The Ed Dyess Story

[johnbryan]

The online book story of Ed Dyess, US fighter pilot, Bataan Death March survivor and escapee of a POW Camp is available here. I heartily recommend reading it!

www.archive.org/stream/dyessstory007009mbp/dyessstory007009mbp_djvu.txt

[oklahoma]

Hey John....I remember well when this story first broke. I was a eleven year old kid in the sixth grade of elementary school. The people were horrified. Of course, everybody knew about the "rape of Nanking" and there had been an inkling of atrocities at Hong Kong, etc, but these revelations from the Philippines were devastating and the home front was enraged, crying for bigtime revenge. In 1943 the tide of the Pacific conflict had turned, but the going was still a slow, slugging match as we crawled our way up the Solomon Island chain and the northern coast of New Guinea. What we craved was a stunning victory ala Midway, etc. It was a good thing that Curtis Lemay and his B-29s were not yet entrenched on Tinian. The Japanese home islands would have been torched worse than they were in 1945, if that were possible. The American people had "blood in their eye". Strange that I can remember when Ed Dyess' narrative first appeared. It was only shortly after Juanita Redmond, the Bataan nurse, gave her first hand story of the Bataan struggle and the evacuation of some of the nurses. These stories first appeared in magazines and were maybe condensed versions. Whatever, I recall them both very well but probably will lose my car keys before sundown. I keep telling our friend FOTS I, at least, have my priorities in order. As I have said previously, I enjoy your posts, especially the "what if" senarios.

[VeeVee]

I'll get this book next time I see it on ebay. Even though I'm in the middle of three other Bataan books right now

Okla... you can even remember the name of that private on the cover of LIFE magazine... Pvt. Teed. Amazing.

[oklahoma]

Hey Vic...I can truly say that I am completely "hooked" on the Bataan/Corregidor phase of military history. To the point (as I have previously stated on this site as well as the Corregidor one) that I attempted to extend my hitch overseas by transferring to Clark Field after my Korean tour was completed, but to no avail. Yeah, remembering Private Teed's name is kinda spooky ain't it? He wasn't exactly Audie Murphy, although I am confident he was a fine soldier. Take care and keep the good stuff coming.

[rickthelibrarian]

I remember reading a part of Dyess' book which was excerpted in an anthology entitled "Combat: Pacific Theatre". This was when I was about 9 or 10 in the late 1950s. I was fortunate enough to find a copy in a used bookstore a couple of years later for something like $2.00.

I devoured the book and noted the picture contained of Dyess' friend Samuel Grashio. Imagine my surprise about 1964 to have Col. Grashio come and speak to our high school on Veterans Day! Turned out he (like me) was a resident of Spokane WA.

Naturally, the book couldn't say much about the escape, as it was written in 1944. I later got Col. Grashio's excellent book "Return to Freedom" which fill many of the gaps in the escape story and what happened afterwards.

I sent my copy of "The Dyess Story" to Col. Grashio in the thought that maybe he didn't have a copy. He returned it with thanks, saying he did have a copy. He autographed the book, of course (as well as the copy of his book).

I got to know Col. Grashio very well, while I was writing a series of articles on U.S. military aircraft in the Philippines in the early to late 1980s. He was a great guy and one of my personal heroes. May he rest in peace.

"The Dyess Story" is an excellent book and gives an excellent "you are there" feeling to service on Bataan, the March and prison life. It is too bad it wasn't published until after Dyess' accidental death in an aircraft accident at the end of 1943. Dyess, by everyone's account who knew him, or served with him, was an inspiring leader, and would have gone far, had he survived.

HIGHLY recommended!!