“Their names must always be hallowed when we speak of American heroes. The memory of their coming ashore on Corregidor that early morning of April 9, dirty, disheveled, some of them wounded from the hospital bombings—and every last one of them with her chin up in the air—is a memory that can never be erased.”
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, nurses joined the military to serve their country and seek adventure. The most adventurous volunteered for overseas tours, including the Philippines. The nurses who ended up on the island were rewarded with light work and a tropical paradise to explore on their time off. They golfed, dined with offices, walked the beaches and enjoyed the local culture.
Then, the Japanese bombed the island and they were on the frontlines of the war.
We Band of Angels caught my eye at a local library book sale. I had never heard of American women being prisoners during World War II and I wanted to know their story.
Without any wartime training, these nurses stepped up and learned how to care for the men wounded by war. They learned to wear gas masks and work through bombings. They set up clinics in the jungle when they were evacuated from their hospitals. They were part of the Americans who “were surrendered” to the Japanese when they ran out of supplies. They were taken as prisoners of war for three years and continued to work as nurses. Food rations dwindled each year, yet they kept running a clinic even when they were as sick as their patients. Their courage and determination kept them alive – all of them – when the Americans came and liberated them. They came home heroes, yet the transition back to civilian life was tough. What was the country supposed to do with women who had been on the frontlines of the war?
I will never forget this story and will recommend it to anyone who has an interest in history and humanity’s story. These women were incredible and, yet, they considered that they were just doing their job. They were Americans. They were nurses. They would not abandon their patients by their own choice. We need to remember their story.
We Band of Angels would be a great book club book, too. There are a lot of topics covered in the book that would be great to talk to with other people. It would be a good way to share their story with others.