Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the ability and pluck to face fear and move on.

Great American Wartime Survival Stories is an extraordinary collection of stories presenting indefatigable human beings caught in circumstances that summoned extraordinary resilience and strength: a plane crash in the jungles of Burma, a Pacific typhoon, perilous flight from Confederate soldiers intent on killing the enemy.

The heroes within these stories are unflappable, gifted with the strength and perseverance to calmly face their Maker and move ahead.

Within each of these enduring stories is an uplifting lesson on the human condition.

Here, among the ten riveting stories in this collection, you will read of a group of imprisoned American sailors trapped in a foul Philippine jail at the turn of the 19th century; an account of two Union prisoners on the run making their way through Confederate territory; and the men on American naval ships caught in a typhoon during World War II.

Other stories include a young mother caught in the siege of Vicksburg; the survivors of the torpedoed USS Indianapolis floating helplessly in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific; and the brave and unsuspecting soldiers in and around Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Great American Wartime Survival Stories is, more than anything, an inspiring collection of hope from those who made it through the most trying of circumstances.

Tom McCarthy is an award-winning editor and writer who lives in Guilford, Connecticut.