The characters portrayed in this historic novel were in fact real men. Chosen from literally hundreds of candidates, all reflect the candor and loyalty of those who took the same path as did they. The lives of Doctor Wendall Swanson, Paul George, Jack Kaster, and Bill Bianchi are here depicted as accurately as possible. Not all of these men were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, but perhaps they should have been. To have completed the sixty-five-mile Bataan Death March, and still be alive, deserves a citation. Surviving several years in overcrowded, filthy, and disease-ridden POW camps, is worthy of yet an even higher award. Enduring the inhumane treatment, deep in the bowels of a so-called, "Hell Ship," is worthy of nothing less than the nation's highest honor. Photographs enhance the narrative.