Lost in the Pacific 1942

Written by Tod Olson and published in 2016, Lost in the Pacific, 1942 is a fictionalized account of the true story of soldiers lost at sea during World War II.

The text begins with a Prologue describing a plane crash that strands the soldiers in the Pacific Ocean. The B-17 transport plane’s pilot, Captain Bill Cherry, plans to land at Canton Island to refuel. However, due to a faulty navigational antenna and a problem with the octant—a compass used by the plane’s navigator, Lieutenant John DeAngelis—the plane overshoots its mark. The plane only has enough fuel for four more hours, and the men must decide how to safely land it in the ocean. This is especially difficult because the waves are choppy. Cherry and his co-pilot, Lieutenant Jim Whittaker, realize they must land in a furrow between the waves. They manage to do so, and the entire crew survives the crash.

The book’s opening chapter provides a backdrop to this scene. The soldiers have been on a top-secret mission, and only the plane’s VIP passenger, Colonel Eddie Rickenbacker, knows what the mission fully entails. Rickenbacker is older than the rest of the crew, and much more distinguished and decorated. He is a World War I hero, a champion racecar driver, and an owner of an airline—Eastern Air Lines. Rickenbacker has already survived a plane crash in a Georgia forest on one of his own planes. He has commandeered the B-17 transport plane to fly to Guadalcanal, which United States Allied troops have just started to defend from Japanese Axis forces. Rickenbacker’s plan—hatched with the help of United States Defense Secretary Henry Stimson—is to inspect and rally the Allied troops at Guadalcanal. He also intends to help keep the United States-Australia route safe from Japanese control, which is crucial because the Japanese have taken over most of the Pacific Ocean. Rickenbacker is also privy to another top-secret plan: an Allied invasion of North Africa, where German and British forces have been fighting.

Not long after the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the soldiers boarded a plane with faulty brakes at Hickam Field in Hawaii. Fortunately, they were able to land safely on the airfield and immediately board the B-17 transport plane. (Later, many of the crew members blamed Rickenbacker for rushing to carry out his mission and not allowing the plane to be thoroughly inspected for safety before their flight.) Until they boarded the B-17 transport plane, the rest of the crew believed they were flying to San Francisco for vacation. These other crew members are Sergeant James Reynolds, a radioman, Sergeant Alex Kaczmarczyk, an engineer, and Private Johnny Bartek, another engineer. Rickenbacker is also accompanied by Colonel Hans Adamson, his right-hand man. After introducing the remaining crew members, Olson reveals pieces of their backgrounds. Bartek’s sister, Ruth, died of a concussion; Sergeant Alex (as he is known throughout the book) has a girlfriend named Snooks; and Whittaker, who is in his forties, is the oldest crewmember, save for Rickenbacker.

After the B-17 transport plane crash-lands, Rickenbacker adopts an authoritative role while the crew is lost at sea. The men escape from the plane with three rafts, some emergency supplies, and almost no food. They tie the rafts together with a cord that Rickenbacker has been carrying, and they divide a few oranges into rations they hope will last for days. While lost at sea, they are surrounded by sharks, and they suffer heat rashes, starvation, and dehydration. Over the next three weeks, they struggle to survive through their ingenuity. For instance, they use a seabird’s innards for fish bait, and they capture rainwater from a sea storm for drinking water. They also strive to not fight over power struggles and personality conflicts. Many of the soldiers chafe under Rickenbacker’s dominating leadership, and several of them eventually break away from the group to try to survive on their own.

All of the men survive the ordeal except for Sergeant Alex, who is buried at sea after dying from jaundice and dehydration. Eventually, the other soldiers are all found in different locations by members of the United States Army, which never stops searching for Rickenbacker. Cherry, floating alone in a small raft, is found first by a pilot in a seaplane. He tells his rescuers that there are six other men who are still lost in the ocean. Meanwhile, Whittaker, Reynolds, and DeAngelis wash up on a small island, while Rickenbacker, Adamson, and Bartek remain on their own raft in the sea. Once rescued, the soldiers recuperate in a small hospital on the island of Funafuti before they are transferred to a larger hospital in Samoa. After their recovery, they return to Hawaii and then resume separate lives in the United States. There, they are treated like heroes, and their survival is portrayed as a great example of American resilience and ingenuity. Their story is compared to other war-related disasters, such as the tremendous struggle of the soldiers at Guadalcanal (where Rickenbacker eventually goes). It is also compared to the story of the men who survived the Japanese torpedoing of the USS Juneau. After the attack, 100 castaways fled from the wreckage of the ship, but only 10 survived.