Here to Stay: Stories in Human Tenacity (1962) is a book of essays which includes Hiroshima, Hersey's most famous survival story, and what some critics believe is his masterpiece. One story, "Survival" is an account of John F. Kennedy's heroism after a Japanese destroyer had cut his torpedo boat, 109, in half. Kennedy 6661 rescued some of his crew, and with a back injury that would later force him out of the navy, swam for help. A news report had already reported his death.

Some other accounts such as "Tattoo Number 107, 907," feature other holocaust survivors. "Joe Is Home Again" describes a GI with an amputated left arm and his adjustment problems. An old woman on the roof of her house during a flood stubbornly refuses to give up her struggle for life in "Over the Mad River."