Reviews of Manila Bay Sunset

"Manila Bay Sunset is a gut-wrenching story of memories, nightmares, ingenuity and perseverance. Billy's unvarnished narrative is a 'must read' for generations to come. This is an indictment of man's inhumanity, but more, a testament to man's will and determination.

You feel like you're right beside Billy on his trek through a 'new kind of hell'. He opens a 'new world' to the reader -- where life is precious, but of no value to his captors -- where you learn to 'never look back', but to focus on the future.

Billy believes his experiences are a 'footnote in history'. He's much too modest. They are the history of our country's proud heritage. He is wise for the rest of us when he says 'every endeavor has its price'. As we, of following generations, carry his torch, he vividly reminds us of the sacrifices and heroism of his buddies who didn't come home. Their children, and all of us enjoying freedom, are forever in Billy's debt." ~ Col Jerry Hughes, USAF (Retired), Former Assistant Deputy for Intelligence at Headquartes, US Air Forces Europe, at Ramstein AB, Germay; Wing Commander, 16th Air Force at Torrejon AB in Madrid, Spain. Current Vice Flight Captain, Spirit of Flight #68, Order of Daedalians, at Whiteman AFB and Vice President for Aerospace Education of the Harry S. Truman Chapter, Air Force Association, Kansas City, MO.

Billy D Templeton‘s book, Manila Bay Sunset: The Long March into Hell, is the remarkable story of an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary situations. Essentially a memoir, it is at once highly personal, immediate and informative. Yet it also stands as history, an important record of events that should not be forgotten.

Mr. Templeton was one who was there. He was there when, mere hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese bombs rained down on the Philippines, destroying both his bomber and its home base. He was there during the long retreat into the Bataan Peninsula. He witnessed the remarkable unpreparedness of the United States at the beginning of World War II. He was there during the infamous Death March, forced to endure unbelievable acts of Japanese cruelty. He rode on the “Hell Ships”, surviving inhumane conditions only to find another nightmare awaiting him in the cold depths of Manchuria. Finally liberated after the end of the war, he suffered serious wounds on the return voyage to freedom.

In common with other survivors of unimaginable horror, his rendering is in a matter-of-fact style. Like “Woman in Berlin”, and “Shoah”, stories told by other people helplessly caught in the vice grips of war, he tells his story in a remarkably dispassionate way. As he reflects on the Death March: “I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. I had no choice. I was twenty years old. I wanted to stay alive. I retreated into myself.”

Still there is a certain pathos that creeps into the text. His sense of abandonment is clear. America placed him and thousands of others in harm’s way. With the fleet lying on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, the means to rescue them no longer existed. Mr. Templeton and his comrades paid the price. Circumstance arose where Americans unwittingly added to the danger. An American submarine fired on his Hell Ship, unaware of its cargo of American POWs. Later, American planes bombed his camp in Manchuria. Once home, he suffered the final indignity of the denial of a battlefield promotion.

Mr. Templeton’s story stands as a triumph of one human being over the inhuman acts of others. Although it chronicles a personal victory, it stands as something more, a victory of the human spirit over evil. Although perhaps not meant to be, this book is inspirational, a story nearly as inspiring as the man himself." ~ Ken Kreckel, Author of The Rommel Mission and Rocked By Murder

"A terrific story of how an Iowa farm boy's great adventure as a radio operator on the "Flying Fortress", the world's most advanced and capable fighting weapon in the era leading up to World War II, turns into an ordeal when he is taken prisoner by the Japanese in the Philippines. How only a few of those captured survived the cruelty, disease, starvation, inhumane transportation methods for almost four years is hard to believe. The reader will unconsciously compare how these men were treated with how our prisoners are protected today." ~ William Wright

"If you weren’t around in the mid-20th century, Billy D. Templeton’s MANILA BAY SUNSET will take you back there. He’ll tell you about some of the most brutal times in the history of our nation, back to a Sunday afternoon in December when the United States was plunged into a world of war, about man’s inhumanity to man and how he survived it.

Billy was a young guy who loved his mother, played some baseball and was in pretty good physical condition. He believed that this is what helped him survive through most of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese. His war didn’t last long after that Sunday, December 7th, 1941.

It was two in the afternoon in my hometown and the Sunday matinee movie had just started. A few minutes later, I sensed someone standing beside my seat on the aisle and he touched my arm. In the darkness of the theatre I could see my dad had a strange, serious look on his face. “Come on,” he said softly, “I want you to come home.”

I got up and followed him outside into a bright, sunny afternoon. “The movie just started,” I said.

“I know, but I want you to come home. Japan just bombed Pearl Harbor,” he said.

I had never heard of Pearl Harbor, didn’t know where it was or what that meant. My dad knew and Billy Templeton, who was about eight years older than me back then, knew. He knew that Pearl Harbor was several hundred miles away, knew exactly what it meant. And twenty-four hours later, he learned first hand about the death and destruction of war as an Army Air Corps radio operator on a B-17, one of our new great bombers. His bomber would be destroyed in the first Japanese raid on Clark Field. The next day and he became a ground soldier.

A few weeks later, after most of the U.S. and Filipino troups had surrendered, Billy and a friend ran out of the jungle straight into the hands of the Japanese. They had no choice but to surrender. Then he began to learn about the Japanese. The long march to Camp O'Donnell in the hot Luzon sun on Highway 7 began. It became known as the Bataan Death March.

Billy’s story is an amazing one and at the end, you wonder how he ever survived through all the atrocities and the death and disease that surrounded him. It’s a grim reminder of what can happen in this world, a highly recommended read of a piece of history." ~ Dan Murr, Author, Historian -- www.danlmurr.4mg.com, Newest book: The Sabbatine Privilege (Jada Press - 14th century Suspense, mystery), Other books: The Medjugorje Encounter (Inspirational about 4 pilgrimages to Medjugorje (1997-2000); The Milk Wagon (Military adventure, a covert operation to Manchuria, 1946); A Need to Know (military/Espionage/Romance set in early 1980s; won 1st place in FWA's published fiction, 2001); We Never Said Goodbye (and other stories), (A variety of seven short stories, military, western, sports, detective etc). All are available on Online bookstores - Barnes & Noble; Booksamillion, Amazon.com)

"Billy Templeton writes a riveting and totally absorbing story of his many experiences as a young enlisted man in World War II. We are transported into a different time and place of which we have heard too little of the horrifying details. As I read, I hardly believed Billy could survive.

Bill survives well and is my friend and neighbor. We met as fellow American Ex Prisoner of War members of the Kansa City chapter. I too survived Manila during World War II—interned by the Japanese in Santo Tomas Internment Camp. His experience resonates with mine.

Bill survived not only the Bataan Death March, the Hell Ship, Tottori Maru, but also as a Japanese Prisoner of War in Manchuria. At times in all of this, he found a good sense of camaraderie and humor.

Americans need to read his description of the Japanese destruction of our once mighty fleet of B-17's at Clark AFB near Manila. He includes a photo of Clark Field, December 8, 1941.

Bill experienced living in the jungle, malnutrition, and disease. He writes, "Death at the hands of the Japanese was capricious. ...Horrified by such brutality, I choked back my outrage and complied with their demands." Filipino families, when the Japanese guards weren't looking, tossed rice balls wrapped in leaves out the windows. "A Japanese soldier saw what was happening. He ran into one of the bamboo houses. We heard women and children screaming - and then shots. The soldier came back out of the house, wiping his bayonet and grinning."

“Regulations for Prisoners Aboard Hell Ships VI. The prisoners disobeying the following orders will be punished by immediate death … Those obeying all rules and regulations …cooperating with Japan in constructing ‘the new order of the greater Asia’ which leads to the world peace will be well treated. The Great Japanese Empire will rise to Govern the World.”

We all need to read this young enlisted man’s story." ~ Phyllis Dunn, civilian prisoner at Santo Tomas Internment Camp.

By KARI H. BERG

Through his book, “Manila Bay Sunset – The Long March into Hell,” Marshall County native Billy D. Templeton shares his stories of World War II.

Templeton, who has lived in communities such as Union, Baxter and Marshalltown, is a WWII veteran, ex-Prisoner Of War and Bataan Death March survivor.

“[I wrote this book] because I had been keeping a journal for some time and I was trying to keep it up to date,” Templeton said. “I was messing around with the idea [to write the book] for several years and with the insistence of my wife I thought maybe I should go ahead with this thing.”

In “Manila Bay Sunset – The Long March Into Hell,” Templeton describes how he survived the infamous Bataan Death March, Camp O’Donnel, Cabanatuan, a Hell Ship and slave labor in Manchuria.

Templeton said fear, hope and luck helped keep him alive while hundreds of others died at the hands of the Japanese, disease, starvation and exhaustions.

“It was difficult to dig into the past,” he said.

“I had spent 60 years trying to forget these things. But my purpose was to have some kind of record for my great-grandchildren or great-great grandchildren. I wanted to give them some idea of what this grey-haired guy did in the war.”

Templeton’s wife, Lou, said she is very proud of her husband and his willingness to share his journey with others.

“He tells a very personal story,” she said. “He didn’t want the book to be about history – it’s all been written with facts in check. This was his chance to tell his story and how the war impacted one individual.”

Lou said Marshall County residents, as well as any military family may find “Manila Bay Sunset – The Long March into Hell,” interesting.

“The newspaper wrote up articles on [Templeton] when we was missing in action,” she said. “They wrote about him when he was a POW and when he got home. I know there were other people in central Iowa that went through the same thing and many of them probably came home and never said a word about it. This is in opportunity for families to read what happened to their family member.”

Templeton and his wife currently reside in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

To purchase “Manila Bay Sunset – The Long March Into Hell,” the Templetons can be contacted through the Web site: BillyDTempleton.com

Community members interested in receiving a copy of the book can also send $15.95 plus $3 for shipping and handling to P.O Box 7022, Lee’s Summit, MO 64064.