The Fightin Texas Aggie Defenders Of Bataan And Corregidor

By any measure, the battles of Bataan and Corregidor were among the most intensely fought and devastating episodes in the World War II Pacific theater. Beginning in early 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines in an attempt to control the Pacific region and expand its sphere of influence. The defense and last stand of Filipino and American allied forces marked the largest surrender in their respective military histories. Their efforts slowed the Japanese advance but only at great cost. John A. Adams Jr. provides a new and compelling exploration of these pivotal events by recounting the history of Bataan and Corregidor through the eyes of 89 soldiers and officers who were former students and citizen soldiers from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. All were products of the Corps of Cadets, and indeed no other institution could boast of such a large deployment in the opening of the war. While many words have been written on Bataan and Corregidor, none have taken the approach of collective biography as The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor does here. As a result, this book is not only a new contribution to the history of World War II but also stands to be a landmark publication on the history of Texas A&M University.

By any measure, the battles of Bataan and Corregidor were among the most intensely fought and devastating episodes in the World War II Pacific theater. Beginning in early 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines in an attempt to control the Pacific region and expand its sphere of influence. The defense and last stand of Filipino and American allied forces marked the largest surrender in their respective military histories. Their efforts slowed the Japanese advance but only at great cost. John A. Adams Jr. provides a new and compelling exploration of these pivotal events by recounting the history of Bataan and Corregidor through the eyes of 89 soldiers and officers who were former students and citizen soldiers from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. All were products of the Corps of Cadets, and indeed no other institution could boast of such a large deployment in the opening of the war. While many words have been written on Bataan and Corregidor, none have taken the approach of collective biography as The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor does here. As a result, this book is not only a new contribution to the history of World War II but also stands to be a landmark publication on the history of Texas A&M University.

Across America in the wake of World War I, college football entered a time of prominence, often referred to as a “Golden Era.” This same period saw the origins of many beloved traditions of Texas A&M: cadets became known as “Aggies;” the “Aggie War Hymn” penned by J. V. “Pinky” Wilson ’21 was officially adopted; maroon and white emerged as the sanctioned college colors. And in 1922, a lanky Dallas athlete named E. King Gill stepped up and agreed to be the “12th Man” at a football game that may have been the greatest ever played. Today, the 12th Man tradition is one of the most cherished parts of A&M heritage. The 1922 Dixie Classic, precursor to today’s Cotton Bowl, featured a contest between two championship coaches with strong ties to Texas A&M: D. X. Bible, who led the Aggies from 1916 to 1928, and Centre College’s “Uncle Charlie” Moran, who coached at A&M from 1909 to 1914. Historian John A. Adams Jr. ’73 uncovers enthralling details: the pregame conversation between Bible and E. King Gill that helped place Gill in uniform on the sidelines, the wedding celebration involving the Centre College team at the historic Adolphus Hotel the morning before the game, the diagram of the play the Aggies used to score the game-winning touchdown, and so much more. Sports fans and historians, especially those interested in the early days of American football, will savor the rich, previously unknown details surrounding this storied contest between two renowned coaches and their steadfast squads.

From a New York Times bestselling author comes the incredible true story of an underage soldier's first love and loss on the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor—perfect for fans of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz and Unbroken. Joe Johnson Jr. ran away from home at the age of 12, hopping a freight train at the height of the Great Depression. He managed to talk his way into the U.S. Army two years later. Seeking freedom and adventure, he was sent to the Philippines. Adrift in spirit, Joe visited a teenage prostitute, and they became unlikely, smitten allies. Yet when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941, their hopes of being together had to wait. Joe and his fellow soldiers fought for four brutal months in Bataan and Corregidor, until they were forced to surrender. The boy endured years of horror as a prisoner of war, only dreaming about seeing again the girl he’d come to love. This lyrically written and deeply encouraging saga will remind you that every life can be lifted, forgiveness is the patron of restoration, and redemption is available to all.

This volume considers the interconnection of racial oppression in the U.S. South and West, presenting thirteen case studies that explore the ways in which citizens and migrants alike have been caged, detained, deported, and incarcerated, and what these practices tell us about state building, converging and coercive legal powers, and national sovereignty. As these studies depict the institutional development and state scaffolding of overlapping carceral regimes, they also consider how prisoners and immigrants resisted such oppression and violence by drawing on the transnational politics of human rights and liberation, transcending the isolation of incarceration, detention, deportation and the boundaries of domestic law. Contributors: Dan Berger, Ethan Blue, George T. Diaz, David Hernandez, Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Pippa Holloway, Volker Janssen, Talitha L. LeFlouria, Heather McCarty, Douglas K. Miller, Vivien Miller, Donna Murch, and Keramet Ann Reiter.

In 1909, young William F. Buckley Sr. (1881–1958), who grew up in the dusty South Texas town of San Diego, graduated from the University of Texas law school and headed for Mexico City. Fluent in Spanish, familiar with Mexican traditions, and soon fit to practice law south of the border, Buckley was headed up the aisle to vast wealth and cultural power. On the way, he took a front-row seat at the Mexican Revolution and played a key role in steering the nascent oil industry through tumultuous and dangerous times. This book for the first time tells the story of the man behind the family that would become nothing short of a conservative institution, reaching its apogee in the career of William F. Buckley Jr., arguably the most prominent conservative commentator of the twentieth century. Buckley witnessed the overthrow and exit of President Porfirio Díaz, the rise of Madero, and the coup of General Victoriano Huerta, all while building the Pantepec Oil Company, the most profitable small petroleum producer in Mexico. He faced down Pancho Villa, survived encounters with hired assassins, evaded snipers in the streets of Veracruz, gambled and won in many a business venture—and ultimately was expelled from the country. As the narrative follows Buckley from his small-town Texas beginnings to the founding of a family dynasty, the streak of independence and distrust of government that would become the Buckley hallmark can be seen in the making. An eventful chapter in the life and career of a singular character, this dramatic account of a man and his moment is a document of political and historical significance—but it is also a remarkable story, told with irresistible brio.

The Paradox of Pearl Harbor -- Fiasco in the Philippines -- Censorship at Sea -- The New Guinea Gang -- The Shroud Slips: Guadalcanal -- Atrocities -- Dress Rehearsal in New Guinea -- Bloody Battles in the Central Pacific -- The CBI -- The Return -- Death in the Pacific -- Toward Tokyo Bay.