Escape from Corregidor, first published in 1958, is the harrowing account of Edgar Whitcomb, a B-17 navigator who arrives in World War II Philippines just before its capture by the invading Japanese.
Whitcomb manages to evade the enemy on Bataan by travelling to Corregidor Island in a small boat.
However, his efforts to escape eventually fail and he is captured but later manages to escape at night in an hours-long swim to safety.
After weeks of struggle in a snake-infested jungle, he sailed by moonlight down the heavily patrolled coast, only to fall, once again, into the clutches of the enemy.
Facing captors, Ed Whitcomb took a desperate chance for freedom. Clenching his fists, he said: "My name is Robert Fred Johnson, mining employee."
This is the story of a man who vowed never to give up. He assumed the identity of a civilian and lived another man's life for almost two years. Neither hunger, nor beatings, nor the long gray hopelessness of prison life could shake Ed Whitcomb's determination to escape the enemy and return home to Indiana.
