Cassie DePeckel

Oh my gosh, incredible.

So how did nurses like Cassie Nestor and Mildred Manning describe their time on Bataan?

Yeah, I have to ask about gangrene.

This is a time before widespread use of antibiotics.

So what did the nurses and doctors do to help with gangrene?

Of course, the nurses developed a strong sense of camaraderie, and somehow, amidst the terrible conditions, they managed to sometimes have a small bit of fun.

Can you share some of those examples?

And then one day in early April 1942, U.S.

commanders ordered the nurses to evacuate Bataan.

What was this like for the nurses?

So a tunnel complex on the tiny island of Corregidor became the nurses' new home.

Can you describe their new surroundings?

After many waves of attacks, U.S.

forces surrendered to the Japanese on May 6, 1942.

How did the nurses prepare for this moment, and what did the Japanese do with them?

The army nurses from Bataan and Corregidor arrived at Santo Tomas internment camp in July of 1942.

Santo Tomas housed foreign nationals, and while the conditions were not what military prisoners of war experienced, they grew increasingly awful as the war progressed.

What did army nurses like Cassie tell you about Santo Tomas?

So how did Cassie and the other nurses work to survive their three years of imprisonment at Santo Tomas?

And what happened to the health of the nurses?