World War II: "Philippine Postscript" - Newsletter for Families of U.S. POWs Held in the Philippines

World War II: "Philippine Postscript" - Newsletter for Families of U.S. POWs Held in the Philippines

20 issues of the Philippine Postscript, totaling 84 pages, dating from October 1, 1943, to December 1945.

In 1942, during the early stages of American involvement in combat in the Pacific during World War II, approximately 10,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipinos were captured on the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon.

The Philippine Postscript was created by Marie Grimes and Hat Diller, both bank clerks and wives of men held as POWs by Japanese forces in the occupied Philippines. Its first issue was published on October 1, 1943. They began the newsletter by mailing 150 questionnaires to other wives of POWs held in the Philippines.

From their homes in Charlotte, North Carolina they assembled the information they received from other families. Families occasionally received information by POW cards, letters from prisoners, shortwave radio messages, information from escapees, liberated prisoners, or information provided by the War Department.
 

This collection also Includes:

Bataan Relief Organization National Bulletin, 4 June 1945

10 pages of the June 4, 1945, issue of the Bataan Relief Organization National Bulletin based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
 

The Forgotten POW: Second Lieutenant Reba Z. Whittle, Army Nurse

A 1990 report written by Lieutenant Colonel Mary E.V. Frank, Army Nurse.

Abstract: During World War II, 68 Army nurses and 16 Navy nurses were taken prisoner. The stories of all, except one, have been documented. Second Lieutenant Reba Z. Whittle, AN, was captured when the air evacuation flight on which she was serving as the flight nurse strayed into enemy territory on September 27, 1944 and was shot down. She was imprisoned until her repatriation following a prisoner exchange in January 1945. During her imprisonment she kept a diary of her experiences. This study documents her story through the annotation of that diary. The annotation consists of background information for the period prior to her capture, an elaboration of some details she provides, and an overview of her repatriation and return home, and her later efforts at obtaining disability benefits. A comparison of her imprisonment with the internment of the nurses in the Philippines also is made.