Includes bibliographical references (pages 417-467) and index.

The one-boy insurgency -- Run like mad -- The Torrance tornado -- Plundering Germany -- Into war -- The flying coffin -- "This is it, boys" -- "Only the laundry knew how scared I was" -- Five hundred and ninety-four holes -- The stinking six -- "Nobody's going to live through this" -- Downed -- Missing at sea -- Thirst -- Sharks and bullets -- Singing in the clouds -- Typhoon -- A dead body breathing -- Two hundred silent men -- Farting for Hirohito -- Belief -- Plots afoot -- Monster -- Hunted -- B-29 -- Madness -- Falling down -- Enslaved -- Two hundred and twenty punches -- The boiling city -- The naked stampede -- Cascades of pink peaches -- Mother's day -- The shimmering girl -- Coming undone -- The body on the mountain -- Twisted ropes -- A beckoning whistle -- Daybreak.

Relates the story of a U.S. airman who survived when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II, spent forty-seven days adrift in the ocean before being rescued by the Japanese Navy, and was held as a prisoner until the end of the war.