Hold Strong

Set during the Great Depression and World War II, this historical novel follows two intertwined storylines: Sam Carlson, an American soldier who becomes a prisoner of war in the Philippines, and Sarah Haber, a gifted mathematician recruited into top-secret code breaking for the US Navy.

In 1938, Sam and Sarah are high school sweethearts in Eagle Grove, Minnesota. Sarah, the school's first female valedictorian, has earned a full scholarship to study mathematics at Mankato State Teachers College. Sam, whose family lost their dairy farm to foreclosure, proposes marriage, but Sarah gently closes his hand around the ring and tells him "not yet." Unable to afford college, Sam enlists in the Minnesota National Guard to save money.

When President Roosevelt federalizes Sam's unit in February 1941, Sarah gives Sam her high school class ring as a promise of devotion. During training, Sam meets Pete Chavez, a private from Salinas, California, who becomes his closest friend and tank driver. Before sailing for the Philippines, Sam calls Sarah from San Francisco. She tells him she is ready to marry him, but the line goes dead before he can respond.

On December 8, 1941, Japanese bombers destroy Clark Field on Luzon in a surprise attack coinciding with Pearl Harbor. Over the following months, Sam's platoon fights desperate retreats across Bataan. After General King orders surrender on April 9, 1942, Sam and his men endure the Bataan Death March, a brutal forced march in searing heat during which guards behead, bayonet, and shoot prisoners. Father Thomas Scecina, an Army chaplain, risks his life to comfort the dying.

At Camp O'Donnell, the commandant Katsuo Yoshida declares the Geneva Convention does not apply and singles Sam out for relentless persecution. Chavez establishes a smuggling ring to bring in food and medicine from Filipino resistance fighters, while Father Tom distributes supplies to the sickest prisoners. Sam contracts beriberi, a disease caused by severe malnutrition, and nearly dies. A menacing fellow POW named Rudowski tries to steal Sam's vest, which conceals Sarah's ring, and Sam stabs him with his hidden pocketknife.

Sam escapes during a burial detail and reaches a Filipino mountain village, but the elder betrays him for a bag of rice. Back at camp, Yoshida executes nine blindfolded POWs, declaring them Sam's "blood brothers," and announces that for every escape attempt, nine men will die. He places a pistol against Sam's temple and urges him to take his own life. Father Tom holds up his crucifix and shakes his head; Sam cannot pull the trigger.

Meanwhile, Sarah learns Sam is missing in action and contacts Captain Russell, who had earlier tried to recruit her for Navy communications intelligence work. In Washington, DC, Sarah identifies a critical pattern in the Japanese JN-25 naval code, cracking a key piece of the system. Her team later breaks the Japanese maru (freighter) code, enabling US submarines to sink enemy supply ships across the Pacific.

Sarah develops a romantic relationship with Russell but remains conflicted about her loyalty to Sam. When she learns Sam is alive and a prisoner of war, she recommits herself to him. She joins the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and transfers to FRUPAC (Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, becoming the first woman assigned there.

In October 1944, Sam and 1,800 POWs are forced into the hold of the Arisan Maru, a Japanese freighter bearing no Red Cross markings, at Manila Harbor. Men suffocate and fight in the darkness. Father Tom leads prayers while Sam retells Fred Astaire movies to distract prisoners. The ship sails for nine days, returns to Manila, then departs again as part of the MATA-30 convoy. Father Tom experiences a crisis of faith, telling Sam he can no longer hear or feel God.

At FRUPAC, Sarah decodes a message revealing the Arisan Maru carries 1,800 Allied POWs alongside military cargo. She delivers the intelligence to her superior, Commander Jasper Holmes, who recognizes the dilemma: If the Navy spares the ship carrying POWs, the Japanese will know their code has been broken, potentially prolonging the war. Both understand the convoy will be attacked in its entirety.

Submarine commander Edward Blakely of the USS Shark receives orders to intercept the convoy. Horrified to learn the Arisan Maru carries American prisoners, he follows orders but deliberately aims his first two torpedoes to miss. The third strikes the freighter. The Japanese crew seals the hatches and abandons ship.

With water flooding the hold, Rudowski uses his strength to lift the hatch cover while Sam saws through the ropes with his pocketknife. Father Tom descends into the hold to rescue soldiers too weak to climb out. Major Jones, a senior officer, gives Father Tom a battlefield promotion. Father Tom tells Sam to survive and bear witness. He embraces Sam, whispers a blessing, and shoves him over the railing into the South China Sea. The Arisan Maru sinks with Father Tom still aboard.

At dawn, Sam swims to a drifting lifeboat and is pulled aboard by Rudowski. The two former enemies cooperate to survive. When a Japanese destroyer approaches, Rudowski throws himself on top of Sam and orders him to play dead. Machine gun fire tears through the lifeboat. When the destroyer departs, Sam finds Rudowski dead, his body having shielded Sam from the gunfire.

The USS Shark surfaces and rescues 44 POW survivors, including Chavez. But the Japanese destroyer Harukaze returns and forces the submarine to dive. Depth charges cripple the Shark, and the submarine descends past crush depth. Blakely confesses to Chavez that he knew the Arisan Maru carried POWs. Chavez tells him not to blame himself. The hull crushes at 750 feet, killing all aboard.

Alone in the lifeboat, Sam rigs the sail, navigates by the North Star, and sails for days until he reaches the coast of China. A schoolteacher named Qiu Jin guides him through Japanese-occupied territory to an American intelligence compound, where he sees the US flag for the first time in three years. His report that the Japanese transported POWs on unmarked freighters reaches President Roosevelt, who orders Sam home.

In Washington, Sam testifies about Japanese war crimes at the Pentagon. General George Marshall pins a Purple Heart and Silver Star on his chest. President Roosevelt meets Sam in the Oval Office, where Sam tells the president that returning Americans need jobs, help for grieving families, and the chance to attend college.

Having learned that only one person survived the Arisan Maru, Sarah returns to Eagle Grove for Thanksgiving. Sam surprises her in the projection booth of the Paradise Theater. They exchange stories, though Sarah cannot reveal her code-breaking work. Sam uses his back pay to buy back his parents' farm but says he will not stay. When Sarah asks if he wants her in his life, Sam says he loves her but tells her "not yet," echoing her answer to his first proposal.

After the war ends, Sam visits the families of Father Tom, Chavez, Major Jones, and Rudowski to honor their loved ones' sacrifice. In February 1946, Sam walks into Sarah's classroom, drops to one knee, and proposes with a new ring. Sarah says yes. He dips her backward and kisses her as students cheer. She calls him "Fred." He calls her "Ginger."