Many books have been written about the Bataan Death March, but few have described the deep faith of the heroic men who experienced the horrors of that march. Among the survivors was Clarence Bramley. Tall and lean, he enlisted during World War II with dreams of flying P-40 fighter planes. But the reality of war often dashes young men's dreams. While waiting for the results of his pilot exams, his squadron was ordered to the Philippines where he serviced the very planes he was hoping to fly. Then in the spring of 1942, the islands fell to the Japanese. During the years that followed, Bramley experienced the brutal Death March, incarceration in the Philippines and Taiwan, nightmarish weeks on a Japanese Hell Ship, and forced labor in a prison camp at Kosaka, Japan. He suffered disease and brutality and witnessed the agonizing deaths of close friends and comrades - but he never lost faith in God.
From his own military, investigative, and legal experience, William T. Garner is able to personalize this account of the wartime service of an American soldier who became a prisoner of the Japanese. Garner, a student-athlete in high school and college, is the son of a career U.S. Marine and was himself a Marine Corps jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. Upon leaving active duty, he worked as an insurance investigator while completing the schooling he had begun before his military service. After graduation from law school and admission to the State Bar of California, he maintained a distinguished law practice in Long Beach: first alone and later as a partner in a highly respected firm. He was appointed by the governor of California to be a Judge of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles for the State of California, and was twice elected by the people to continue in office. On the bench, from which he recently retired, he presided over many high profile criminal and civil trials. His legal career spanned nearly 45 years, and during that time he authored many legal decisions and treatises. In 1998 he was named "Judge of the Year" by the Long Beach Bar Association. For more than 20 years he was also an adjunct professor of law at a local law school. In addition to his law degree, he holds a master's degree in humanities.
Garner and his wife of more than 52 years, Rochelle, continue to reside in Long Beach, and try to visit their six children and their families who live in several states as often as possible. During all of his adult life he has served his profession, community, and church in various capacities, and since 1991 has been the stake patriarch. He continues to teach and to direct his ward choir. He says of this book and of Clarence Bramley, the book's subject, "It's difficult to imagine that there is anyone who will not be touched and inspired by reading this factual account of a real American hero."
