I Saw You Fell - "Angels Of Bataan"

EPILOGUE

The red and white Eurocopter EC135 swept out of the overcast and hovered over the landing pad at the summit of Mount Samat. It touched down lightly and a man in his sixties popped out. He walked around the front and gently and lovingly assisted a very old woman out of the right-side passenger door. It was undoubtedly an elderly son helping his aged mother visit the Mount Samat Shrine of Valor.
Mount Samat was the place where the remnants of the American and Filipino Army made their last stand in April of 1942. Twenty-four years later, an elaborate shrine was built to honor that sacrifice. It marked a place of supreme honor and unspeakable suffering.

The tourists waiting to go up into the big cross situated at the top of the mountain glanced casually in the direction of the arriving helicopter. But visits by wealthy people were routine. So, they went back to admiring the colossal steel and concrete structure they were standing in front of.

The arriving couple made their way gingerly down the zigzag path to the colonnaded shrine and museum, which is a hundred yards further down the hill. The woman was in her late eighties. But she walked briskly, with her head high, past the museum building and into the green space where the individual markers commemorated the units and people who'd fought there.

Reverentially, she approached a simple stone slab. It was perhaps seven feet tall with a flagpole behind it. A short, flower-lined path allowed access to the memorial itself. She and her son stopped and read the inscription. It said:

To the Angels In honor of the valiant American military women who gave so much of themselves in the early days of World War II. They provided care and comfort to the gallant defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. They lived on a starvation diet, shared the bombing, strafing, sniping, sickness, and disease while working endless hours of heartbreaking duty. These nurses always had a smile, a tender touch, and a kind word for their patients. They truly earned the name THE ANGELS OF BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR

Underneath was a list of seventy-seven women, sixty-six Army and eleven Navy nurses, in three long columns. The old woman stepped forward and stood next to the stone slab tracing names with her finger and mouthing little words of endearment. She reached a name and paused. Then she kissed the tip of her finger and placed it back on the name. She said quietly, "I'll be seeing you soon, mother."

She turned to her son and said, "Do you have the plaque."

The son handed her a small bronze tablet that she laid gently on the ground at the side of the memorial. She had paid the Shrine to ensure the groundskeepers would take care of it. The old woman was immensely wealthy. The plaque would be there for a very long time.

It read: "In honor of Erik Grayson and Veronica Grayson, ne Chase, my parents. From the littlest Angel."

She turned to her son, whose name was also Erik and said, "I'm tired, my dear boy. Let's go home." And the very last of the fabled Angels of Bataan made her way back to the helicopter. She knew she would never return.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I fictionalized Ronnie Chase's character. Otherwise, this story is as historically accurate as I could make it. I even used the names of the real Angels throughout.

Maude Davison was sixty when she was liberated. She was too weakened by her ordeal to stay in the Army. She married a widower she'd known as a young nurse and died in 1956. Josie Nesbit mustered-out as a Major in 1947 and married a former soldier. She died in 1993 at age 97. A ceremony was FINALLY held in DC in 1992 to honor the Angels. But by then, Mama Josie was too frail to make it. Still, it didn't stop her from sending a note to pay tribute to "her girls."

The Angels got a Presidential Unit Citation, and each got a Bronze Star, which in no way adequately rewarded them for the courage and dedication that they all displayed. Then they just quietly merged back into civilian life. In fact, it's possible that the mom who lived next door to you when you were growing up was a hero of Bataan and Corregidor.

The Angels never considered themselves as having done anything more than their duty. But as for me? I believe that we must always honor the best and bravest among us - and the Angels of Bataan are in the front rank of that exalted group.

-MAXWELL