Mike Hyer has written a thorough account of a small group of LDS servicemen who sailed to the Philippines in the Fall of 1941, enthusiastically prepared to reinforce United States military capability in the face of unlikely but possible future problems with Japanese aggression. Hyer's exhaustive account of the post-Pearl Harbor lives of members of the LDS group is highlighted by his obvious interest in his Uncle Bobby Brown who died near the end of the war when the Japanese tried to transport him and other POWs from the Philippines to Japan, and Robert Davey who survived it all and supplied much detail for Hyer's intriguing book. This is the intimate story of the heroic struggle of brave men and includes details which significantly supplement the more generalized published accounts of this terrible segment of WWII history. —David L. Clark, W. H. Twenhofel Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Professor Clark has published extensively on LDS Church history, including, "The Fate of the Davao Penal Colony #502 "Branch" of the LDS Church, 1944," BYU Studies 2011

While the brutal treatment of POWs by the Japanese during World War II has received plenty of attention, what sets this book apart is that the tale is told from the perspective of a handful of captives who used their religion and belief in a higher power to see them through the darkest of days. All these years later, the positive attitudes of the Latter-day Saint soldiers held in captivity, and the way it shaped their behavior, shines through in their stories.” —Lee Benson, columnist for the Deseret News and co-author of Soldier Slaves