They Can't Take That Away From Me: The Odyssey of an American POW - Hardcover

Rentz, Ralph M.; Hrisko, Peter

3.2

5 ratings by Goodreads

9780870136726: They Can't Take That Away From Me: The Odyssey of an American POW

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870136720 ISBN 13: 9780870136726

Publisher: Michigan State University Press, 2003

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Ralph Rentz grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, with one dream: to be a professional musician. Playing clarinet, saxophone, and flute in 1930s big bands, Rentz wanted no part of the looming shadow of war. At age twenty- one, he joined the National Guard to avoid being drafted. Ten days later, he was called up for active duty. Fearful of friendly fire, Rentz then signed up with the Army Air Corps, where he trained to be a radio operator. While on a secret mission in the Pacific, Rentz’s B- 17 was shot down over Malang, Java, where he and the rest of the crew became Japanese POWs. Surviving dysentery, pleurisy, dry beri-beri, tuberculosis, and slave labor, Rentz held on to his dreams of returning to music and waited for a U.S. invasion that never came.
They Can't Take That Away From Me recounts not only Rentz’s devastating three-and-a-half years of captivity, but also his involvement in a secret government mission that has never been revealed. Rich with the music of his youth, the book conjures up the losses, longing, sacrifices, and stolen dreams of Rentz’s imprisonment and his return to the United States. Bittersweet and evocative, They Can’t Take That Away From Me explores the irony of human resilience amidst the atrocity of war, and in that survival the unconquerable loss of a man’s most cherished dream.

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About the Author:

Ralph M. Rentz lives in Fayetteville, Georgia, with his wife, Ellie. Ralph still enjoys listening to big band music; and at 85, he has already started writing another book.

Review:

"What does it take to survive as a POW? Guts? Prayer? Luck? Or could it be hate?"

"They Can't Take That Away From Me is an engrossing book, a tale both funny and wise, told by a man who's seen hell and yet writes like an angel. Rentz is a natural master storyteller, and his is a super-charged adventure yarn brimming with humility, rich with emotions, and hugely entertaining."

"This is more--so much more--than just another World War II story. Ralph Rentz, an immigrant's son, survived the war and a Japanese POW camp and a difficult homecoming so he could share his lessons with another generation facing uncertain times."

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