Bataan A Survivor's Story By Eugene Boyt

Eugene Boyt was an American soldier who served during World War II. Boyt was a commissioned officer, rank of Lieutenant, and an Engineer. He grew up in the mid-west, living a rough childhood through the Great Depression, but still accomplished many goals like College and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Bataan: A Survivor’s Story, is Boyt’s recollection of his life during World War II as an Army Officer, and a Prisoner of War (POW). Boyt uses extensive detail when describing the events of the fall of Clark Field, the Bataan Death March, and living at various prison camps throughout the Philippines and Japan. His writing feels very honest when he describes the activities of both American and Japanese soldiers, both praising and condemning

Every opinion he drew, he substantiated with an event or reason that he witnessed firsthand. Boyt’s introduction and the first two chapters provide the reader with key details of Boyt’s background and what led him to joining the Army. Though not directly supportive of his reasonings to write the book, this helps readers identify with Boyt and show his character. He uses these chapters to also set the stage of his initial activities at Clark Field and provide details that help readers visualize the events to come. Chapters three and four are when Boyt describes America’s entrance into the War. Unlike most Americans who heard it on the news, Boyt received word from one of his subordinates that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Not long after was Clark Field, where Boyt was stationed, attacked by the Japanese. Boyt’s firsthand accounts of these events help show the magnitude of the attack and the diversity Americans went through to stay in the fight. He uses these events as key points throughout the book, describing how Americans held off the Japanese at Clark Field and Bataan for four months. Boyt believes this resistance enabled Americans to rally forces and halt Japan from gaining further ground in the pacific. The Americans eventually surrendered, and this is where Boyt’s captivity begins. His depiction of the initial prisoner linkup at Marivales airfield sets the tone for how the rest of his

He described men being made examples of with vicious beatings. Shortly after, the Bataan Death March began. Boyt describes the horrors that Japanese