REVIEW
Title: Praying with the Enemy
Author: Steven T. Collis
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2022
Number of Pages: 308
Binding: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook (MP3)
ISBN-13: 978-1-62972-994-7
Price: $26.99
Reviewed by Richard Ji for the Association for Mormon Letters
Based on a true story, Praying with the Enemy by Steven T. Collis is a fictionalized account of an American Prisoner of War (POW) during the Korean War. With the help of a North Korean soldier (the enemy), the two trust in God to escape to freedom. Collis states that “aside from minor deviations, I was able to follow the actual events as they occurred. A good rule of thumb for the reader is this: the more unbelievable the detail or anecdote, the more likely it is true” (p. 306). Collis chose the novel approach because it allowed him more freedom of the portrayal, characters, and narratives (p. 305).
The book is comprised of 45 short chapters followed by an Afterword, Author’s Note, and Acknowledgement section. There are also 4 photographs. It is written with largely middle school vocabulary so is readable from that age group up. This makes the novel highly accessible and a fast read.
Over twenty years ago, Collis spent time living in Korea and came home with a desire to write a story about this land and its people. While conducting some research, he discovered a memoir about Ward Millar. Millar was an American pilot who crash-landed in enemy territory during the Korean war. Upon ejecting from his plane, he broke both ankles and was captured. Through a miraculous series of acts and good fortune, Millar escaped his captors; and with the help of Kim Jae Pil, a Christian enemy Korean soldier, was able to signal American forces and was dramatically rescued. Unfortunately, Millar and Kim Jae Phil had both passed away by the time Collis wrote the book, but he was able to meet with the families of both as part of his research.
I was excited to read this book as I have Korean ancestry. My father was a teenager during the war. Both my parents’ families lost everything and experienced the hardships of war. As Collis, wrote the book with a fast pace, there wasn’t a lot of in-depth history of the war. Rather, the narrative was focused on telling the stories of Ward Millar, Kim Jae Phil, and Barbara Millar (Ward’s wife). The stories are braided throughout the novel using a 3rd person narrator telling their stories from their perspectives.
The common thread among all the main characters was their faith in God. Millar’s faith was found during his ordeal. Barbara’s and Kim Jae Phil’s faith was long established prior to the war and served as an invisible hand throughout their experiences. Ward and Barbara shared an unbreakable bond. They had one small child together before Ward was deployed. Despite being notified that Ward was shot down and missing in action, Barbara had a strong sense he was alive and would return. This was despite the lost hope of close family members and perhaps the military as well. Remembrances of Barbara’s Catholic faith inspired Ward during their separation. A wooden cross he made helped him feel closer to her.
Kim Jae Phil was a Christian before the war and when the Communists took over the land of his family, they ordered the destruction of their church and considered religiosity an act of treason that could result in death. Kim Jae Phil was a reluctant participant in the war and did not like the Communists. He sought ways to escape the war and relied on his faith in God to deliver him from it.
After his crash, Millar was captured and a North Korean officer named Lieutenant Kang was in charge of him. Kang’s character in the book is a composite of a few actual people in Millar’s story. Lieutenant Kang was the main antagonist and seemed determined to advance his career in a Communist cause he was devoted to. After Millar’s usefulness in providing information was seemingly spent, Kang seemed determined to end Millar’s life. He was prevented from doing so by ranking Chinese officers who continued to see the utility in keeping Millar alive.
Millar’s initial escape came after his ankles had healed sufficiently enough for him to walk with the aid of makeshift crutches. This escape caused a great deal of embarrassment for Kang and threatened his career. Kang was determined to locate Millar and issued orders to execute him on sight.
Fate brought Millar and Kim Jae Phil together as Kim Jae Phil was the first enemy officer (newly promoted) to find Millar after his first escape. Kim was on a supply-related mission when Kang came upon him and notified him of the escapee with instructions to be on the lookout for him and to execute him when found. When Kim came across American (Ward), he instinctively felt a duty to protect him, knowing somehow that this would be the way the Lord provided for him to escape the war.
Instead of executing Millar on sight as ordered, he sought excuses to keep him alive and collaborated (despite the language barrier) with Millar to come up with an escape plan. Like Nephi in seeking the plates, they seemed to be “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [they] should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). Kang was hours away when notified of Millar’s recapture. Communication was slow and the party holding Millar was not notified of orders to stay put until Kang arrived.
With Lieutenant Kang in pursuit and accompanying Communist loyalists in tow, time was limited for Millar and Kim. Kim’s plan was to bring Millar to a POW camp further to the south, under the rouse that Millar might be a valuable source of intelligence. Kim hoped to slip the accompanying loyalists and reach American forces as they neared. Their plan brought them so far, and then the Lord’s hand took care of the rest. Through a series of incredible events, both Millar and Kim were able to signal American planes and a daring helicopter rescue was executed.
Despite the title being Praying with the Enemy, the book highlights a common faith in God but illustrates more the idea of praying alongside the enemy versus actually praying with the enemy. Potentially due to the language barrier, Millar and Kim Jae Phil did not actually pray together, but both offered prayers to God individually and in their own ways. Despite not knowing how to pray initially and a moment of doubt, Millar clung to the faith of his wife and offered prayers followed by actions. From the chain of events, it seems clear that God was indeed watching over both Ward and Kim.
I enjoyed Praying with the Enemy. It is a light and quick read with an inspiring story. Some things that would have made the book more compelling to me would be to invest more attention into the development of the Asian characters and more commentary on these people’s lives years after their escape. Despite having a Korean friend help Collis with cultural feedback, the Korean and Chinese characters seemed more Western in mentality than Asian. This is understandable as Collins is an American writer. I think having greater attention to this portrayal would have set up a more dramatic contrast to the characters and enhanced the miraculous nature of their shared deliverance. Also, the ending leaves a reader wanting. Did the families of these two men ever come together to meet? How did this shared experience affect their lives? Was Ward Millar able to walk properly ever again? These and other questions would have made the Afterword more fulfilling for the reader.
Praying with the Enemy by Steven T. Collis is a work that highlights a source of inspiration in an otherwise bleak period of time in Korean and American history. War results in such tragedy for so many, but it can also be a time when people can find God as exemplified by Millar’s experience. Collis does a great job at bringing forward an example of how one man found his faith, and two others validated their own in bleak times.