Dr. Clif CleavelandSeventy-five years ago, on May 12, 1942, the last U.S. soldiers fighting in the Philippine Islands surrendered to the Japanese.
The Philippines had been a U.S. territory since the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Our government maintained a large naval base, air fields and military garrisons on the main island, Luzon, and a fort on Corregidor Island. The Philippine army supplemented defense of the islands.
Japanese air attacks began on Dec. 8, quickly leading to air superiority for the Japanese. Invasion began two weeks later. Greatly outnumbered, the U.S. and Philippine troops were forced to the Bataan Peninsula of Luzon and then to Corregidor. Enduring continuous bombardment and faced with lack of food, medical supplies and munitions, the garrison surrendered on May 5. More than 11,500 soldiers and 64 Army nurses were captured.
While male prisoners were dispersed to various brutal prison camps, some by way of the notorious Bataan death march, Army nurses were moved to different locations until they eventually joined 11 Navy nurses who had been captured at a Manila hospital. The nurses were placed in an internment camp established on the campus of Santo Tomas University outside Manila. The nurses never ceased their work. They had cared for the wounded in Manila and during the fiercely contested retreat to Bataan and ultimately Corregidor, where they cared for hundreds of wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital in a tunnel beneath the fort. Their work continued in prison camps until their liberation in 1945.
The nurses at Santo Tomas immediately went to work to establish a hospital for a growing population of civilians- businessmen, missionaries, aid workers and their families – who had been unable to escape the islands before the invasion. Several civilian doctors and nurses completed the medical team. The camp would eventually accommodate more than 4,000 inmates within its barbed-wire perimeter. Prisoners were separated by sex. Up to 30 people occupied a single converted classroom. The camp’s administrator allowed the prisoners to establish a ruling council to regulate how the captives would interact. Relief supplies from the Red Cross and packages from families were allowed. Post cards could be sent to families in the U.S.
On May 14, 1943, the 11 Navy nurses were sent to a newly established internment camp at Los Banos, a former agricultural institute, 40 miles southeast of Manila. Eventually, more than 3,000 civilians were housed here. After setting up a hospital, the nurses worked with two doctors to provide total care to a population that included patients suffering from malaria, tuberculosis and malnutrition. Medications were scarce. There were no anesthetics. Limited supplies of morphine provided relief for patients in severe pain. The nurses struggled every day to sustain humane care.
In January 1944, Japanese military officers took over administration of the camps. Red Cross assistance ended. Strict military discipline was imposed. Food rations were progressively reduced to 700 calories per person per day. Starvation and vitamin deficiency diseases took a steady toll on the inmates.
U.S. infantry liberated Santo Tomas on Feb. 3, 1945, with no loss of life among the prisoners.
Los Banos remained behind Japanese lines. Intercepted Japanese messages suggested that the camp’s inmates would be killed rather than turned over to Allied forces. Plans for an elaborate raid were hastily formulated. In a coordinated raid on Feb. 22, that involved airborne and amphibious soldiers and a Philippine guerrilla unit, the Japanese at Los Banos were overwhelmed and the prisoners freed. More than 2,100 men, women and children were ferried to safety aboard amphibious tractors. Several hundred prisoners who chose to remain behind were massacred by Japanese forces when they retook the prison camp.
In March, the 66 Army nurses and 11 Navy nurses were discharged from hospital and returned to their hometowns. Each received a Bronze Star. President Roosevelt recognized their service in a public letter. Later, the nurses received a Presidential Unit Citation for valor. Several battled illnesses related to their captivity, such as hepatitis and depression, for years. They received no psychological counseling. Though maintaining contact with each other, the nurses spoke little of their ordeal to family members.
Many years later, Mildred Dalton Manning, the last survivor of the captive nurses was asked how she had endured the trials of her captivity. She replied, “I had a job to do. I was a nurse.” This was the obvious creed of each of this “band of angels.”
Contact Clif Cleaveland at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.