The Jersey Brothers

A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home

By: Sally Mott Freeman

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The extraordinary real-life adventure of three brothers at the center of the most dramatic turning points of World War II and their mad race to change history - and save one of their own.

They are three brothers, all navy men, who end up coincidentally and extraordinarily at the epicenter of three of the war's most crucial moments. Bill is picked by Roosevelt to run his first map room in Washington. Benny is the gunnery and antiaircraft officer on the USS Enterprise, one of the only carriers to escape Pearl Harbor and by the end of 1942 the last one left in the Pacific to defend against the Japanese. Barton, the youngest and least distinguished of the three, is shuffled off to the Navy Supply Corps because his mother wants him out of harm's way. But this protection plan backfires when Barton is sent to the Philippines and listed as missing in action after a Japanese attack. Now it is up to Bill and Benny to find and rescue him.

Based on 10 years of research drawn from archives around the world, interviews with fellow shipmates and POWs, and primary sources including diaries, unpublished memoirs, and letters half forgotten in basements, The Jersey Brothers is a remarkable story of agony and triumph - from the home front to Roosevelt's White House and Pearl Harbor to Midway and Bataan. It is the story, written with intimate, novelistic detail, of an ordinary young man who shows extraordinary courage as the Japanese do everything short of killing him. And it is, above all, a story of brotherly love: of three men finding their loyalty to each other tested under the tortures of war - and knowing that their success or failure to save their youngest brother will shape their family forever.

©2017 Sally Mott Freeman (P)2017 S&S Audio

Band of Brothers Meets Unbroken-a Remarkable Book

This is one of the most amazing stories I have ever read, rendered all the more amazing because it is pure fact, not fiction. Anyone who has any interest in the WWII action in the Pacific theater must put this on his/her reading list. As others have noted, it has echoes of "Unbroken", but not only does it cover the territory (and confirm) that book's recounting of the unspeakable horrors suffered by prisoners of war at the hands of the Japanese, it covers so many other aspects of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to Bataan and the Philippines to the great land and sea battles including Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Leyte Gulf, the Coral Sea - all told from first hand accounts of the three brothers who were there and who could comment not only on the battles but on the commanders who ran them - MacArthur, Halsey, Nimitz, Turner and others. In addition, one of the brothers - the father of the author by the way - witnessed the early years of the war from the inner circle of the White House. He ran (actually, created) FDR's vaunted strategic "map room" and there interacted daily with the president and his war staff (as well as first lady Eleanor) before he, too, shipped out to join the war at sea. To have these three brothers all as first-hand witnesses to some of the major events of the war is itself astounding, and as you would expect, leads to some equally amazing - and heart-wrenching - tales from their home front, focusing on their indomitable mother, Helen. The author spent ten years researching this material not only from family archives but from sources scattered all over the world. She pulls it together beautifully. I couldn't put this book down. I walked extra miles just so I could keep listening and it left me in tears and emotionally drained at the end. Please read or listen to it; it is unforgettable. Brava Sally Mott Freeman!

Riveting, inspiring, devastating, beautiful

A patchwork of firsthand accounts, the result of painstaking effort to tell the hard-won truth of a missing Sailor and beloved family member. It puts the tragedy of the American military's unprepared response to the Japanese invasion under a microscope; I spent half of the book shaking my head in anger and disappointment, other portions longing help those imprisoned or killed in battle, the rest with pride swelling in my chest hearing the accounts of sheer bravery our military men exhibited. The events described in this book sparked a change across the world- from how each branch conducts business to the global standards of conducting war. It is a treasure among combat tales; this book devoured me.

Great book on ww2

I enjoyed the perspective of a ww2 pow's family on the war in the Pacific theater.

The Forest Gumps of WWII

I have read numerous books - fiction and non fiction - about the war in the Pacific. This story had no need to create characters on the scene of great events. These brothers were there - from FDR’s map room to the Doolittle raid, Pearl Harbor, and unfortunately Japanese POW camps. There is just enough color added to make the bare facts understandable. If you liked Unbroken you will love this book (unless you can’t bare to hear what about McArthur’s narcissism).

One of the beat ever!!

I loved this book.I cried at times and the detail was unbelievable.I felt like I was there.One of my very best reads ever.

Won't want to put it down...

This book was amazing!!! I couldn’t stop listening I felt like I was there with these people. The more I listened the more I wanted to know. Has to be one of the best WWII stories I have ever listened to or read.

Wow!!! Is all I can say about this. So worth it if you are a WWII buff or Navy History buff.

Well Done

what a marvelous piece of work,, thank you so much for your great efforts! When Helen Cross sat on her front porch steps with that letter I was furious at the Navy for their dissemination of the news. no spoiler here, but between the machinations of the Army and Navy I felt rather spoiled and extremely happy that I have been an Air Force brat, wife and employee. ( having just read the Bomber Mafia. .give it a shot, great book, and I was fortunate to have met some of those characters. my father's nick name during his active duty was Little LeMay...Dad was the armaments officer in England during WWII but managed to stow away on18 missions but I wasn't born until 1946 and grew up as a SAC brat).
thank you again for a truly wonderful book. I have ordered the hardback hoping there will be photos of the family, particularly Helen Cross.
best regards
Amy Meighan Utah

Wonderful read of a families attempt to bring one on theirs home.

With a book of this nature it is very hard to know where to start. However, it is best to start by strongly recommending that anyone considering reading it, you should and quickly. It is an inspirational read about three
dedicated brothers who did what most young men of the time did, which was to enlist in support of the United States of America. Navy men all, they attended the Naval Academy, became officers in the navy & served the country with excellence. This book chronicles then taking of one of them as s POW and the effort of the others to find and liberate him. This effort went on from December of 1941 to the end of the war in mid to late 1945. The book is written by the grand niece of the POW Barton Cross. She writes with amazing emotion, having done as much research one could do during the time in history and with the limitations during the time in history. I was honored to have been given the chance to glimpse the inside of their family and the pain they had to endure during this ordeal. It made me realize that we that never had to endure the struggle these men did have little to complain about in our lives. Thank you so very much Sally Mott Freeman and thank you so very much for allowing me the honor of reading about Barton, Bill and Bennie, they certainly honored the Cross and Mott names. I loved your book!

I really wanted to love this book

I can understand why so many have given this book 5 stars, it just wasn't for me as much as someone maybe with a connection to that time. As a person with no war knowledge or interest, I had a hard time following some of the book and would be tempted to skip. I was more interested in knowing what happened to each family member and the dynamics of their relationships. I listened to the end because I wanted to know, especially since it was based on a real family and the niece who did all the research had invested so much into it, over 10 years! I truly enjoyed listening to a female voice, had it been male I probably would have quit listening but her voice kept me interested. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period or interested in U.S. wars.

Powerful

An amazing story and so well written. As a reader you get to see the war from four perspectives. The home front and awaiting loved ones, from the WhiteHouse, from the deck of the USS Enterprise and Admiral Turners flag ship. Most of all from the detailed and horrifying life of a American Prisoner of War held by the Japanese in the Philippines. Cassandra Campbell does an amazing job as well. One of the best read books to date.