A thousand places left behind : one soldier's account of jungle warfare in WWII Burma / Peter K. Lutken, Jr. ; edited by E. R. Lutken.

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2023]

x, 196 pages, 28 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

"There are a great number of books written on World War II of Europe and the Pacific, far fewer on the war in Burma (Myanmar), sometimes called the "forgotten war." This unique book, A Thousand Places Left Behind, is a personal account of the experiences of Peter K. Lutken, Jr. (1920-2014), who served behind Japanese lines in Burma from 1942 to 1945. The narrative was compiled from a series of tapes that the family recorded of Pete telling his stories, as he had told them many times over the years. It begins with his enlistment in the army after graduating from Mississippi State in 1941 and follows through to his return home in August of 1945. Pete was born and raised in Mississippi and had never been out of the country before the war. His stories carry the reader along as he sails on a troop ship to India, then treks into the mountainous jungles of northern Burma to gather intelligence and engage in guerrilla warfare with the Japanese. In his straightforward way, he describes how he developed a strong bond with the Kachin people of northern Burma, how he learned their language, their customs, and way of life, and how he fought alongside them for the course of the war. Adventures of rafting uncharted rivers, successful and unsuccessful surprise attacks, jungle diseases, feasts and ceremonies, the plight of refugees, and tragic events of war are all told from the perspective of a young soldier, who finds himself half a world away from home. The epilogue includes a description of "Project Old Soldier," a program for Kachin farmers that Pete and his fellow American veterans of OSS detachment 101 (of the Office of Strategic Services) organized in the 1990s and maintained for many years, to repay the "debt of honor" they felt they owed to the Kachin people"-- Provided by publisher.

Online version: Lutken, Peter K. Thousand places left behind Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2023

English

July 25, 2023