Part IV, Chapters 29-31 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 29 is called "Two Hundred and Twenty Punches," a title that mirrors the earlier chapter title "Five Hundred and Ninety-Four Holes." Like that earlier chapter, it refers to an attack on Louis and other service men.

It was now early May, 1945. B-29 raids on Japan continued, with bombs sometimes falling near where the enslaved prisoners were working. The POWs learned that Germany had fallen. At Naoetsu, the Bird was as brutal as ever, singling out Louis and some other prisoners. He made them stand at the center of the camp, then ordered every prisoner to strike each man in the face. Louis withstood as much as he could before falling unconscious. Each man received some 220 punches.

The Bird split his time between Naoetsu and another camp called Mitsushima, where the prisoners hated him so much...