The Adventures of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295987545 ISBN 13: 9780295987545

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2007

Synopsis

Eddie Fung has the distinction of being the only Chinese American soldier to be captured by the Japanese during World War II. He was then put to work on the Burma-Siam railroad, made famous by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. In this moving and unforgettable memoir, Eddie recalls how he, a second-generation Chinese American born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown, reinvented himself as a Texas cowboy before going overseas with the U.S. Army. On the way to the Philippines, his battalion was captured by the Japanese in Java and sent to Burma to undertake the impossible task of building a railroad through 262 miles of tropical jungle.

Working under brutal slave labor conditions, the men completed the railroad in fourteen months, at the cost of 12,500 POW and 70,000 Asian lives. Eddie lived to tell how his background helped him endure forty-two months of humiliation and cruelty and how his experiences as the sole Chinese American member of the most decorated Texan unit of any war shaped his later life.

About this title

About the Author:

Judy Yung is professor emerita of American studies at the University of California Santa Cruz. She is co-author of Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 and the author of Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco.

Review:

"Readers of Asian American and military studies will find the book fascinating, with humor and sadness intertwined." - Western Historical Quarterly

"One marvels at Fung's gumption to attempt the outragious, his ability to survive incredible hardships, and his honesty, innocence and curiosity." - Asian Week

"A remarkable chronicle of a boy from Chinatown who in his journey through life acquires a wealth of insight and wisdom." Franklin Ng, California State University, Fresno

"An unusual and riveting contribution to Asian American history."- Valerie J. Matsumoto, University of California, Los Angeles

"A vibrant, compelling portrait of a unique individual that deepens our understanding of what it means to be a Chinese American, a survivor, a mensch." --Ruthanne Lum McCunn, author of Wooden Fish Songs

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0295987545
• ISBN 13: 9780295987545
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 227
• Editor: Yung Judy