Valley of the Shadow

U.S. Major Ward M. Millar was the third and last of three Air Force pilots captured during the Korean War to make his escape from the Communists. This is his story, first published in 1955, simply told, and one of stubborn and single-minded determination. Parachuting down in enemy territory, with two broken legs, Millar was picked up by some Chinese soldiers, treated minimally, interrogated at length, and finally taken to a “hospital,” which was no more than an infirmary. His first escape attempt—crawling on wooden skids—failed; his second, with walking sticks and padded galoshes for shoes, was more successful. He managed to hobble at the rate of a mile a day, lived on raw corn, was gradually weakened by dysentery and hunger, and fell into the hands of Kim—a friendly North Korean who was able to complete his escape and escort him to Seoul....

“A modest, matter of fact account—which has (and perhaps needs) no pretensions beyond the bare, spare facts of this experience.”—Kirkus Review