The Angels of Bataan

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 idealized the character of Ronnie Chase as the personification of her sisters. 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 who 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. D. T. Iverson, July 2022