Wake, War And Waiting…

Before the thunderous bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the outpost of Wake Island was a backwater dotted in the Pacific Ocean with only a handful of military personnel and construction workers on the roster. Among the construction workers was Rodney Kephart of Iowa, signed up with Morrison-Knudsen company of Iowa, and about to be attacked by the might of Imperial Japanese Navy. The heroic but unsuccessful defence of Wake led Kephart and his fellow workers into Japanese captivity for how long they could not guess.

Captivity for the prisoners was a war in and of itself; and Kephart’s short narrative gives a vivid account of the daily struggles against starvation, against the petty viciousness or outright brutality of the captives, against dirt, time and terror.

Yet, despite his photographic realism, Mr. Kephart’s saga is not essentially one of pessimism or despair. Out of the darkness of slavery flash those small victories or omens that men could cherish and hold against the ultimate hope of freedom—the Christmas celebration, the miracle of a Red Cross package, the sight of the first American bomber. And then, with the surrender of the Japanese, came that unforgettable moment. They were free men again! For the reader who has lived through the disappointments and triumphs of the book, that long- awaited moment will be no less thrilling.

Rodney Kephart was born in Spencer, Iowa, in 1917. After attending school in South Dakota, he went to Bethel Junior College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Until his capture on Wake, he was at various times a farmer, a carpenter, and an unofficial Protestant minister. Since his return from the Pacific he has been studying business administration, first at the Boise Junior College and later at the University of Minnesota.