Bataan diary / James L. Rand ; recorded by Willard Rand and Paul Rand
Title
Bataan diary / James L. Rand ; recorded by Willard Rand and Paul Rand
Subject
Prisoners of war--Philippines--Diaries.
Rand, James L., 1912-1999--Diaries.
Soldiers--United States--Diaries.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
World War, 1939-1945--Philippines--Bataan.
World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.
Description
Personal diary of an American soldier, who volunteered for duty at the age of 28.
His diary covers his army life, from training, shipping out to the Philippines, pre-war life in Manila, through the outbreak of war and the battle of Bataan. Rand was with a machine gun unit attached to the 31st Infantry Regiment (US Army). This part of the diary shows war as seen from a private’s eye: not seeing the larger picture and having to move from place to place (it also has a number of misspellings of place names, which is understandable). His wartime diary ends abruptly on March 11, 1942; it resumes when Rand is a prisoner of war in Cabanatuan, in March 1943, and continues through the rest of his prisoner of war ordeal in Japan. He was lucky in the sense that he was sent to Japan in 1943, before the horror of the hell ships. There is another large gap in his diary in 1944-45, probably because of the drudgery of prison camp and labor details.
The diary is filled with Rand’s own recollections, and information from official histories. The book also includes the experiences of his two brothers, who also enlisted in the US armed forces but served in different theaters (not in the Philippines).
Originally published in the early 1980s, the book in the Hall collection is the second printing (2002), put out after Rand’s death.
His diary covers his army life, from training, shipping out to the Philippines, pre-war life in Manila, through the outbreak of war and the battle of Bataan. Rand was with a machine gun unit attached to the 31st Infantry Regiment (US Army). This part of the diary shows war as seen from a private’s eye: not seeing the larger picture and having to move from place to place (it also has a number of misspellings of place names, which is understandable). His wartime diary ends abruptly on March 11, 1942; it resumes when Rand is a prisoner of war in Cabanatuan, in March 1943, and continues through the rest of his prisoner of war ordeal in Japan. He was lucky in the sense that he was sent to Japan in 1943, before the horror of the hell ships. There is another large gap in his diary in 1944-45, probably because of the drudgery of prison camp and labor details.
The diary is filled with Rand’s own recollections, and information from official histories. The book also includes the experiences of his two brothers, who also enlisted in the US armed forces but served in different theaters (not in the Philippines).
Originally published in the early 1980s, the book in the Hall collection is the second printing (2002), put out after Rand’s death.
Creator
Rand, James L., 1912-1999
Publisher
[S.l. : s.n.], 2000
Date
2000
Format
28 x 22 cm.
Type
Softbound
Call Number
D 767.4 R36 2000
Accession Number
14240
Pagination
[x], 70 p.
Illustration
ill.
Files
Collection
Citation
Rand, James L., 1912-1999, “Bataan diary / James L. Rand ; recorded by Willard Rand and Paul Rand,” FHL-Roderick Hall, accessed February 18, 2026, https://fhl.omeka.net/items/show/306.