In a theater of war long forgotten and barely even known at the
time, James Harry Hantzis and his fellow soldiers labored at a
thankless task under oppressive conditions. Nonetheless, as Rails
of War demonstrates, without the men of the 721st Railway Operating
Battalion, the Allied forces would have been defeated in the
China-Burma-India conflict in World War II. Steven James Hantzis's
father served alongside other GI railroaders in overcoming danger,
disease, fire, and monsoons to move the weight of war in the
China-Burma-India theater. Torn from their predictable
working-class lives, the men of the 721st journeyed fifteen
thousand miles to Bengal, India, to do the impossible: build,
maintain, and manage seven hundred miles of track through the most
inhospitable environment imaginable. From the harrowing adventures
of the Flying Tigers and Merrill's Marauders to detailed
descriptions of grueling jungle operations and the Siege of
Myitkyina, this is the remarkable story of the extraordinary men of
the 721st, who moved an entire army to win the war. For more
information about Rails of War, visit railsofwar.com.
