Hirohito became human to remain unpunished

When Manila's fall was imminent, most of them escaped with the rest of the US forces, with the exception of eleven of the Navy, which were captured in the capital.The rest, the members of the Army, worked tirelessly in the jungles of Bataán.They attended to the injured in campaign hospitals, in outdoor pavilions and with very limited media.The problem was not only the bullets and the Japanese obuse, but the dengue and other diseases that wreak havoc.

The last corregidor shelter

In April 1942, the Philippines and American troops surrendered in Bataán, but before, General Jonathan Wainwright, who had assumed the command after the march of MacArthur, insisted that the nurses were evacuated to Corregidor.

On this island in Manila Bay, US troops raised the last resistance to their capitulation, on May 6, 1942. Las enfermeras trabajaron en un hospital, dentro del complejo subterráneo que el ejército deEE.UU.I had there.Of the total sanitary, a small group of nurses could be evacuated by boat to Australia, but the rest, sixty -six, stayed until the end.

Among the eleven thousand military who surrendered, were these nurses, who achieved, involuntarily, another milestone: to be the first group of American women captured by the enemy in time of war.

Captive nurses soon became an element to reinforce the war speech of both sides. Los japoneses las exhibieron como una muestra de su gran victoria en las Filipinas, mientras que enEE.UU.His memory was used as a stimulus to avenge defeat or enliven arms production through propaganda posters.

Sex slaves of World War II

That same summer the nurses were separated from their companions.The Japanese took them to the Prison Field who had installed at the Dominica University of Santo Tomás, in Manila.This detention center was not intended for military, but to foreign civilians of nationalities that the Empire of the Rising Sun considered its enemies.

In Santo Tomás, six thousand prisoners were made - mainly, American -, in hygienic and sanitary conditions that began to deteriorate very quickly.The nurses decided not to be some more captives, waiting for their release or death, and organized to serve the hundreds of civilians affected by disease and malnutrition.

Iwo Jima, fight without barracks for a Pacific islet

The cruelty of the Japanese is explained by the deviant interpretation they made of the bushido - the Guerrero de los Samurais code -.For them, the surrender was something shameful, so the prison soldiers did not deserve any respect.

However, although they did not suffer aggressions from their guardians, the risk of sick or malnutrition were very present during their captivity.On average, seventy -seven sanitary lost about 35 percent of their weight.

Separation and rescue

In May 1943, the eleven N).The Japanese had built it within their strategy to redistribute the captives, in order to avoid existing supersaturation in Santo Tomás and other internment facilities.It was more a practical issue to better manage prisoners than not a program to dispense them a humanitarian treatment.

At the head of the eleven health group was Lieutenant and Nurse Chief Laura Cobb.In the bathrooms they joined two thousand other prisoners, who were practically in their entirety, also civilians.There they reproduced the work routine they had put into practice in Santo Tomás, optimizing with great effort the little material they had.

The sinking of the yamato, the battleship that should never be built

In October 1944, General MacArthur fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines.Allied troops landed on the island of Luzón, starting ten months of fighting with Japanese defenders.The allies, knowledgeable about the situation in the prison fields, launched very bold rescue operations with the invaluable help of Filipino partisans.

In the course of these actions, the members of Los Angeles de Bataán were released.The first rescued group was that of Santo Tomás, in January 1945.The troops of the 1.ª Cavalry Division prevented them from being victims of the reprisals that Japanese troops launched against the civilian population during the battle of Manila.

Three weeks later, Cobb and the other nurses of the Navy were rescued in the bathrooms, next to the rest of the inmates.It was a risky hand coup from American paratrooper and guerrillas, and is considered one of the most successful prison rescue operations in history.

The Holy Eleven

After liberation, the qualifier of angels of Bataán became very popular, although during the war they had been known by other names.During the first fighting in the jungle, the nurses called themselves "Bataán fighter beauties".Then, in the different fields of prisoners, they would be known as "The Sacred Eleven", in reference to the nurses of the Navy in the bathrooms.

But his popularity was fleeting after liberation, despite having care of hundreds of people who relieved his cruel captivity.It is true that they were granted the decoration of the bronze star, which recognizes a meritorious service.But they were not given major awards, since these were reserved for soldiers who had participated in combat missions.Even some, like Dorothy Danner, suffered physical sequelae for his captivity and barely received help from the US government.

It would not be until the eighties when important tributes arrived. En 1983, el ejército deEE.UU.He recognized them as a model to follow for all the toilets that served in their ranks.In 2001, Captain Davison received posthumously (he had died in 1956) the distinguished merit medal, one of the highest decorations of the nation.