cover image Foo: A Japanese-American Prisoner of the Rising Sun-The Secret Prison Diary of Frank ""Foo"" Fujita

Foo: A Japanese-American Prisoner of the Rising Sun-The Secret Prison Diary of Frank ""Foo"" Fujita

Frank Fujita. University of North Texas Press, $29.95 (392pp) ISBN 978-0-929398-46-4

Along with others of his Texas National Guard battalion, Sgt. Frank (``Foo'') Fujita was taken prisoner in the Netherlands East Indies in 1942. He was the only Japanese-American combat soldier captured by the Japanese in WW II. During his three-and-a-half year incarceration, Fujita kept a diary, on which this exceptionally interesting memoir is based. He also recounts the suspenseful period when he managed to elude the Japanese while Dutch colonials betrayed GIs to the invaders. Fujita's account of POW life in Japan, his prisoner's view of the B-29 raids on Tokyo, and the story of his liberation, return to civilian life and career as an illustrator with the Air Force are told in vivid and memorable detail. Readers will be impressed with Fujita's ebullience and humor that persisted despite the prolonged ordeal he underwent. A gifted illustrator and cartoonist, his artwork from the period gracefully illuminates the narrative. (Apr.)