Foo : A Japanese-American Prisoner of the Rising Sun : The Secret Prison Diary of Frank 'Foo' Fujita (War and the Southwest Series, 1)

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Memoir.......2007-08-01

"Foo, A Japanese-American Prisoner Of The Rising Sun" by Frank "Foo" Fujita, with Stanley L. Falk. Subtitled: "The Secret Prison Dairy of Frank "Foo" Fujita". University of North Texas Press, 1993.

This is an interesting book on many different levels. First, it is the story of a World War II Prisoner Of War. But not just any POW: Frank "Foo" Fujita was a Japanese-American, perhaps the only Japanese-American who was held as a POW in Japan. And, on the third level, "Foo" was a Texan and a member of the Texas National Guard. His unit was called up, to be sent to the south Pacific, and, after the sneak attack, on Pearl Harbor, they were diverted to Australia. The 2nd Battalion, 131st field Artillery was assigned to the defense of the Dutch island of Java, where they were overrun by the Japanese. Most of us have forgotten the American units that were part of the ABDA, American, British, Dutch and Australian forces in this theater, with, perhaps the major exception being the cruiser, the U.S. S. Houston. (See, for example, pages 345-346, where a contemporary "bird-colonel" does not believe that Fujita's unit was never in the Pacific.)

To make the story even more interesting, Sergeant Fujita was an accomplished sketch artist, and he includes contemporary drawings of himself and of the Japanese mistreating POWs. So, on this level, he has enhanced his story visually. His entire diary was in a code of his own fabrication. His diary and his drawings were hidden in a wall of a building in his POW camp; the diary and drawings were recovered after the war. This recovered material makes this book a primary source for the history of Japanese-held POWs.

Excellent primary source supported by explanatory notes supplied by Stanley L. Falk.

Based on his secret prison diary.......2001-07-06

Foo, A Japanese-American Prisoner Of The Rising Sun is the true and riveting account of Frank "Foo" Fujita's experiences of being a Japanese American combat soldier who was captured by the Japanese during the Pacific campaign of World War II during the defense of Java in early 1942. Based on his secret prison diary, we are provided a "window in time" regarding the daily life and experiences of a prisoner of war which vividly recounts the privations of the POWs and the living conditions in Japan. The text is illustrated with drawings, maps and photographs. What is surprising is the humor that was to be found -- even in the midst of the most severe circumstances. Foo, A Japanese-American Prisoner Of The Rising Sun is a unique contribution to the annals of World War II literature and highly recommended for academic, community, and personal library collections.

Wonderful book about a great person........2000-01-23

I met Foo in a restaurant in Abilene, TX, sitting in a booth next to him and two other gentlemen. His book was to be released the next day. My wife, after evedropping on their conversation, introduced her and myself. Foo sold us a copy of the book....and autographed it for us. This was several years ago. We have learned he has since died. He was very warm and personable with us. His story is facinating. (His reason for being in Abilene was that there was to be some sort of POW reunion the next day.)

A Very Emotional account of a Japanese Prisoner of War........1999-08-30

Having known Foo since High School days and later being a sister-in-law, I read the original dairy and saw the pictures he drew of the atrocities experienced there in prison. This book is an excellent account of the way it was. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a factual story of what it was like to be in a POW Camp in Japan during World War II.

This is an excellent book about a little known group........1998-04-20

I knew "Foo" (he died last year) and many of the other men (my father among them) who were taken prisoner with him. This is an excellent book about a little known page in American history. Although, in many ways, Foo's captivity was atypical of the treatment most of the "Lost Battalion" received, it is a fascinating, well written book which shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Average customer rating:

The best True Life book I have ever read

Diary of a Girl in Changi 1941-1945
Sheila Bruhn
Manufacturer: Kangaroo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0864176198

Customer Reviews:

The best True Life book I have ever read.......2000-04-02

This book, this author is an inspiration to life itself ! I found, once I started, I could NOT put the book down, and then attended one of her talks and the finer details that came through .. truly amazing, inspiring and awesome ! As you read, YOU are in Changi, YOU are there, feeling every emotion that was felt by the author, crying, laughing .. this is the BEST book I have ever read and I class it up in the levels of the Diary of Anne Frank and more !

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Those bloody Reds.
Footnotes out of Control
Bunin didn't call this book "Cursed Days" for nothing!
Picture of everyday confusion & fears of the 1917 revolution

Cursed Days: A Diary in Revolution
Ivan Bunin
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld & Nicholson history
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1842120638

Book Description

The Nobel PrizeDwinning author's great anti-Bolshevik diary of the Russian Revolution, translated into English for the first time, with an Introduction and Notes by Thomas Gaiton Marullo. A harrowing description of the forerunners of the concentration camps and the Gulag. --Marc Raeff

Customer Reviews:

Those bloody Reds........2007-09-05

Ivan Bunin would have you believe that the Ancient Regime in Czarist Russia was a kind, benovolent regime. Most historians know that is not the case. Bunin would like you to believe that it is. Bunin records his beliefs on the Russian Civil War. His observation was from Moscow and Odessa. He describes the brutality of the Reds and how they treated people. The Reds may have been more brutal, but both the Czarist and Communist regimes had very difficult problems with respecting human rights. Both killed people.

I found his memories of these days interesting. They should not be read as a disinterested observer of the new order. He was very vocal about the Reds, and viewed the Whites as a hope of mankind (which they were not). However, this story gives a view of the Russian Revolution from a member of a class that lost it all.

Footnotes out of Control.......2007-03-16

I don't recall ever reading a book where the footnotes left the strongest impression. However, "Cursed Days" by Ivan Bunin had that effect on me. The book itself is rather good. It is the author's diary during the period on and after the Russian Revolution. Bunin comes across as something of a monarchist who looks disdainfully on all the rabble that has created this cauldron of chaos. Frankly, I may have reacted the same way, especially given the observations he has compiled in "Cursed Days". I suspect most readers would sympathize somewhat with his perspective as well. I doubt there are many in the 21st Century who look back on the Russian Revolution as one of the major enhancements of the 20th Century (although, whenever there's an international economic summit, it seems to correspond with a convention individuals who probably DO think that highly of the Russian Revolution). Anyway, Bunin's day by day accounting of the facts, rumors, and impressions of the revolt are worth the price of the book. The book essentially comes in three parts; The author's observations in Moscow in 1918, his observations in Odessa in 1919, and excerpts of subsequent writing relevant to the topic of the Revolution. The first two segments generally carry an impression of the near-constant uncertainty that most people faced. There were threats of famine, murder, pogroms, counter-revolutionary backlash, etc.. Somehow, Bunin seems to make do throughout though there are times his own fears are candidly shared. Eventually, he is able to escape Russia although not all of his diary made it with him. I especially appreciated the accounts of the on-going civil war that is probably the least reported aspects of the Russian Revolution.

In regards to the footnotes that irritated me; they were at the bottom of nearly every page. Generally, I like fotenotes; at least the kind that supplement the information presented (as opposed to merely citing chapter and verse). However, the Translator and editor, Thomas Gaiton Marullo, somehow felt the need to overdo it. The best way to make the point is that he footnoted an explanation of every name, place, and periodical that was mentioned in the diary. Those accounted for roughly two-thirds of the footnotes and served as speed bumps to nowhere; at least they did for me. I didn't need to know the exact location of every town mentioned nor of the publisher or authors of every newspaper, magazine or book cited. I'll admit that about half of the names mentioned deserved a note or two but the other half could have remained in obscurity. I DID appreciate the comments on the various rumors that Bunin mentioned; Marullo lets us know which ones were true and which weren't. As a person who is in the habit of reading all footnotes on the bottom of the page, I was exasperated on how they interfered with the flow of the book. I would suggest that the reader would do better to just read the book and then go back over the notes later. You'll probably come away with a better impression of both (or at least a better impression than I had).

Bunin didn't call this book "Cursed Days" for nothing!.......1999-08-08

The previous customer review refers haughtily to the "hauteur" of Ivan Bunin, a "right-wing, upper class novelist." Say what? Bunin, a master of Russian prose, was understandably aghast as he watched the sudden, violent and senseless destruction of the glorious Russian culture. The reviewer sneers that "the folk, in Bunin's opinion, were ignorant, gullible, violent, dirty, and totally unfit to take a hand in government." Well, it sounds like Bunin got it just about right! Just look what the left-wing thugs ruling in the name of "the folk" did to Russia for the next 70 years.

Strangely, Soviet leaders decided that "Cursed Days" was unsuitable for consumption by "the folk." Hmmm... Talk about hauteur! Only in recent years was the publication of this amazing diary permitted in Bunin's homeland, and now - thanks to Thomas Gaiton Marullo's splendid translation - English-speaking readers can finally see that there were some people who weren't fooled in 1917. I just hope that modern readers will read Bunin's prophetic diary of those cursed days... and remember.

Neal McCabe

Picture of everyday confusion & fears of the 1917 revolution.......1998-08-28

This day-to-day diary of the confusion and fears that confronted those who lived through Russia's revolutions and their aftermaths in 1917-19 is well worth reading. However, it has its frustrations, especially a) the unremitting tone of hauteur by this right-wing, upper class novelist when confronted by the ascendant working class, and b) the editor's feeling that every rumor reported by Bunin, no matter how outlandish (St. Petersburg has fallen to the Germans; "The Red Army has been chased from Russia") requires his footnote assuring us that "The rumor was not true". Although both are very different in focus from this book, I much preferred Bulgakov's The White Guard, an autobiographically fictional account of his life during the same time period, with the same confusion, in Kiev, and Sukhanov's The Russian Revolution, 1917, an almost hour-by-hour description of the actual government takeovers in 1917.

If I Get Out Alive: The World War II Letters and Diaries of William H McDougall Jr

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If I Get Out Alive: The World War II Letters and Diaries of William H McDougall Jr

Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 087480891X

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Letters from Prison
Mohammad Yunus
Manufacturer: Vikas Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0706931564

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Lord Longfords Prison Diary
Frank Lord Longford , and Longford
Manufacturer: Lion Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Prison Diary and Letters
Felix Dzerzhinsky
Manufacturer: University Press of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0898758890

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Prison diary and letters
Feliks Edmundovich Dzerzhinskii
Manufacturer: Foreign Languages Pub. House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006DASAI

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Prison Diary and Letters
Felix Dzerzhinsky
Manufacturer: Foreign Languages Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LYSEDU

Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens;: His diary kept when a prisoner at Fort Warren, Boston Harbour, 1865; giving incidents and reflections of his prison life and some letters and reminiscences

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Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens;: His diary kept when a prisoner at Fort Warren, Boston Harbour, 1865; giving incidents and reflections of his prison life and some letters and reminiscences
Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Page & company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

The colourful lives and incredible adventures of Jim Brewster, "Wild" Bill Peyto, Jimmy Simpson, and Tom Wilson are brought to life in this exciting collection of stories. From setting up camp to epic wilderness adventures, these characters were at the heart of Canadian Rockies exploration.

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Be sure of your fiduciary responsibilities and how to handle them safely with ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book . This expert reference book clearly explains every aspect of ERISA fiduciary duty, providing information, guidance, and advice on prohibited transactions, investments, fiduciary liability, IRS, DOL, and PBGC requirements, and more.

It answers nearly 400 fiduciary-related questions, including:

Book Description

Taking a practical "how to" approach, this book places an emphasis on decision making as it focuses on questions commonly asked of pension and health plan advisors in connection with the administration of retirement programs. Rather than merely citing the Code and Regulations for authority and identifying cases which support the proposition or answer given, this work sets forth a discussion of case authorities which have dealt with the relevant situation at hand, and provides a careful analysis of how those cases apply.

Key topics covered include:

Product Description

Taking a practical "how to" approach, ERISA Law Answer Book places an emphasis on decision making as it focuses on questions commonly asked of pension and health plan advisors in connection with the administration of retirement programs. Rather than merely citing the Code and Regulations for authority and identifying cases which support the proposition or answer given, this work sets forth a discussion of case authorities which have dealt with the relevant situation at hand, and provides a careful analysis of how those cases apply.

403(b) Answer Book, Sixth Edition: 2006 Cumulative Supplement (403(b) Answer Book)

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403(b) Answer Book, Sixth Edition: 2006 Cumulative Supplement (403(b) Answer Book)

Manufacturer: Aspen Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0735559848

Product Description

403(b) Answer Book, 2006 Cumulative Supplement, brings the practitioner up to date on administrative developments and changes, including the following: Discussion of IRS guidance regarding 403(b) plans affected by Hurricane Katrina Proposed guidance regarding Roth 403(b) contributions Discussion of proposed regulations, and their status and the extent to which the proposed regulations may be relied upon by practitioners, employers, and annuity contract and custodial account issuers Treatment and administration of participant loans Duty of plan fiduciary to collect repayments on a participant loan Investment blackout periods, blackout notices, and duration of blackouts Application of securities laws when compiling plan investment information The right of participants to obtain written confirmation of their investment instructions DOL interpretive guidance relating to investment education for participants Gap-fillers and default provisions in bebeficiary designation forms Survivor benefits required under ERISA for a spouse Common mistakes with beneficiary designations Special rules that apply when a plan is subject to ERISA and when a plan would fall within the safe harbor exemption from ERISA Three possible ways to demonstrate nondiscrimination compliance Special requirements applying to cross-tested 403(b) plans When an interest in a pooled or collective investment vehicle should be considered issued directly to eligible employee The SEC's position on the employer's obligation to provide eligible employees with prospectuses and other reports How to correct plan and contract errors, including when plan sponsors need to go to the IRS

Erisa Fiduciary Answer Book: Forms & Worksheets (Panel Answer Book Series)

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Erisa Fiduciary Answer Book: Forms & Worksheets (Panel Answer Book Series)
William F. Brown
Manufacturer: Panel publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book: Forms and Worksheets provides samples of the numerous documents required for meeting ERISA fiduciary regulations. Dozens of ready-to-use forms, worksheets, checklists, and other tools are included to take you step by step through the maze of ERISA compliance. Complex tasks are made simple, and clear-cut explanations are presented to determine how and when certain rules apply.

With this extraordinary resource you'll be able to:

* Determine if a plan falls under fiduciary rules and how to comply
* Recognize fiduciaries and nonfiduciaries
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* And more!

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This short version Slater contains the first 12 chapters of the full Slater text. This text is known for the completeness of its content, superior organization, unique pedagogy, and a supplements package that is second to none. Carefully written and developed to provide both procedural details in a step-by-step format, and appropriate motivation via Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine articles, colorful format, photos, and scrapbook projects. This edition continues the 24-HOUR STUDENT HOTLINE that has received over 20,000 student calls. Slater is the leading seller in this market. Packaged with Business Math Handbook and Study Guide.

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