Lester.I.Tenney's World War 2 memoir "My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan death march" is a grim tale of survival through the horrible days of the most devastating war of human history. Known to his comrades as 'Ten-Spot', Mr. Tenney participated in the defense of Bataan in Philippines against the massive onslaught of the Japanese army. He belonged to the B company, 192 Tank battalion. In his memoir he has given acute blood-chilling description of the infamous Bataan death march which he had fortunately survived. While reading it i was appalled by the barbarity of the Japanese guards who accompanied the tired,disease-infested,thirst-maddened American and Filipino soldiers on a 80-mile painstaking journey to the notorious POW camp O'Donnell. According to the author's own words 'stop walking, and you would be killed instantly.' The conquering Japanese did never show slightest mercy to the defeated soldiers who were forced to surrender due to lack of food, medical supplies and fighting weapons. As per statistics, around 12000 American soldiers were subjected to this barbaric treatment by the Japanese during the march. Only 1500 of them could come back alive to their home after the end of the war.
Mr. Tenney also narrates his daring escape from camp O'Donnell and joining a guerrilla force hiding in the jungle and sabotaging the Japanese military supplies under cover. He was eventually caught by the Japs and again was sent to the previous camp. Thereafter he brings into his book the remembrance of his life in another infamous camp Cabanatuan amidst the shadow of death looming largely everywhere. In last few chapters of his book he narrates his transportation along with other American prisoners from Cabanatuan to Omuta, a place in Japan where he was again forced to work as slave labour in a dangerous coal mine for almost three years. The memoir ends on a happy note describing Mr. Tenney's return to his homeland after the end of the war to the warm embrace of his relatives. Besides that one would be moved to tears to learn about his separation from his girlfriend Laura, who despite being informed that Tenney was missing in action, waited for him three and half years in vain and at last was forced to marry somebody else just few months before his coming home. What a tragedy !!!
Tenney's memoir has taught me a lot about life. I cannot help admiring this man for his positive attitude even amidst those horrible turbulent days of his life as prisoner of war. He never lost hope or courage and always used his intelligence to find the best possible way how to avoid torture and beatings by the Japanese guards. On learning about the cruel inhuman treatment of the prisoners at the hands of their Japanese captors I repeatedly wondered how a human being can endure so much for such long period of time as Mr. Tenney did. According to him he made it because he always intended to do the right thing at the right moment. Frankly speaking if i were there in place of the author, i would have given up much earlier.
Finally it must be said that Mr. Tenney's contribution to the American war effort in its struggle against fascism is no less than those millions of men who served their country on land, in sea or in the air in hour of urgent need. It is wrong to assume that in order to win a war valour in the battlefield is the only vital component. Rather the fighting spirit of a warring nation is also inherent in the power of endurance, resilience and the ability to remain mentally calm and goal-oriented even amidst most adverse situations.
"Dwitiyo Mahayuddher Itihas" or "The history of the second world war" by the legendary Bengali journalist Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay is undoubtedly one of the most memorable books belonging to the field of the most devastating war in human history. This book ( written in two volumes containing more than 2500 pages ) is in fact the very first one on WW2 which i gobbled up within one and half months. It introduced me to the horrific war which pushed the world to the brink of utter destruction. It made me aware of the terrible suffering of the millions of innocent civilians, who were unwillingly entangled in the vortex of the horrible war. Seriously speaking, before reading this book i did not bother to know who Hitler was or why Churchill is considered one of the greatest statesmen in the world or what do 'concentration camp' and 'Holocaust' mean or why did USA and Soviet Union emerge as superpowers or the significance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After reading the book WW2 became more or less intoxication to me. I still remember the day, when a vital class was going on in a competitive exam center and each and every student except me was listening to the tutor's lecture with full concentration. I was just pretending to listen to the lecture but my eyes were glued to the open pages of Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay's book.Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay was perhaps among the few handful of Indian authors who seriously and extensively researched on WW2. As a renowned journalist and editor of one of India's leading newspapers 'Jugantor', Mr. Mukhopadhyay was invited by the governments of several European countries to pay visit to the war-ravaged sites of the respective countries. This unique opportunity of visiting the notorious Holocaust sites had enriched Mr. Mukhopadhyay's practical experience and consequently helped him immensely to compile the two volumes. While reading each page of this book the mind of the reader wanders about the famous WW2 battlefields around the globe. I felt that i was watching the battle in front of my very eyes. Even sometimes i felt myself participating in the battle blasting through the enemy lines with the fiery band of soldiers.Another significant fact is that Mr. Mukhopadhyay made us convinced that he, like most of the Western historians, did not want to write biased history of the war. He in one hand praised heavily the leadership of Churchill, the courage of Roosevelt and the dogged determination of Stalin. In the final chapter of his book he commented that in order to win the war and liberate the world from the peril of Fascism America gave money, Britain gave time and Russia gave blood. On the other hand Mr. Mukhopadhyay was full in praise for the undaunted courage and bravery of the German soldiers and the patriotism of the Japanese soldiers. He even dedicated a whole chapter to the immense contribution of the British-Indian army and another one to the legendary tale of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army. I personally hail Mr. Mukhopadhyay as great a WW2 historian as William Shirer, although the former's task to write entire history of the war was perhaps much more difficult than the latter.But as far as my western friends are concerned, i feel pity for them because these two unique volumes were originally written in Bengali language. No English translation is perhaps available. Even if it is available i suggest one to read the book in original language. Then only one can understand what a genius Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay was. But alas ! For that my non-Bengali friends have to toil hard to master Bengali language first. So the choice is yours !!
