Days of Anguish, Days of Hope

Days of Anguish, Days of Hope is the heroic story of Chaplain Robert Preston Taylor, who spent 42 months in Japanese prison camps during World War II. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Manila, the Philippines, the next day. Taylor was caught in a maelstrom of war and the every-day fight for survival. He ministered to the fighting men on the front lines during the Battle for Bataan and received the Silver Star for bravery. He endured the Bataan Death March – where thousands of American soldiers died – the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, and the so-called “hell ships” that were bombed by American pilots who did not know the American prisoners were on board. During the nearly four years in prison, he faithfully ministered God’s love to the other prisoners. After he was liberated, he returned home to learn that his wife Ione, who was told he had died on the “hell ships,” had remarried. He decided to remain in the military and years later President John F. Kennedy named him Air Force Chief of Chaplains with the rank of major general.

Bill Keith is an award-winning journalist who served as an investigative reporter, city editor and editor of three newspapers in Louisiana and Texas. He was a war correspondent in Vietnam and also had assignments in Tokyo, the Philippines and West Berlin and traveled in 35 other countries. He earned the bachelor of arts in journalism from Wheaton College in Illinois, the master of divinity from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a graduate diploma from the Tokyo School of the Japanese Language. Through the years he served as the director of public relations for the Baptist General Convention of Texas in Dallas; a Louisiana state senator representing the people of Shreveport, Louisiana; senior editor of Huntington House Books, Inc.; and president and chief fundraiser for the Academic Freedom Legal Defense Fund. His written works include Days of Anguish, Days of Hope (Doubleday); W. A. Criswell, the Authorized Biography (Fleming Revell); The Commissioner (Pelican Publishing Co.); Scopes II/the Great Debate and The Divine Connection (Huntington House, Inc.); Joy Comes in the Morning (Fellowship Foundation); and others. He and his wife Vivian Marie live in Longview, Texas, where he works as a full-time writer of both fiction and non-fiction books. His email address is Bigscribe@aol.com and he has two websites www.BillKeithBooks.com and Bkbooks.ning.com. His mailing address is P. O. Box 8321, Longview, TX 75607.