Surviving the Flier is an incredible true story of survival. As World War II drew to a close, the USS Flier struck a mine and sank in thirty seconds while on patrol in the Philippines. Fifteen men survived the explosion, but only eight survived the seventeen hour swim to land. From there the survivors worked to elude capture by the Japanese, struggled to find food and water, and eventually managed to find their way back to Allied territory. The people they met and how they returned was kept top secret for years. Told from the perspective of the last living survivor, Al Jacobson, this book draws upon his memoirs as well as extensive research to portray as accurate a story as possible.