Prisoner of the Rising Sun

Berry and two Navy comrades were probably the only escaped American POWs recaptured by the Japanese during WW II who lived to tell about it. Stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded, the three ensigns participated in the defense of Corregidor until the American surrender, were captured, and then escaped and hid in the jungles of Luzon. Turned over to the Japanese by natives, the three were tried and sentenced to three years as ``special prisoners'' at the infamous Bilibid Prison in Manila. According to Berry, he wasn't executed because he claimed he had escaped in order to return to his mother, whose picture he carried. (The photo is reproduced in the book.) Berry's engrossing memoir, written with Alexander, an investment adviser, adds to our knowledge of Japanese policy toward prisoners of war and reveals how resourceful Americans could manipulate their captors without losing their honor or their lives. Berry is a retired justice of the Oklahoma supreme court. (May)