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From the Publisher: For more than fifty years, it was stored in a soldier's footlocker.  One of the most remarkable tales of American military history, The War Journal of Major Damon "Rocky" Gause is one man's chronicle of his incredible 159-day escape from the infamous Bataan Death March and harrowing voyage across the enemy-held Pacific in a leaky, wooden boat during World War II.
   Immediately following his return to safety, Major Gause wrote his gripping memoir using his notes from the battered ship's log and the handmade diary he dept throughout the journey.  His account begins with the siege of Manila, where the young Army Air Corps dive-bomber pilot was stationed, and the eventual fall of the Philippines into Japanese hands.  Along with 70,000 other American and Filipino soldiers, Gause was captured by the Japanese and destined to walk what would later go down in history as the Bataan Death March.  In the first of may amazing feats, he managed to escape, then swam through shark-infested waters to the rock island fortress of Corregidor.  When Corregidor fell, Gause again eluded capture by island-hopping for two months, always staying one step ahead of enemy patrols.  One the island of Mindoro, he met a fellow American escapee, and together they embarked upon a miraculous 3,200-mile voyage to Australia, and to freedom, in a twenty-foot wooden fishing boat.  Along the way, they faced strafing from Japanese fighter planes, tropical storms, jagged coral reefs, and near starvation.  Vividly written with astonishing attention to detail and a surprising sense of humor, The War Journal of Major Damon "Rocky" Gause is impossible to put down.  Accompanied by photographs taken during the voyage and an Introduction and Epilogue by Rocky's son, Damon L. Gause, this amazing document reveals a true American hero and pays tribute to the bravery of those who fought and died beside him.

The War Journal of Damon "Rocky" Gause is a roller coaster ride of adventure, heroism, sacrifice and survival.  The journal takes you back to Rocky’s youth in Georgia where he was an avid outdoorsman.  His love of the outdoors would do him well as the opening days of World War Two unfold.  After leaving his wife of two weeks for the Philippines Rocky finds himself in Manila during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  The situation in the Philippines quickly changes to one of survival for the U.S. Forces with Rocky and many of his fellow Army Air Corps troops fighting as infantry on the Bataan Peninsula.   He escapes capture and swims three miles to Corregidor still in U.S. control and fights with the 2d Battalion, 4^th Marines.  He escapes capture again and again with the help of the Filipino people connecting with other displaced soldiers along the way.  The most amazing segment of his escape is his voyage on a small diesel powered sailboat 3,200 miles to Australia.  Rocky and another escaping U.S. Army Officer sail from island to island over several months, through typhoons and squalls to get back to their units and the war.  The voyage was wrought with danger of Japanese patrols and air attacks.    You need to read the book to fill in the blanks yourself.