Sunset Over Java

Overview

SUNSET OVER JAVA is the story of a boy whose life was radically changed in the prison camps on Java during World War II. Not all of his family survived. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he expected to be re-united with his family and to return home. Instead, he found that a violent Indonesia Revolution was taking hold. The murders of numerous camp survivors forced the evacuation of all Dutch civilians. As a result, he and his family experienced the sunset of their way of life on Java. His interrupted education and the patchwork of schooling in Holland and Washington, DC, resulted in poor grades and caused him to reject all thoughts of going to college. A stint in the US Army began his personal turnaround. With the help of family and new friends, good fortune, and determination to make up for lost years, he was surprised to find himself at Harvard at age 23.