Bataan The Court-Martial of Forrest Montgomery

About the Book

None of the four teenage youths who met on the tennis court the summer before entering Eastern High School imagined that during their next three high school years, they would become inseparable. By graduation day, two of the youths had become casualties of tragic accidents. Unhappily, only Bob Johnson and Forrest Montgomery remained at graduation. The effects of the two tragedies and the patriotic complexion of the country at the outbreak of World War II may well have been responsible for Bob’s and Forrest’s early decision to enlist.  Their fate was the Battle of the Pacific and the fall of Bataan.  Bob was wounded, scarcely managing to survive the ninety mile death march to the Camp O’Donnell prison and near death when he did.  Frequently clashing with Captain Savage, and ignoring his command, Forrest did what it took to keep Bob alive.  His court martial was inevitable. At the close of the war Captain Savage risked his career to court martial the man he hated. The intense court martial and the truly accurate account of life in Camp O’Donnell characterize the novel.

About the Author

A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Mr. Wilson spent a career as an intellectual property attorney in the chemical field, writing some eighteen articles along the way which can be found in seven different publications.  Since his retirement Mr. Wilson divided his time between preparing patent applications for NASA and writing novels.  Prior to retiring he spent the last sixteen years of his legal career as an attorney in the JAG Section of the Department of Defense.  Since retiring from DoD he has written three novels and is in the middle of his fourth one.

During WWII the need for chemists was as great as the need for military personnel. A naval ensign was discharged to work in chemical plant manufacturing a chemical additive that boosted the octane number of low-octane gas so that it could be used as aviation fuel. Mr. Wilson is a veteran of World War II but he too worked as a chemist in that plant.

The New Mexico National Guard was one of the first units to be sent to Bataan.  Most of Mr. Wilson’s high school classmates were in that unit. When they got together after the war they talked about their experiences as POWs for four years. It was during these get-to-gathers that Mr. Wilson got his idea for this novel. All of the details in BATAAN: THE COURT MARTIAL OF FORREST MONTGOMERY, such as duties during the Battle of Bataan, the death march, conditions during imprisonment in Camp O’Donnell, the roll calls, the move to Cabanatuan, and working in the coalmines, are true.  The episodes, of course, did not happen to the characters they are attributed to, and the court martial is fiction.