the jersey brothers by sally mott freeman

Patent Office and attended law school at night. As a Naval Academy graduate during the Depression, he was not offered a commission upon graduation. Much of the book is also a paean to the author’s father, Bill Mott. (It’s ironic, then, that the MacArthur Memorial Archives are located in the Navy town of Norfolk, VA.) MacArthur is described as a no-holds-barred, tone-deaf, egotistical hindrance when it came to following orders from anyone or cooperating with the Navy. She relates the internecine rivalries between the Navy and the Army commands in the Pacific. The author’s naval family ties are clear. After extensive discussion and preparation, the rescue plans were scuttled because the prisoners had been moved by the Japanese. Unfortunately, it came too late for Burton and his fellow prisoners.Īs Freeman recounts, plans to rescue the POWs were made but were frustrated and delayed by rival egos and bureaucrats at MacArthur’s headquarters. The POWs’ report was read aloud by General George Marshall at the Allies’ 1943 Quebec Conference to urge the British to increase their support for the war in the Pacific. Unfortunately, the material was so graphic that the military concealed the information until it was finally leaked and published in the New York Times. These survivors gave detailed testimony describing the inhumane treatment they endured. Some got back to headquarters in Australia and then to America. A few POWs did escape with the help of anti-Japanese guerilla forces. If captured, both the escapees and the remaining POWs were severely punished.

The author describes the prison life and cruel treatment they endured. The POWs were brutalized by the Japanese. MacArthur rescued only his injured Army soldiers, intentionally leaving behind the remaining hospitalized Navy personnel to fend for themselves. They succeeded, but Burton was eventually captured by the Japanese after the surrender of the Philippines and never returned home.īurton and his injured fellow naval officers and sailors were abandoned in Manila after General Douglas MacArthur surrendered and escaped from the Philippines.

As a favor to their doting mother, the brothers attempted to protect Burton by getting him a non-combat assignment in the Philippines. Using short, interspersed chapters of family, military history, and related topics, she also highlights the wartime careers of her uncles.īurton Cross, along with his two older half-brothers, Bill (Freeman’s father) and Benny Mott, served as naval officers during the war.

Author Sally Mott Freeman’s main theme is her attempt to learn what happened to her uncle Burton in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The Jersey Brothers is both a history book and a memoir.

The jersey brothers by sally mott freeman