treatment in 1943 (a year later, 139 of his fellow POWs were massacred on Palawan). After another year of building airfields, Burlage survived a 38-day voyage in the hull of a Japanese hell ship and ended the war as a miner for Mitsubishi in northern Japan. By sheer luck, strength, and a bit of sabotage, he survived and was freed in September 1945 after the Japanese surrendered. He had endured starvation and torture and lost half of his prewar weight, but no one had killed him.
After the war Burlage became a journalist and wrote about his POW experiences. His daughter Georgianne discovered his writings after George passed away in 2008, and edited them with additional historical material to provide context for his World War II experiences in the Pacific.
Product Details
| Publisher | University of North Texas Press |
| Publish Date | August 27, 2020 |
| Pages | 256 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781574418088 |
| Dimensions | 9.1 X 5.9 X 0.9 inches | 1.1 pounds |
Reviews
"This is a moving tribute to a resilient Marine who beat the odds through three years as a captive of the Japanese military in World War II. George Burlage's daughter has carefully assembled his personal notes, interviews, letters, and images into a captivating account of his horrifying wartime experiences. Living in the Shadow of a Hell Ship is an inspirational survival story of a man who truly defined America's Greatest Generation."--Stephen L. Moore, author of As Good as Dead: The Daring Escape of American POWs from a Japanese Death Camp
"Marine George Burlage survived three years of horror at the hands of the Japanese--starvation, disease, a parade of prisoner-of-war camps and nearly forty days crammed in the hold of a notorious Hell Ship. He later recounted his agonizing experience on legal pads, in binders and even on the backs of envelopes. After Burlage's unexpected death, his daughter, Georgianne, discovered these powerful writings in a box in a closet, prompting her to sort and compile her father's memories, letters, and photos and provide the connective tissue to bring us his story. Living in the Shadow of a Hell Ship is an incredible testament to one man's struggle to survive against all odds as well as a daughter's tenacity and love to make sure his story would live on for future generations. This book should be required reading for all Americans."--James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor and Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila
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