War Journal of Major Damon Rocky Gause FROM THE PUBLISHER
One of the most extraordinary tales of American military history
-- the true, firsthand account of a World War II soldier's escape from the
Bataan Death March in the Philippines, across the enemy-held Pacific in a
leaky boat, to freedom in Australia.
Immediately following his return to
safety, Major Gause wrote his gripping memoir using his notes from the
battered ship's log and the handmade diary he kept throughout the journey.
His account begins with the siege of Manila, where the young Army Air Corps
pilot was stationed, and the eventual fall of the Philippines into Japanese
hands. Along with 70,000 other American and Filipino soldiers, Gause was
captured by the Japanese and destined to walk what would later go down in
history as the Bataan Death march.
In the first of many amazing feats, he
managed to escape, then swam three miles through shark-infested waters to
the rock island fortress of Corregidor. When Corregidor fell, Gause and two
Filipinos escaped during the night and continued on a ten-mile trek across
the water to reach Luzon Island. Island-hopping for two months, Gause was
sheltered and moved about by several Filipino families, always staying one
step ahead of enemy patrols. On the island of Mindoro, he met a fellow
American escapee, Captain Osborne, who was also determined to make it to
safety. Osborne and Gause embarked on a 3,200 mile journey to Australia, and
to freedom, in a twenty-foot wooden fishing boat. Along the way, they faced
strafings from Japanese fighter planes, tropical storms, jagged coral reefs,
and near starvation. Once there, Gause met General MacArthur, commander of
the American armed forces in the Philippines, who had been ordered to
regroup in Australia months before."Sir," he said simply, "Lt. Gause reports
for duty from Corregidor!"
Vividly written with astonishing attention to
detail and a surprising sense of humor, "The War Journal of Major Damon
'Rocky' Gause is impossible to put down. Accompanied by photographs taken
during the voyage and an introduction and epilogue by Rocky's son, Damon L.
Gause, this amazing document reveals a true American hero and pays tribute
to the bravery of those who fought and died beside him.
Damon L. Gause, the son of Rocky Gause, was invited by the
Philippine Ambassador to the United States to speak at the dedication of the
American-Philippine War memorial. A frequent speaker before veterans'
groups, he is a general contractor living in Georgia.
Mr. Gause cordially
invites all readers to correspond with him at damongause@aol.com.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
This newly discovered memoir relates one WWII soldier's extraordinary escape from the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and the fortress of Corregidor as he made his way through jungles and villages and then across the Pacific in a leaky boat. A pilot, Gause was stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese launched their attack on the American-controlled islands just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Retreating with the American forces to the peninsula of Bataan, he was captured as that area fell to the overwhelming forces of the Japanese. He made an amazing escape from a prison camp to the American fortress of Corregidor, off the coast of the Philippines, and then, when that bastion fell, escaped again; with another American officer, he managed to reach Australia in an old motorboat. They were helped by a beautiful Filipino woman, residents of a leper colony and the isolated inhabitants of various islands on which they landed. The author's repeated references to "japs" and "nips" and his description of the Japanese conquerors as "victory-crazed sadistic devils" may offend readers of a more ethnically sensitive era, but despite these lapses and his merely workmanlike prose, the drama of the events described will hold readers' attention. Gause died in a plane crash in the European theater later during the war. His long-buried journal, found in his foot locker by his son, offers a real-life adventure for fans of The Thin Red Line. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Among all the war stories of World War II, this memoir stands apart as a remarkable true story of a great escape and a miraculous sea voyage. Maj. Rocky Gause, an American pilot in the Philippines, was trapped on the Bataan Peninsula as the Japanese invaded in 1941; when U.S. and Filipino forces surrendered in spring 1942, he escaped from the Bataan Death March and began a 159-day odyssey of survival that ultimately took him from Corregidor to Australia. Accompanied by another American soldier, Capt. William Osborne, Gause sailed a leaky, 20' wooden motorboat across 3200 miles of treacherous waters, dodging Japanese warships, aircraft, submarines, and coastal patrols. Using a hand compass and an old National Geographic map of Oceania, Gause and Osborne navigated all the way to Australia and safety. Rich in detail, suspense, and drama, this memoir was written a year after Gause's escape using notes and a journal he kept during the journey. Gause died in a plane crash in 1944, but his son has resurrected and published this inspiring and exciting tale of human courage and endurance. Recommended for all public libraries.--Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, ME Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Christopher Dickey - The New York Times Book Review
The tale [Gause has] left us has the feel of that
moment when America was desperate for heroes, and reading it now is
as much a trip back in time as it is a journey across the dark Sulu Sea.
Kirkus Reviews
An American pilot's remarkable diary, copied in a small notebook hidden in a footlocker for over 50 years, records his amazing escape from the notorious March of Death ordeal inflicted by Japanese soldiers on American and Filipino POW's and his further dangerous adventures during the last days of Bataan and Corregidor in the 1942 Philippines. The diary records how Gause, an army pilot without a plane since MacArthur's aircraft were destroyed on the ground after the Japanese sneak attack on Luzon, joined an American infantry unit to continue fighting against a swarming, ruthless enemy that pushed the gallant defenders from Manila to the dense jungles and killing fields of Bataan. Gause was one of the 78,000 American and Filipino soldiers running out of food, medicines, and ammunition who were captured by the Japanese. Nearly 60,000 died in captivity from hunger, thirst, disease, and murder. Gause escaped into the jungle after killing a Japanese sentry and swam through shark-infested waters to Corregidor amid brushes with death from enemy patrols. He found and repaired an abandoned fishing boat and undertook an unbelievable voyage to other islands and Australia after meeting another escaped American officer. Only the constant help and courage of patriotic Filipinos and other natives protected the two Americans from tropical storms, hunger, mosquitoes, and Japanese planes and ships. Gause and Osborne subsisted on raw fish, coconuts, bananas, rice, and rainwater. A Nazi agent dressed as an American colonel tried to kill them while they slept, but they were able to overpower the spy and leave him for dead. After many close calls during a harrowing 3,200 mile voyage to Australia and freedom,they were presented to General MacArthur ten months after the fall of Manila. The two were awarded Distinguished Service Crosses and then sent home for a well-deserved furlough. A suspenseful odyssey, rescued from obscurity, that honors two valiant and resourceful soldiers who never gave up hope to survive an impossible nightmare. A worthy addition to the rich lore of WWII. A movie is planned. (Author tour)
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