Eight Survived, by Douglas A Campbeill

Eight Survived: The Harrowing Story of the USS Flier and the Only Downed World War II Submariners to Survive and Evade Capture, by Douglas A Campbell
Lyons Press, 2010
255 pages, plus acknowledgments, Bibliography, Sources, index, and 8 pages of glossy photos
Library: 940.5451 CAM

Description
The USS Flier hadn't even encountered the enemy, but already it had killed one of its own: In January 16, 1944, on the Pacific atoll of Midway, the Flier ran aground on a reef, resulting in a crewman's death. Nearly seven months later, back in service and having downed several enemy ships, it approached Sibutu Passage, and, beyond that, the Sulu Sea-nearly 90,000 square miles of unbroken blue water. Japanese soldiers and sailors had taken all the land around that passage two years earlier. Americans entered the Sulu Sea only by submarine, and when they did, they knew it was kill or be killed.

On August 13, 1944, the Flier struck a Japanese mine and sank, resulting in the loss of all but eight crewmembers-the only World WAr II submariners to survive the sinking of their ship and evade enemy capture.

Eight Survived tells the gripping tale of the doomed submarine through the stories of such young men as Al Jaconson, a 22-year-old ensign and the son of a Michigan industrialist, who survived, and Elton Brubbaker, eighteen, an enthusiastic high-school dropout from northern Florida, who perished. The book also includes a fascinating cast of characters-expatriate Americans and Europeans, local guerillas, and aborigines-who emerged from the jungle to help the survivors evade their Japanese enemies and finally reach safety.

Drawing on years of research and the author's interviews with the survivors themselves, Eight Survived fully captures the combination of extraordinary courage and luck that marked one of the most heroic episodes of World WAr II.

Table of Contents
Map of the World War II career of the USS Flier
1. Treacherous Passage
2. Pacific Peril
3. Missing from Action
4. A Gathering of Men
5. A Second Chance
6. Welcome to the War
7. Strangers in their Native Land
8. The Wages of Winners
9. Mines and mariners
10. Back toward Glory
11. Trapped in the Path of War
12. Changed Orders
13. In the Shadow of Death
14. Choosing Freedom
15. Spirits of the Land
16. By Land and By Sea
17. Into the Jungle
18. EScape
Map of the 8 submariners survival and rescue
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Sources
Index
About the Author