Barbara stepped back. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t know—not for sure.”
Margie felt like every nerve in her body was firing, and she ached for the comfort of Wade’s arms. Barbara approached her again, and Margie allowed her embrace.
Barbara’s voice quavered. “I’ve suspected for a long time that you had been badly hurt—I didn’t know how or when. I’m the result of a rape by this man, aren’t I?”
Voiceless, Margie nodded.
“Did Dad know?”
“I never told him.” Margie’s heart went out to her daughter, whose life had just turned upside down. “I never meant for you to know either.”
Barbara’s voice turned hard. “It’s a good thing you didn’t tell me earlier. I might have found a gun and shot the son of a bitch.”
Margie’s head jerked at the venom she heard in Barbara’s voice. “No—no. You have to live with yourself, Barbara. No matter how evil the situation, no matter how beaten down you are, no matter how justifiable an action might seem, you lose precious years trying to reconcile what you did.”
Barbara’s gaze was long and appraising. Margie shrank back, anticipating her next question.
Barbara asked, “What happened to him?”
Margie felt her fingers curl into fists. “He died. The Japanese were lobbing shells into the camp. A wall fell, and one side of his head was crushed.”
Barbara’s face crumbled again with emotion, and Margie reached for her daughter’s hand. “Don’t mourn him, Barbara. The worst of him is gone, and the best of him lived on in you for Wade to nurture into the wonderful person you are. Celebrate the beauty that blossomed from that dark deed.”
Barbara dried her eyes. “Is that even possible?”
“Yes. I’m telling the truth as I see it now.”
For Margie, the horrors of all that had happened inside the barbed wire and brick confines of Santo Tomas Internment Camp had faded to a shadow in the light of the resulting goodness—Barbara, brilliant and beautiful; Jillian, equally stunning and nurturing the next generation; and her passion and saving grace, the Abundant Harvest Food Pantry, still feeding hundreds of hungry people.
The back door opened, and Gary entered the kitchen, his snow-covered boots leaving tracks on the floor. He dropped his coat on the back of a chair. “I’ve been trying to call, but the lines are down.” He kissed Margie’s cheek and hugged Barbara hello. “How are you two holding up?”
Barbara said, her voice husky with emotion, “We’re okay. We’ve just been reminiscing about Dad.”
Margie went to the stove to brew another pot of tea. She knew over the next few days Barbara would pepper her with questions. Could she change her old ways and be honest and open? Could she love Barbara without fear and hesitation? She wondered if she could foster the mother-daughter closeness she had been denied for so many decades. Would Barbara even reciprocate? She handed Gary a mug of tea and nudged a plate of shortbread toward him.
He said, “Dad and I had a heart-to-heart a couple weeks ago. He said then he felt the end was near. He was worried about you, Mom. I reassured him that you would never be left alone. He seemed at peace with that. He was so weak and tired. I think he was ready to let go.”
The three sat quietly, listening to the tick of the clock.
Gary’s focus went to the medals lying on the table. He picked up the Bronze Star and admired it. “This is the fourth-highest combat medal awarded, you know. Is this Uncle Frank’s? I knew he was a medic. I didn’t know he was decorated.” His eyes widened when he read the inscription on the back. Heroic or Meritorious Achievement, Marjorie Olivia Bauer. “This is yours?”
Barbara’s and Margie’s eyes locked. Out of habit, she quickly looked away; then she forced herself to glimpse up and hold the gaze. The look on Barbara’s face was warm and inviting. So, it wasn’t too late to change old ways. Keeping Gary in suspense, they both smiled.
“Mom?” Gary said again.
She blinked and glanced at Gary, seeing a quizzical look on his face.
“Yes, it’s mine. There are a few things I need to tell you.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A sincere thank-you to those who offered their help and encouragement: to my daughter, Emily, who read multiple drafts, and whose delusions of grandeur kept me writing; and to my family, neighbors, and book-club friends, who read early drafts and weren’t afraid to tell me what they didn’t like. A special thank-you to my husband, who kept me fed and watered during my long sessions at the computer. A grateful shout-out to the editors and designers who supported me through my long journey to publication, each adding their magic touch to my story: Kathy Fitzgerald, Claudia Fulshaw, Linda Hobson, Carin Siegfried, and Susan Warren. A special thanks to Phyllis Wilson for lending me her father’s World War II journal. And of course, I’m indebted to the talented and hardworking editors from Lake Union Publishing, Terry Goodman and Melody Guy. And to copyeditor Michael Trudeau.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The characters in A Pledge of Silence are fictitious, but the incidents they experienced were taken from historical records, oral descriptions, and written accounts of the nurses who served in the Philippines during World War II. I purposely blurred some facts, however, to keep the story from becoming convoluted. For instance, the army nurses and navy nurses were two distinct groups with their own chains of command, though I didn’t make a clear division between them. Additionally, there were two field hospitals on Luzon, not one, and two main prison camps that interned the nurses, Santo Tomas and Los Baños.
Of the real-world nurses, ninety-nine were evacuated from Manila to the Bataan Peninsula. Twenty-four escaped from Corregidor on submarines or small aircraft that slipped through the Japanese blockades, and the remaining seventy-five became prisoners of war. The average age of those interned at the beginning of the war was thirty-one years old. The average weight loss during captivity was thirty-two pounds. Though some of the nurses were wounded during the bombing and shelling raids, none died from their wounds, or from malnutrition or mistreatment while in the prison camps.
For those readers who are intrigued by my fictional story and would like an in-depth nonfictional account of the POW nurses, I suggest reading We Band of Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman, All This Hell by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, and Pure Grit by Mary Cronk Farrell, written for young adults. All three books include interviews with the nurses and extracts from their diaries, journals, and letters. In 1995 at age 81, Dorothy Still Danner, a World War II navy nurse, published What a Way to Spend a War, a fine memoir of her years in the Philippines and her dramatic rescue in February 1945 from Los Banos prison camp.
The war didn’t stop at liberation, or VE Day, or VJ Day for the nurses who spent years as prisoners of war. Many lived their entire lives with the aftereffects of starvation, deprivation, and fear. But, they were women and nurses, and they were expected to be silent about what they had seen—or done—and to carry on as if nothing had happened. Some did, but many struggled like my heroine, Margie.
For more information, and a look through Margie’s scrapbook documenting her years in the Philippines, visit my website, www.apledgeofsilence.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2012 Jerry Dycus
Flora J. Solomon and her husband relocated in 2004 from Michigan’s winter wonderland to the beautiful North Carolina coast. Besides reading and writing, she enjoys dinners out with her husband, visits with her children and grandchildren, a hard-won tennis match, and an occasional round of golf.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Margie thought of herself not as a hero, but as a survivor, doing only what had to be done. Frank saw his actions as a medic heroic. Do you agree with their self-assessments? What is the difference between a survivor and a hero?
Both Margie and Frank came home from the war physically exhausted and psychologically damaged. How did their homecomings differ? How did society’s expectations for their futures differ?
Dr. Garber counseled Margie to consider her sufferings as well as her accomplishments when deciding what to do with her life. He said turning her misfortunes into triumphs was a way to conquer them. How was Margie able to do this?
Do you think Margie was ever able to forgive herself for her pivotal and malevolent deed during the Japanese shelling of Santo Tomas? How would one rationalize such an act?
Which nurse—Margie, Evelyn, or Gracie—do you think displayed the greatest strength of character? Why did you choose her?
The experiences of the POW nurses was generally unknown until the mid-1980s. Why do you think their story remained obscure for so many decades? What was happening in the 1980s that brought their story to light?
How would women’s roles in the military today be different if the valor of the women who served during World War Two had been recognized and valued?
While hundreds of Santo Tomas internees died during internment, all of the real-world nurses returned home. What factors might have played a role in their 100 percent survival rate?
The opportunities for women expanded during World War II but were suppressed again in the 1950s. This is often cited as one root of the second wave of the women’s liberation movement. How would that be so? Where are we now in this cycle? What might provide the next push for women’s equality?
Upon repatriation, military POWs were required to sign a document stating they would keep silent about their experience in the camps. What was the purpose of it? Did the purpose justify the psychic havoc it caused?
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
A Pledge of Silence Page 33
