Hello ,Happy Holidays! Wishing you and yours all the joy of the season.
Here's one of the stories I have been working so hard on this fall, including photo research while my electricity was out. Thanks
to the Spokane Public Library, I was able to stay warm, access the internet and work at a comfortable desk in a quiet area.
Book news
Pub date for Fannie Never Flinched is now set for May/June of 2016.
After some last minute scrambling for photos while my electricity was out, the book went to production the first week of December. Thanks to the Spokane Public Library, I was able to stay warm, access the internet and work at a comfortable desk in a quiet area.
Here's a sneak peak at the project taking so much of my attention for the month of November. I am absolutely thrilled
with this story and this book cover! It's not for release to the public, so please keep it to yourself. I expect to be able to say more about the book soon. Now, I am leaping into research for my next book! The last few days I have been looking through several historical African American newspapers, looking for articles relating to my topic, reading articles that have nothing to do with my topic, marveling at
advertisements for all kinds of products you just can't get anymore.
One headline caught my eye, my interest still piqued by anything unknown tidbit about World War II in the Philippines. This article was published in the Baltimore Afro American August 4, 1945. It goes into quite a lot of detail about Captain Chester Sanders' military service and his time as a POW.
Before telling you about his heroic survival in the hands of the Japanese, I want to quickly go over the amazing odyssey of his military career.
Here's a list of where and
when he served: 1898--Philippine-American War
1900--Alaska
1906--Philippines
1916--Mexico fighting "against the villain Poncho Villa" according to the Afro American. 1917--Officer Training School in Des Moines, Iowa.
1918--France with the 370th Infantry, awarded France's coveted medal the
Croix de Guerre and decorated by Italy and the US. 1918 after Armistice, guarded German POWs, Brest, France. 1919--Philippines a third time and "various other parts of
the Orient"
1941--Sanders was on duty in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked and retreated with American forces to the Bataan Peninsula. The photo above shows American POWs on the Bataan Death March in April 1942 after surrendering to the Japanese. Sanders was one of six African American soldiers captured, the only one of them to come home
alive.
Captain Sanders said the Japanese were less cruel to the black men than they were to white soldiers, until they discovered Sanders was an officer. Then they wanted information from him and when he wouldn't talk he was thrown in solitary confinement, complete darkness, nothing to sleep on, very little to eat, he survived an entire year, going from 235 pounds to 123
pounds.
Finally released, he joined the other prisoners augmenting their diet with snakes, rats and grass. After some time he and 15,000 other American POWs were loaded on a ship to Japan for slave labor. But the unmarked ship was bombed by the Americans. Sanders was one of only 200 men to survive, though they were recaptured by the Japanese and held until liberated by the American army
in 1945.
Sanders says the Japanese failed in bring people of the East to their side because "the means to their end was brutality, force, subjugation, no sane urging." The captain ended his military career with three Presidential citations, eleven stars for participation in major battles and 21 ribbons.
At the time of his interview with the Afro American, Captain Sanders, age 67, had just arrived back in the states "a tired, ill man, unable to walk; he has come home for rest, for sun,
food, water and companionship, for company, and for talk." Sanders likened himself to an Arab who went into the desert to learn to appreciate civilization and to know himself.
It's great to be back, thanks for reading. Your support means a lot to me. If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please forward this e-mail. New
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In January 2016 all subscribers will receive my new, full-color, illustrated download entitled Courage as a Skill. I'm excited to offer this compilation of information and stories!
If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of PURE GRIT, here's the place! If you'd like a signed copy and I'm not coming to your neighborhood soon, let me know. I can send you a personally autographed book or a signed bookplate. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can
unsubscribe below anytime with a single mouse click. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teachers and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
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