Beyond the March of Death: Memoir of a Soldier's Journey from Bataan to Nagasaki

The first to admit that he did not volunteer for military service, Myrrl W. McBride, Sr., was just a young man trying to work and return to college when he was drafted from Grants, New Mexico, into a world completely foreign to him and a war he never envisioned. Soon he would bear witness to one of the most tragic events in U.S. military history--the U.S. surrender at Bataan and the Bataan Death March. Written by McBride more than 60 years ago and never before published, this memoir provides an intimate account of the march and its aftermath, as recounted through the eyes of a recently discharged army draftee still recovering from the ordeal. The story begins with the news of Pearl Harbor just reaching the Philippine Islands, continuing through the courageous stand of the 200th Coast Guard Artillery in the Battle of Bataan, the Death March, and McBride's three and half years as a prisoner of war in Japanese camps. The heartbreaking narrative reveals some of the qualities that were undoubtedly critical to his survival--his courage, ingenuity, sense of humor, and enduring hope--all are vividly portrayed.

After the war, Myrrl W. McBride, Sr., secured a graduate education at Sul Ross College and the University of Texas. He was an educator at St. Joseph's College and in the public school system in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He died in 1993.