"In the 50 days that followed the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, John L. Farmer put his civilian surgical practice on hold to join a hastily organized U.S. Army evacuation hospital that was one of the first medical units to go overseas. Letters and diaries written during the three and a half years Farmer was in the Pacific record his experiences from the hectic days assembling the hospital in early 1942 through the campaign to retake the Philippines in 1945." [from Amazon.com]