February 20, 1942
February 20, 1942
It was still dark this morning when I hurried to the hospital. Suddenly, I bumped into someone with such force that I nearly lost my
Tressa Cates
(September 14, 1903 — May 6, 1991). Nurse at Sternberg General Military Hospital. Interned with her future husband in Santo Tomas, 1942-45.
February 21, 1942
February 21, 1942
One hundred thirteen British men, women and children arrived yesterday from Sulphur Springs, a small internee camp outside of Manila. These people had been the
February 22, 1942
February 22, 1942
Washington’s Birthday was not forgotten! The men in the room next to ours made an American flag from a white piece of cloth dipped into
February 23, 1942
February 23, 1942
F.D.R. STATES THAT AMERICAN SHORES CANNOT BE DEFENDED. Every headline in the Nishi-Nishi was meant to terrorize and demoralize. I finally persuaded Catesy to shave
February 24, 1942
February 24, 1942
JAPAN IS PREPARED TO WAGE WAR FOR A HUNDRED YEARS. This was hardly the type of headline that would cheer us. Daphne, our British roommate,
February 25, 1942
February 25, 1942
CALIFORNIA SHORE SHELLED. This was our morning headline. Can it be true? The Santo Tomas trots or acute gastro-enteritis caught up with me, and I
February 26, 1942
February 26, 1942
Zenia, my nurse friend from India, went outside on a pass, and she spent the night at my apartment. How happy we were to see
February 27, 1942
February 27, 1942
F.D.R. Says: “It Is Hopeless to SEND REINFORCEMENTS TO P.I.” Each day, after reading the propaganda headline, I vowed that I’d never again look at
February 28, 1942
February 28, 1942
The Red Cross Filipina, Burmese, and Siamese nurses will soon leave us to care for wounded Japanese soldiers. How we hated to see these fine
March 29, 1942
March 29, 1942
Palm Sunday! Catesy and I went to church in the Father’s garden. The minister prayed for peace, and an earnest congregation joined him. When the
March 30, 1942
March 30, 1942
CORREGIDOR HAS BEEN BOMBED EIGHT TIMES! We visited our former neighbors who kept house on the other side of the abandoned truck. They now had
April 1, 1942
April 1, 1942
Pura, my little Red Cross Filipina nurse friend, lifted my mosquito net before I was up to tell me the great news that Tokyo had
April 2, 1942
April 2, 1942
Just as Sophie and I carried the card table and eating utensils into the corridor outside our room in preparation for lunch, a group of
April 3, 1942
April 3, 1942
Exciting news swept the camp! The Commandant informed us that a neutral ship would leave for the States at the end of this month after
April 4, 1942
April 4, 1942
Easter was in the air! From my window I watched and listened to the women’s choir practicing in the Father’s garden. Women and children were
April 5, 1942
April 5, 1942
We went to sunrise services and communion in the Father’s garden, and it was like no other church I had attended on Easter Sunday. The
April 6, 1942
April 6, 1942
A three-hundred-pound teen-age girl came to our room this morning with a pair of shoes that she wanted to raffle off at twenty centavos a
April 7, 1942
April 7, 1942
During the night we were awakened by the roaring sound of many planes speeding toward the west. How could we sleep after that? We knew
April 8, 1942
April 8, 1942
An earthquake of considerable intensity awoke the camp, and the Big House shook like a shimmy dancer. Frightened and half-dressed, women rushed out of their
April 10, 1942
April 10, 1942
Though we refused to believe the Nishi-Nishi headline, Troops ON EASTERN FRONT OF BATAAN OFFER SURRENDER, We were unreasonably depressed. One could see small groups
April 11, 1942
April 11, 1942
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
April 12, 1942
April 12, 1942
The Nishi-Nishi had this cheerful information: “F.D.R. in his press-conference speech admitted the impossibility of sending aid to the Philippines to relieve the critical situation
April 14, 1942
April 14, 1942
On previous occasions we had witnessed Japanese flogging Filipinos whom they had brought into the camp. This afternoon several Japanese tied a young Filipino to
April 15, 1942
April 15, 1942
The morning headline filled us with dread. Bombs DEMOLIsH CORREGIDOR GUNS. We felt the heat more than ever today as we dragged mattresses and other
April 16, 1942
April 16, 1942
A long line of elderly and ill-fed American men filled the front lobby of the Big House. They had come from the outside to register
April 17, 1942
April 17, 1942
Corregidor Resistance Weak. A Nishi-Nishi correspondent at the Philippine front gave the following description of a fierce raid on Corregidor: I had the thrill of
April 19, 1942
April 19, 1942
The Japs had always been camera-crazy, but here in camp they had gone completely shutter-happy. Every day was a field day for them, as officers,
April 20, 1942
April 20, 1942
Pura, my little nurse friend, was still permitted to come in and out of the camp. If there ever was a harbinger of good cheer,
April 21, 1942
April 21, 1942
U. S. Is No Match For JAPAN! “Japan is about to secure full contro] of the Indian Ocean and consequently will be able to meet
April 22, 1942
April 22, 1942
FASTER-THAN-SOUND PLANES IS AIM OF THE JAPANESE SCIENTISTS. The morning rag certainly loved to startle and impress us. Another one of my roommates was Jane,