Honoring the Enemy

Honoring the Enemy is the story of how American sailors, Marines, and soldiers landed in eastern Cuba in 1898 and, against daunting odds, fought their way to victory. Capt. Peter Wake, USN, is a veteran of Office of Naval Intelligence operations inside Spanish-occupied Cuba, who describes with vivid detail his experiences as a naval liaison ashore with the Cuban and U.S. armies in the jungles, hospitals, headquarters, and battlefields in the 1898 campaign to capture Santiago de Cuba from the Spanish. His younger friend, and former superior, Theodore Roosevelt, is included in Wake’s story, as the two of them endure the hell of war in the tropics. Wake’s account of the military campaign ashore is a window into the woeful incompetence, impressive innovations, energy-sapping frustration, and breathtaking bravery that is always at the heart of combat. His description of the great naval battle, from the unique viewpoint of a prisoner onboard the most famous Spanish warship, is an emotional rendering of how the concept of honor can transform a hopeless cause into a noble gesture of humanity.