Seven civilians were brought in from Bataan today!
All their stories were the same. Hardships, malaria, dysentery, inadequate equipment and food. While hungry and exhausted men waited, fought, and prayed for reinforcements, the Japs hammered at them from land, sea, and air.
People were slowly beginning to believe that Bataan had fallen. Those with men at the front bore up wonderfully. The men in camp, unlike the women, refused to talk about the surrender.
From radio transcripts smuggled into camp we learned that President Roosevelt had said, “Bataan has served its purpose.” Just like that! “Bataan has served its purpose.” One little sentence that must have felt like a knife thrust in the breasts of the women whose men had fought so bravely in Bataan.
Two of the Bataan women were assigned to my room, and I learned from one of them that my nurse friend, Jinny, had malaria and that her husband had been wounded. She also told me that all
the nurses had been evacuated to Corregidor.