He and his fellow journalists are sent back by the military who want to keep this part of the war under wraps. He decides to make his way back to see what exactly is going on. He cons his way onto a military plane as an observer from the Canadian Air Force and it crashes on the Japanese held island of Attu. John survives along with young Airman First class Karl Bitburg, a 19 or 20 year old from Texas who is trying to escape his life. John was rejected from the military because of medical issues, but his brother Warren was in the Canadian Air Force.