Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Fighting Agents (Men at War, Bk 4)

The Fighting Agents (Men at War, Bk 4)
hardtack avatar reviewed on + 2721 more book reviews


I was a bit annoyed with this book. The cover description is all about Colonel Wendell Fertig and his role in fighting the Japanese in the Philippines. But the book was mostly about events in the U.S. or Europe.

Colonel Fertig eventually commanded 30,000 fighting men and women, but was never promoted above colonel due to jealously from MacArthur and his Bataan Gang. As Griffin points out at the end of the book, 30,000 men is equal to two American infantry divisions, each of which would be commanded by a major general.

If you wish to know the story of Wendell Fertig's accomplishments, see his Wikipedia page, most of which I wrote. If that gets you interested, find a copy of "They Fought Alone" by John Keats. It is a truly amazing story of the Filipino resistance, probably the greatest guerrilla resistance in history.