A Mother's Anguish Preserved in Scrapbook

Published: Sat, 11/10/18

Author Mary Cronk Farrell

Stories to Inform & Inspire

November 10, 2018

Hello ,

Huge shout out to the Austin Public Library Manchaca Road Branch for inviting me to speak in celebration of Veteran's Day.

It's always an honor to share the story of the WWII women POWs and this gave me the chance to talk specifically about two Texas woman, and also talk with locals about their family connections to WWII.

New information surfaced recently about one of the nurses taken POW by the Japanese after the surrender of Corregidor in 1942.

A Scrapbook of Hope

Pure Grit debuted four years ago, yet the story remains alive, the body of research on these brave women continuing to grow.

A reader recently emailed to let me know that scrapbooks telling the story of Army Nurse Marcia Gates had been posted online by the Wisconsin State Historical Society.

The collection of two scrapbooks immediately reveals the desperation and hope of Lieutenant Marcia Gates' mother after the surrender of American forces to the Japanese attack in the Philippines.

Also named Marica Gates, the woman wrote letter after letter in an effort to discover if her daughter was dead or alive.

The War Department notified Mrs. Gates that Marcia was missing in action. She sought further information from the government, plus the Red Cross, the San Francisco Press Association, and television station WRG that had received tape recordings of American nurses who had escaped before the surrender. Nobody had any news of her daughter.

The family had received a letter from Marcia dated the day of Corregidor's surrender. I can't help but wonder if they believed the lies mixed with the cheerful optimism the young nurse sent to comfort her mother.

"Another short note to remind you again that I am safe and well and will be always, I'm sure. Now you must keep yourself the same. Sure am enjoying

my work, plus plenty of food and rest.

The weather where we are now is ideal—evenings cool, days windy and dry. Now don't worry because that would be silly. It anything does happen to me it will to everyone here. Just think, I wanted adventure and I got it."

Mrs. Gates finally received news of her daughter four months later when one of the army nurses who escaped Corregidor just days before it fell to the Japanese contacted her. Lieutenant Sue Downing Gallagher wrote that Marcia had been fine when she last saw her.

"And please don't pay too much attention to these 'horror' stories the newspapers dish up - I know from experience how grossly they exaggerate. i have every faith that your daughter and the rest of the girls left behind are being treated with the greatest respect by their captors."

The Japanese attack on the Philippines cut right to the heart of the small town of Janesville, Wisconsin. As well as Army Nurse Marcia Gates, ninety-nine men from the town were serving there. A week prior to the attack A company of the 192 Tank Battalion had arrived at Ft. Stotsenburg and Clark Field. and

They became the first American tank unit to engage enemy armor in tank to tank combat during World War II.

Many were kids, some still in high school. Others had been in the National Guard for years, but most had never expected to see actual combat. Those who survived the fighting, faced the Bataan Death March and the horrors of prison camp until the end of the war. Known as the Janesville 99, only 35 of the men survived to come home. Twenty of the survivors are pictured above.

The second Gates scrapbook documents Marcia's joyous homecoming as well as that of the Janesville men who survived the war. Army Nurse Alice Hahn was from nearby Cleveland Wisconsin.

You can see the scrapbooks here... And more about the Janesville 99 here...

And now I'm off to enjoy Austin with my husband, who has kindly put up with me working for several hours this morning.

Until next week...

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