Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 2 begins in January 1945, and starts the narrative thread of the Ranger's mission. Colonel Henry Mucci is a West Point graduate and has been selected to plan and lead the rescue mission to Cabanatuan Camp. Mucci's parents were Italian immigrants and he was born 1909 in Connecticut. In 1943 Mucci took command of the US Sixth Army's 98th Field Artillery Battalion; the battalion was then scaled back to 500 men and converted into the army's first Ranger battalion. The battalion trained for over a year on New Guinea; although somewhat slight of stature, Mucci was physically fit and possessed of a remarkable constitution. Mucci plans the general outline of the mission and decides to take a small force, selecting Robert Prince as the assault leader. Prince is a young man with no combat experience but much beloved of his men; his reserved nature and...