FILIPINA WAR BRIDES

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

ASIAN STUDIES

MAY 2020

By Jeannie M. Magdua

Thesis Committee: Patricio Abinales, Chairperson Barbara W. Andaya Miriam Sharma Copyright 2020 by Jeannie M. Magdua All rights reserved Dedication

This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Dolores Magdua Clark, the queen of my life. Her

example of grit and grace in the face of the difficulties that come with immigration has always

inspired me to persevere with a smile. I also dedicate this to my dad, Lawrence Clark, who

brought us to his home, the United States.

Finally, this thesis is also dedicated to my husband, Walter Cook, without whom I could

not have completed this work. His constant encouragement and enthusiastic support of my

research was the strength I needed to cross the finish line.

It is my hope that this writing honors my mother and the many thousands of Filipinas who married U.S. military members and crossed the Pacific Ocean to live in the United States.

Page i Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my committee members, Barbara W. Andaya and Miriam Sharma, for

being so generous with their time and sharing their expertise and tremendous writing experience to help me complete this thesis. Special thanks to my committee chair, Patricio Abinales, for his tireless encouragement and many hours of reading and reflecting on my work, and willingness to meet with me often to give me guidance.

I would also like to acknowledge the staff and faculty at the Asian Studies Program and the Center for Philippine Studies for always being available to answer questions and their patience in directing me to the right place at the right times.

Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the professors of my Asian Studies courses for imparting their knowledge on Asia and Asian-American relations and for giving me the opportunity to explore my own questions about the history of the region, all of which informed much of my thesis. My time at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will forever impact my worldview and guide my future endeavors.

Page ii Abstract

The women who immigrated from the Philippines to the U.S. after World War II as war

brides grew up under colonial rule, learning English and developing a loyalty to the United

States while in public school. Though the 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act promised the Philippines independence in ten years, and the debates over Philippine self-governance were taking place mostly in Manila, people in the provinces continued to live their lives as subjects of the United

States.

Prior to World War II, the story of the Filipino immigrant in the U.S. was largely that of the single male struggling against the exploitation of his labor and the hardship of poverty.

Moreover, his hardship was borne alone because there were laws that prohibited Filipinos from

marrying white women and there were very few Filipinas who immigrated to the U.S. for them

to marry. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, many of these Filipinos in the U.S. joined the

U.S. military and were deployed to the Philippines to fight the Japanese occupation of their

homeland. During their deployment in the Philippines, amongst the women of their home

country, these Filipino-Americans found brides willing to return to the U.S. with them after the

end of the war. World War II, therefore, was the start of another Filipino-American story, the

story of the Filipina war bride.

This thesis argues that the Filipina war brides I interviewed hold a positive view of their

immigration experience in contrast to their male predecessors because a) their expectations were

shaped by their colonial upbringing and Filipina feminism, b) their immigration was mediated

through marriage and not labor and was, therefore, an immigration towards integration and not

rejection, and c) their experience in Japanese-occupied Philippines stood in contrast to the

hardship of laborers in the U.S.

Page iii Table of Contents Dedication ...... i Acknowledgements ...... ii Abstract ...... iii List of Figures ...... vi List of Tables ...... vi Introduction ...... 1 A. Born into the Study ...... 5 B. The Philippine War Brides Association ...... 10 C. Daughter of a Filipina War Bride ...... 14 Chapter 1: Power, Conflict, and Women ...... 17 A. Doughboys, Foreign Women, and Military Marriage Policy in the AEF ...... 17 B. Regional Differences: Prostitutes and Wives ...... 21 Chapter 2: Filipinos and the U.S. Pre-WWII ...... 28 A. Immigration Laws and Filipinos ...... 28 B. Filipinos in Seattle ...... 31 C. The Japanese Occupation ...... 44 D. The Filipino Regiment ...... 50 E. The War Brides Act ...... 52 Chapter 4: The Voices of Filipina War Brides: Fannie, Lucy, and Josie ...... 56 A. War Bride Interviews ...... 56 B. EPIFANIA APOLINAR SUMAOANG “FANNIE” ...... 57 1. Growing Up in the Philippines ...... 58 2. Japanese Occupation ...... 59 3. American Soldiers ...... 61 4. Federico Nool Sumaoang ...... 64 5. Immigrating to the U.S...... 71 6. Learning to Live in the U.S...... 76 7. Visiting the Philippines ...... 80 8. Today’s Immigrants to the U.S...... 80 C. LUCIANA HAYNES MCCANTS “LUCY” ...... 82 1. Growing up in the Philippines ...... 82 2. Japanese Occupation ...... 84

Page iv 3. Fred Haynes ...... 86 4. Immigrating to the U.S...... 90 5. Learning to Live in the U.S...... 92 6. Stationed in Heidelberg, Germany ...... 98 7. Visiting the Philippines ...... 100 8. The War Brides Association ...... 101 9. The Later Years ...... 104 10. Reflections ...... 105 D. JOSEFA PARILLA SANGALANG “JOSIE” ...... 106 1. Growing Up in the Philippines ...... 107 2. Japanese Occupation ...... 107 3. Pascual Manipon and Philippi Sangalang ...... 113 4. Immigrating to the U.S...... 115 5. Learning to Live in the U.S...... 115 6. Philippi (Pepe) Sangalang ...... 118 7. Filipino American ...... 120 Chapter 5: Analysis ...... 122 A. Two Hands ...... 122 B. Japanese Occupation ...... 127 C. Immigration Through Marriage to a GI ...... 131 D. Asian War Brides ...... 142 1. Japan ...... 143 2. Okinawa ...... 146 3. Korea ...... 149 4. War Brides and Colonization ...... 150 Conclusion ...... 155 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 1 APPENDIX A – EPIFANIA SUMAOANG INTERVIEW...... 1 APPENDIX B – EPIFANIA SUMAOANG SECOND INTERVIEW ...... 1 APPENDIX C – LUCY HAYNES MCCANTS INTERVIEW ...... 1 APPENDIX D – JOSEFA PARILLA SANGALANG INTERVIEW ...... 1 APPENDIX E – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ...... 1 APPENDIX F – PREAMBLE TO WAR BRIDES ASSOCIATION ...... 1

Page v APPENDIX G – PWBA PAGE IN PAMANA ...... 1 APPENDIX H – TABLE: ORIGINS OF WAR BRIDES ...... 1 APPENDIX I – EXERPT OF TABLE ORIGINS OF WAR BRIDES ...... 1 APPENDIX J – EFFECT OF LAPSE OF P.L. 271 ...... 1

Page vi List of Figures

Figure 1. Charter Members of the Philippine War Brides Association with their husbands, children, and members of a local Filipino music group ca. 1950. Photo provided by Betty Ragudos.

Figure 2. Growth and Distribution of Minority Races in Seattle, Washington. p. 2

Figure 3. History of Philippine War Brides Association, part 1. Pamana p. 395.

Figure 4. History of Philippine War Brides Association, part 1. Pamana p. 395.

Figure 5. Excerpt of Table 3: Origins of Wives Admitted Under the War Brides Act. Philip E. Wolgin, and Irene Bloemraad. Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers: Military Spouses, Family Re- Unification, and Postwar Immigration Reform. p. 32

Figure 6. Portrait of Fannie Sumaoang, ca. 1950. Tribute Album, 1996.

Figure 7. Figure 7. Lt. Col. W. Be De Chant, Letter Recommending Approval of Request for Permission to Marry

Figure 8. Lucy Haynes, ca 1948. Tribute Album, 1996.

Figure 9. Josie and Philippi Sangalang Wedding Photo, 1956. Tribute Album, 1996.

Figure 10. Josie with a portrait of her husband Philippi, 2019

Figure 11. Josie with portraits of her mother, Espectacion, and her step-father, Pascual, 2019

Page vi List of Tables

Table 1: Excerpt of Table 3: Origins of Wives Admitted Under the War Brides Act. Philip E. Wolgin, and Irene Bloemraad. Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers: Military Spouses, Family Re-Unification, and Postwar Immigration Reform. P. 32

Page vi Introduction

There is limited information on World War II brides from the Philippines. A Google or

library database search for “World War II brides,” for example, brings up many resources on war

brides from Europe and Japan, but war brides from the Philippines are usually only mentioned as

part of related or larger studies. A recent documentary titled, Strange Land: My Mother’s War

Bride Story1 is the only resource I found that focuses solely on war brides from the Philippines.

Because of this relatively thin empirical source, this thesis serves as a preliminary study.

Currently, there are few surviving war brides and locating enough of them to conduct a survey would be impossible so many years after WWII. At the outset of this study, it was my hope to find enough brides to conduct interviews and record their personal stories. I was able to obtain three such interviews through referrals from Dorothy Cordova, co-founder of the Filipino

American National Historical Society (FANHS). Mrs. Cordova kindly referred me to three war brides who live in Seattle, Washington: Epifania Apolinar Sumaoang (Fannie), Luciana Haynes

McCants (Lucy), and Josefa Parilla Sangalang (Josie).2 The interviews, which I conducted in

their residences, were video recorded.3 The transcripts were also done by me after having gained some experience in transcribing recorded interviews for Dr. Kristin Gustafson, Senior Lecturer at the University of Washington, Bothell in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences department.

Dr. Gustafson trained me in the format for academic transcripts. Dr. Gustafson also guided me through the first steps of my oral history project. The interviews were carried out as part of my undergraduate research project at the University of Washington, Bothell, which I began in 2016.

1 Stephanie J. Castillo, Strange Land - My Mother’s War Bride Story (HawaiÊ»i: Privately Published, 2006). 2 I am extremely grateful to Fannie, Josie and Lucy for their willingness to participate in their interviews and provide personal accounts of their experiences in Japanese-occupied Philippines, American victory in the Philippines, their immigration to the United States, and their transition to American life. 3 Lucy’s interview was conducted in the restaurant of the senior living facility in which she resides.

Page 1 Questions were prepared ahead of time. However, the flow of the conversation during the interviews did not allow strict adherence to the prepared questions. The list of questions is attached in the appendix.

I am glad I took the initiative, despite my inexperience, to seek out the interviewees and interview them as soon as I could. Fannie is ninety-three years old, Lucy is one hundred years old, and Josie is eighty-seven years old. Therefore, future opportunities are diminishing. In hindsight, gaining more knowledge of Filipino-American history and U.S.-Asia relations before conducting these interviews would have helped me to develop different questions that may have led to more thorough and meaningful answers from the interviewees. Though there are only three interviewees, these first-hand accounts of their childhood in the Philippines, their experiences in Japanese occupied Philippines, their move to the United States, and their lives as

Filipino-Americans provide a deeper look at the immigration experiences of women. These women came from a country that was profoundly affected by U.S. colonization, military policy, and the hegemonic ambitions of Japan. Building on this basis, I argue that the Filipina war brides

I interviewed hold a positive view of their immigration experience in contrast to the male laborers that preceded them because a) their expectations were shaped by their colonial upbringing and Filipina feminism, b) their immigration was mediated through marriage and not labor and was, therefore, an immigration towards integration and not rejection, and c) their experience in Japanese-occupied Philippines stood in contrast to the hardship of the laborers in the U.S. prior to World War II.

In Chapter 1, I will look at U.S. military policy regarding soldiers’ sexual relations with foreign women. The book, Entangling Alliances: Foreign War Brides and American Soldiers in the Twentieth Century, by Susan Zeiger, provides in-depth discussion regarding soldiers’ access

Page 2 to foreign women and the military’s attempts to limit or regulate such contact. Zeiger details the procedures established by military leaders that were meant to deter marriages with women of color and tolerate prostitution in some theatres of operation, such as Italy and the Philippines, yet supported marriage and suppressed prostitution in other theatres of operation, such as in Great

Britain and Australia. The book outlines ways in which women in these areas were affected by these procedures and the military’s response to the “problem” that women posed. Soldiers and their brides were required to follow the procedures imposed by the U.S. military and these procedures affected the brides’ immigration experience.

America’s immigration laws were also central to the experience of war brides. In

Chapter 2, I will provide some background on U.S.-Philippine relations and the effect of immigration laws on the Filipino population, specifically Seattle’s Filipino population, prior to

World War II. For this chapter, I will use, in part, the book, Guarding the Golden Door, by

Daniel Rogers. Rogers discusses the motivation for the passage of immigration laws and the impact each law had on immigrants, the American population, and on America’s debates over policing its borders and who should be allowed into the country. To gain some understanding of the Filipino population of Seattle prior to World War II, I was fortunate to receive a copy of

Pamana from one of my interviewees (Josie). Pamana is a book published in 1986 by the

Filipino Community of Seattle, Inc., which provides a review of the history of Seattle’s Filipino pioneers. I also turned to Dorothy Fujita-Rony’s American Workers, Colonial Power: Philippine

Seattle and the Transpacific West, 1919-1941, which describes the life of Filipino laborers on the

West Coast and their participation in labor unions, as well as John Nonato’s, Finding

Manilatown: The Search for Seattle’s Filipino American Community, an undergraduate thesis with valuable information on the location and history of Seattle’s Filipino community.

Page 3 Chapter 3 includes background on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the segregated regiment of Filipino soldiers in the U.S. military, and the War Brides Act of 1945.

For information on the Japanese occupation, I primarily relied on Elmer N. Lear’s The Japanese

Occupation of the Philippines, Leyte, 1941-1945, which gives a thorough history of Japanese occupation on the island of Leyte and the effect the occupation had on the people of the island. I chose to focus on Leyte because two of my interviewees, Fannie and Josie, are from Leyte and each gave detailed accounts of their experience under Japanese rule as well as reactions to their liberation by the arrival of American troops and their impressions of the Japanese and American soldiers. This chapter also provides some background on the racially segregated unit, the

1st Filipino Regiment, which was deployed to the Philippines near the end of the war. Lastly, this chapter discusses the passage of the War Brides Act of 1945 which allowed foreign wives of

U.S. soldiers to enter the country outside of immigration quotas.

In Chapter 4, I will provide the stories of three Filipinas who came to the United States under the authority of the War Brides Act. First is Fannie Sumaoang, a Visayan woman from the island of Leyte and the last surviving charter member of the Philippine War Brides Association

(PWBA). She is the youngest to arrive as a bride, marrying her husband, Federico, in the

Philippines at the age of eighteen. Second is Lucy Haynes McCants, who was twenty-four and a widow with three children when she married her African-American husband, Fred, an officer in the U.S. Army. Last, is Josie Parilla Sangalang, who is the daughter of Espectacion, a war bride from Leyte. Although Josie is the daughter of a war bride and not herself a war bride, I include her story for several reasons: first, she describes her experiences of childhood in colonial

Philippines, Japanese occupation, liberation, and immigration to the U.S. under the authority of the War Brides Act as do other war brides; second, she was able to relay some of her mother’s

Page 4 immigration story; third, she is not only a long-standing member of the PWBA, she was also the

association’s President for twelve years.

While literature on Filipina war brides is scarce, there is enough literature on war brides

from Europe, Japan and Korea to build a framework from which I can analyze the immigration

experience of these war brides in Chapter 5. Among the several sources available, the literature I

will use includes Japanese War Brides by Miki Ward Crawford, Kate Kaori Hayashi, and

Shizuko Suenaga, a collection of oral histories of Japanese war brides. Etsuko Takushi Crissey’s

Okinawa’s GI Brides, is another collection of war bride stories. Crissey also gives some background on the effect the presence of American military bases had on the people of Okinawa.

Ji-Yeon Yuh’s Beyond the Shadow of Camptown, is a collection of stories of war brides from

Korea, but also provides some Korean history prior to, and immediately after World War II.

A. Born into the Study

My interest in Filipina war brides began as an attempt to understand my own mother’s

immigration experience as a military bride from the Philippines during the Vietnam War. My

mother is from Samar, a province in the east-central Philippines. She left her home at the age of

twenty for Manila to help support her widowed mother and her younger siblings. In time, she

ended up in Olongapo City working for a family store, where she met my father. My father was

raised on his family’s farm in rural North Dakota. He joined the Navy soon after the U.S. entered

the Vietnam War, and was stationed at Subic Naval Base, the largest base outside of the

continental United States. They met and lived together and married in 1970. I was born in

Olongapo before they married. At the end of his service, my father brought us to the U.S. in 1971

and we lived first with his parents, but my father used his veteran benefits to buy a house in a

nearby rural town in North Dakota where he worked for a company that processed and shipped

Page 5 grains grown at the local farms. We later moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota when my father obtained a job there at the VA Hospital.

My mother’s sister was also a military bride. She married another Navy man, and they also moved to North Dakota then followed us to Minnesota so that the sisters could be together.

We spent a total of ten years in the Midwest, from the time I was three until I was thirteen years old. In the small towns we lived there were no minorities at all. My mother and her sister had only each other for support in their transition to American life. Of these childhood memories, I recall that all of the people I encountered in the Midwest were Caucasian and attended either

Lutheran or Catholic Church. In fact, my grandfather was Irish Catholic and my grandmother was a Norwegian Lutheran.

Growing up, I was aware of our ethnic and cultural differences, especially when it came to food. Often, my mother would fry fish in the middle of the night so as to avoid offending our neighbors with the smell. Neither of my parents spoke of encountering bigotry towards their interracial marriage, but I recall our family being refused service at a restaurant and my mother’s shame as we left. A memory that makes me laugh is seeing my mother, who is four feet and eleven inches tall, shouting up at a tall, white man, “I can hear you!” Apparently, he found it necessary to speak louder to a woman with an accent because he thought that would help her understand him better.

In the home, my mother and aunt did not speak to me in their native Filipino language

(Waray), nor in Tagalog, fearing that I would not learn to speak English like an American if I also spoke a foreign language. Most of the children I spent time with did not make my ethnicity an issue, but a few of my classmates and other children in the neighborhood found it amusing to mock my mother’s accent, her dark skin, and the slant of her eyes.

Page 6 Without a Filipino community and without the ability to speak a Filipino language, I did

not have reason to identify as Filipino. In a recent conversation with my cousin, with whom I

grew up in these Midwest towns, we discussed our experience as mixed-race children in an all-white community. Even though his mixed ethnicity is more evident than mine with his darker skin and Asian facial features, he said, “I’m the whitest guy I know.” Our everyday lives were just like those of the children around us and we participated in all the activities that other children participated in: sledding, ice-skating, ice-hockey, swimming at the local lake, attending neighborhood barbecues, riding bikes and roller skating.

In 1981, because my mother wished for a more moderate climate, my father obtained a transfer to the VA Hospital in Seattle, Washington.4 A relative of my mother’s had settled in

Seattle years prior to our move and she connected us with other Filipinos at her church. This was the first time since we moved to the United States that my mother and I interacted with other

Filipinos. Thus, it was during my high school years that I first observed my mother in a Filipino cultural context, and also when I began to explore my identity as a Filipino-American, learning more about the country from where I came and its culture.

Through the following decades, I maintained my connection with the Filipino community by attending a predominantly Filipino church and, more recently, as an active member of the

Filipino American Association of North Puget Sound (FAANPS). I delayed my college education until my youngest child began elementary school and I entered my undergraduate studies at the University of Washington, taking one class per quarter while working to support my family. Despite the limitations on my time, I knew I wanted to conduct an undergraduate research project on the Filipino diaspora and study my mother’s place as a military bride in

4 While my family moved to Seattle, my uncle and aunt decided to stay in Minnesota. After a few more years, they moved to Florida.

Page 7 Filipino-American history. To do so, I needed to learn more about how our communities came to develop in America.

I was surprised to learn that the earliest wave of Filipino immigrants to the United States

were crew members of the Spanish galleons in the mid-1700s that travelled between Manila and

the U.S. twice annually. These crew members escaped through Mexico when disembarking

either in Acapulco or into Louisiana when at the port in New Orleans. Several settlements in the

Bayou became the oldest Filipino communities in the U.S.5

After the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of the Philippines as a colony at the end of the 19th century, several Filipinos were sponsored to study at American universities

between 1903 and 1907. These pensionados were usually from wealthy families whose loyalty

some leaders in the U.S. hoped to win. As explained in Unintentional Immigrants, these students were selected to be “moved into important positions vacated during the American exodus from the Philippine service during the Wilson years.”6 Initially, only two students were selected from

each province. In total, there were just over two hundred pensionados and only eight of these

students were women.

These individual women were featured in an article of the Diliman Review in 1997 which

listed their areas of study in the U.S. and their accomplishments. Among them was Olivia

Salamanca whose father founded a private school in Cavite and was himself a pharmacist. Olivia

pursued a medical degree and established a publication called The Filipino. Another student,

Honoria Acosta, also studied medicine. Upon her return to the Philippines, she became a teacher

5 Jigna Desai and Khyati Y. Joshi, Asian Americans in Dixie: Race and Migration in the South (Baltimore, UNITED STATES: University of Illinois Press, 2013), accessed February 9, 2020, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhm/detail.action?docID=3414296. Page 222 6 Barbara M. Posadas and Roland L. Guyotte, “Unintentional Immigrants: Chicago’s Filipino Foreign Students Become Settlers, 1900-1941..,” Journal of American Ethnic History 9, no. 2 (1990): 26. p. 4

Page 8 and a women’s rights activist. She also developed medical practices in obstetrics. Citing an

article in a 1959 Philippine Free Press, the accomplishments of Acosta were significant: “She

designed and made a sagittal pelvimeter and a one-blade forceps for delivering the non engaged

head in a low Caesarean section while perform major operations in obstetrics and gynecology.”7

All of the pensionadas (female pensionados) returned to the Philippines after completing

their studies. Some became active in Philippine politics, some became teachers, but all were

pioneers in uplifting the roles of women in the Philippines and abroad. As stated in the Diliman

Review article:

Were the early Filipina pensionadas purveyors of modernization? Definitely yes. Their experience of studying abroad and their exposure to new ideas and new ways proved to be an enriching experience in their awareness that they could do, if not surpass, what their male counterparts were capable of doing. As they stood on the threshold of a transition period, they realized that they are part of a society who can make a difference if given the chance. And through their writings we are afforded sources of information documenting our past to show how their pioneering efforts proved valuable in defining the present Filipino woman.8

After the pensionados, the next wave of Filipino immigrants were men recruited as

laborers in the agricultural fields of the continental west coast and Hawaiʻi, and in the canneries

along the west coast and Alaska. America’s immigration laws, the aggressive efforts to recruit

male workers from the Philippines, and anti-miscegenation laws created a male-female

population imbalance that caused the majority of these men to remain unmarried, or they entered into interracial marriages in states where laws did not prohibit such marriages. These men became known as the manong,9 or “old-timers” by later generations of Filipino-Americans.

7 Zacarias Sarian, “Our First Woman Doctor,” Philippine Free Press (February 14, 1959). 8 Ma. Luisa Camagay, “Women Pensionados: Purveyors of Modernization Among Filipino Women,” Diliman Review 45 (2–3) (1997): 20–25. 9 Manong means “older brother” and is a term of respect used to address elders. Elder women are addressed as manang.

Page 9 The literature on Filipino-Americans mentions war brides as the next wave of immigrants

to the U.S., but there is a lack of in-depth studies on the thousands of Filipinas who arrived under the authority of the War Brides Act. After the WWII era immigrants, the next Filipino immigration wave for which there is a considerable amount of documentation deals with those who arrived in the U.S. after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. My mother and I

immigrated to the U.S. after this 1965 Act, but we immigrated as dependents of a member of the

U.S. military. The military bases in the Philippines remained active through most of the

20th century until the Philippine government forced their closure in 1992. During the many

decades of its presence in the Philippines, the U.S. military had a profound impact on the

Filipino population and on the Filipino-American diaspora. The War Brides Act was the

beginning of military bride immigration from the Philippines and as I began to understand its

significance, I realized that a study of the migration of wives of the military needed to start with

the World War II era.

B. The Philippine War Brides Association

Knowing full well that we are a War Bride to G.I. of World War II and came to the United States under Public Law #271 … we unite ourselves to promote our social welfare in a democratic basis regardless of age, race, nationality, political and religious beliefs and pursue at all times to support the Constitution of the United States of America. – Preamble to the Philippine War Brides Association

The Philippine War Brides Association (PWBA) was founded in 1949. A Filipino World

War II veteran, Mariano Angeles, asked his Filipina war bride, Ying Angeles, and her fellow war

brides, “Why don’t we have a Filipino War Brides in Seattle?”10 The women agreed and their

idea was supported by their husbands. There were seven original members, including Fannie

Sumaoang, my first interviewee.

10 Epifania Sumaoang, “Interview by Jeannie Magdua. Seattle, Washington,” January 27, 2016. p. 23

Page 10

Figure 1. Charter Members of the Philippine War Brides Association with their husbands, children, and members of a local Filipino music group ca. 1950. Photo provided by Betty Ragudos, daughter of Fannie Sumaoang.

Initially, the goal of the Philippine War Brides Association (PWBA) was to provide

support for Filipina war brides as they transitioned from life in the Philippines to life in America.

Still officially operating today, the PWBA has a president, vice president, and a treasurer. These

positions are currently managed by the war brides’ daughters.

War bride, Fannie Sumaoang, explained that, to begin raising funds for the PWBA, the brides cooked meals and charged people for attending a dinner. “We have, like little dinner, we charge them. We go someplace that we could get some money. It’s not much. And then, that’s how we get our funds, you know.”11 Word soon spread to other cities about the Seattle War

11 Ibid. p. 23

Page 11 Brides. “But because we don’t know about other, Los Angeles or whatever, they don’t have war bride. So, they ask us every meeting if some of them they could join.”12 Votes were held at the

War Bride meetings to allow other women to join. “So, we have to vote yes because we want to know more people, war bride from the Philippines. That’s how we make the war bride bigger.

We reach to twenty-five people, members.”13

With its humble beginnings, support for each other and for the Filipino community in

Seattle helped the organization to gain more publicity. The members organized events in which other Filipinos could participate, bringing the immigrant community together. They also promoted their culture to others in the greater Seattle area. Fannie’s simple statement describes it well: “We accomplished a lot of things, the War Brides.”

In times of crisis, the War Brides supported each other monetarily, giving small amounts of money to families when someone was ill, or flowers for funerals. Fannie explains:

And then, when we have somebody sick, in the members or family, we have, we don’t have much money, but we donated twenty-five dollars, like maybe flowers, or if they want money, we give them money, we have to select whether they wanted money or they wanted flower. If somebody died in the family, we give them fifty dollars, because we don’t have much money yet. That’s how we do it. More like we are helping each other.14

The organization also helped with remittances to the Philippines to support the home town of one of the war brides after a typhoon. The PWBA responded by sending $500 to buy rice and distribute food to those impacted. The brides’ support for each other also extended to the

Filipino community at large. New immigrants from the Philippines were welcomed with a potluck hosted by one of the War Brides or another Filipino family. In its early years, the

12 Ibid. p. 23 13 Ibid. p. 23 14 Ibid. p. 24

Page 12 organization held community events and thereby increased its public standing. Fund raising

progressed from small dinners to benefit dances at town hall venues.

And we have benefit dance. We charge, oh I don’t know how much we charge for. Fifty cents in the door. And we meet that Washington Hall on Yesler … That’s where we always have the dance in there and the old timer here,15 they are all single, they want to come and dance with us. Of course, our husbands are there, too.”16

Fannie described the interest in their events:

When [they] hear that we have a benefit dance, they come, ‘When? When? When?’ And then we are popular! When we have picnic, we go to Seward Park because we call that Pinoy Hill17 and then we go there and we invite those people, too, because they spend money for us. So, then … we invite them when we have picnic. That’s how we did it.18

The PWBA made efforts to promote the Philippine culture of music and dance. They

made their own traditional dresses, practiced their traditional dances19, and traveled to locations

all over the greater Seattle area to perform, including at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. Their

husbands were supportive of these activities and drove the women to their performances and

helped with loading, setting up, and dismantling of their equipment. Again, Fannie’s pride in the

work of the War Brides is evident as she describes their efforts in these performances.

We have folk dance. We go different places. They invite us to perform. We go Bremerton. We go Fort Lewis. We go churches. We go Seattle Center. We did that. I sing, too,” she laughed. “When the … Filipino Consulate have a show … we dance. Yeah. They always ask us, and then, we have Chinatown, the one that used to run the paper, they want us to have a show in the theater, we did that. We make our costumes, Filipina dress. One time, we use all white. We make it. I sew it. I sew a lot. Even my Filipina dresses, I sew them. I still have them. We use the

15 The “old timers” Epifania mentions here are the Filipino men who had immigrated to the U.S. as students or laborers prior to WWII. These men are also called the manong. 16 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 23 17 Pinoy is the term Filipinos use to refer to themselves. Pinoy refers to Filipino males, or to a group of males and females. Pinay refers only to females. 18 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p.23 19 In follow-up correspondence with Fannie’s daughter, Betty, I asked Betty if the War Brides performed only the dances of their region of Visaya. Betty responded, “They all loved to dance and perform their native dances. They sewed their dresses and costumes as well. They were willing to learn any of the Dances from any and all regions from whoever would teach them. I even taught them the dances I learned in the Filipino Youth Activities (FYA).”

Page 13 style, we all the same, you know. We are well known at that time … We took our cars, maybe we are two or three cars, to go to that place, including our husbands, they have to go with us. Yeah. We do that.20

As the couples aged, the events and fundraising slowed down. Fannie stated a simple fact of life:

“Because we have complete husband yet that time, but later on our husbands pass away, too, you know, but it’s kinda slow down. Fundraising slow down, you know.”21

Fannie is the last surviving founding member of the PWBA. Although she has been interviewed for local newspapers or other articles on Filipino-Americans, I am aware of no comprehensive effort to interview her or the Filipina war brides for historical research on war bride migration. With my time constraints as a student-parent, the ability to attain additional war bride interviews was somewhat limited, yet I was able to build a portrait of their lives and experiences, compare and contrast them, and build a framework with a preliminary thesis on the topic for others to understand, incorporate, and share.

C. Daughter of a Filipina War Bride

When my family moved from Minnesota to Seattle in 1981, I was thirteen years old and I had my first interactions with a Filipino community since I came to America. I saw in these

Filipinos some habits and characteristics I thought were unique to my mother and aunt. First, I could hear their accent. Growing up, many of my friends would tell me they had a difficult time understanding my mother because of her accent. I did not see why my friends had such difficulty. I could understand my mother with ease. However, when I began to converse with the

Filipinos in the protestant church we attended in Seattle, it was almost like hearing a Filipino accent for the first time. Though I still had no difficulty understanding their words, I could hear the familiar Filipino sounds coming out of other Filipinos’ speech.

20 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 25 21 Ibid. p. 25

Page 14 Second, I was familiar with the food. In the rural Midwest, other families brought

casseroles, pot roast, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob to social gatherings. My mother

brought chicken and pork adobo, fried lumpia, pancit, and rice. These dishes were always requested by friends and neighbors. At the Filipino church, though there were different varieties of the same dish, the food and the aroma smelled like our own kitchen. At a Filipino friend’s

house, I saw a child eating champurrado, a chocolate rice dish that was a favorite of mine as a

small child. My Midwest peers had turned up their nose at the dish.

My mother’s tendency to offer food to every person who walked in our door was a source

of embarrassment for me as I was growing up. However, when I became best friends with a

Filipina named Miriam and frequently visited her family’s home, her Inang (grandmother) would

offer me food every time I came over and I began to see the value in that hospitality. Even better

was the fact that she always offered me my canned food favorites of Spam, or corned beef

sautéed with tomatoes and onions, or Vienna sausages, and always with a plate of rice and soy

sauce the way my mother served it.

It was in Miriam’s home that I began to relearn some Tagalog phrases and found I could

easily pronounce the words, if not construct sentences. Especially enlightening was the fact that

terms of respect were used by younger Filipinos toward older Filipinos and I finally learned why

I thought nearly everyone in the Midwest towns was my uncle or aunt. Filipino children use the

terms tita and tito to refer to adults. My mother continued this tradition with me, but in English,

teaching me to call everyone “uncle” and “auntie.” Because I was a child, I have no way of

knowing whether or not the Midwesterners I addressed this way accepted the title I addressed

them by. I only knew to do as my mother taught me. At the Filipino church and everywhere there

were Filipinos, I heard my peers calling elders I knew were not related “uncle” or “auntie.”

Page 15 Despite the fact that my mother and aunt did not teach me their language, they did teach me to

respect my elders, an essential lesson for Filipino children.

It was also in Miriam’s home that I began to learn some Philippine history. Her father,

Leonardo, loved to impart his knowledge of Philippine history to whomever would listen. In me,

he found an eager student. Leonardo was the first to tell me that the Philippines was once a

colony of the United States. I didn’t understand then exactly what that meant.

This connection with my cultural heritage was helpful in gaining access to interviews

with the World War II war brides. Mrs. Cordova (whom I call Auntie Dorothy), asked me why I

was interested in the subject and I can only assume that my social location as the daughter of a

Filipina military bride aided in assuring her that referring me would not be a waste of time for

the brides and their families. During my interviews with the brides, this social location and

ingrained sense of respect for my elders may have helped ease the minds of my interviewees, but

also made me aware of my obligation to demonstrate respect. To do less would have been to

dishonor my mother. This was also a factor in the questions I asked or refrained from asking. If I

felt that asking some of the questions that came to mind would be seen as disrespectful, I would

not ask the question. It also kept me from interrupting with questions, even when there were moments I wanted to ask clarifying questions during the interview.22

I was fortunate to conduct follow-up interviews with both Fannie and Josie and develop a

rapport with them. Because of this, I felt free to ask some clarifying questions in these follow-up

interviews. Their stories included in this chapter incorporate information derived from all

22 Miki Ward Crawford, Katie Kaori Hayashi, and Shizuko Suenaga, Japanese War Brides in America: An Oral History (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger, 2010). I was happy to discover that historian, Miki Ward Crawford, struggled with the same hesitation: “Having a mother who is a Japanese war bride has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of research. Though I can understand some Japanese words and know a bit about the culture, I have been extremely careful about respecting my elders and perhaps have been overly cautious about approaching women and questioning them during the interviews. However, it is because of my mother that many women are willing to be interviewed by me.” (page 2)

Page 16 interactions with the interviewees, including telephone calls, email and other online

correspondence, unrecorded visits, and follow-up questions asked via Facebook Messenger.

Chapter 1: Power, Conflict, and Women

In the American context, “war bride” is a legal immigration term defining a woman living in her home country during a war who meets and marries a soldier from the U.S., receives government-sanctioned care prior to her departure, followed by military transportation to the

U.S. The soldier she married was in her country because he was participating in a war. As in the cases of the brides I interviewed, most war brides have experienced trauma and devastation stemming from the war. During both World War I and World War II, America was on the winning side and for many women in countries liberated from Germany and Japan, American soldiers were powerful heroes who had come to their rescue. For women in the countries that were aligned with the losing side, American soldiers were members of the conquering enemy.

Either way, there was an element of power that becomes part of the relationship between a war bride and an American soldier. For women from the Philippines, there was an added element of power because the Philippines was a colony of the United States. As America’s subjects,

Filipinos were required to attend public schools where they learned the English language and

American patriotism. As one of my interviewees, Fannie, described her American education in the Philippines, “Even we are kids we go to school because we are under the Americans.

Philippines is under the Americans.”23 Filipinos learned from childhood that America was

powerful and American soldiers were an extension of that power.

A. Doughboys, Foreign Women, and Military Marriage Policy in the AEF

23 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 3

Page 17 America’s historically racist views at the turn of the century did not prevent its soldiers

from engaging in sexual relations with women of other races in other countries. During

America’s wars against Spain in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, (and later in Haiti in

1915), military leaders observed the behavior of American troops with regard to women in these

countries. According to author, Susan Zeiger, in her book Entangling Alliances: Foreign War

Brides and American Soldiers in the Twentieth Century, “There prostitution was regarded as a

fact of army life. In Cuba, Haiti, and the Philippines, relationships between American soldiers

and local women were endemic but not discussed beyond the close confines of regular army

circles.”24

In World War I, leadership in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) tried to

discourage and restrict soldiers’ access to women in foreign theatres of operation. Soldiers were

“informed” of the undesirability of the foreign “gold diggers” and “dirty whores” in pre-leave

orientations, grading soldiers on their moral fitness and determining leave based on their grade,

and surveilling soldiers known to be involved with foreign women. Women believed to lead

promiscuous or questionable lives were investigated and the American boyfriend was presented with evidence that would motivate him to end the relationship.25

Despite these efforts to minimize contact with foreign women, military leaders knew that

a “… full 71 percent of American troops had sexual relations while serving in the AEF – a figure

for internal discussion only.”26 Moreover, not all of the soldiers’ relations with foreign women

were casual encounters or transactions with prostitutes. Commanding officers began receiving

24 Susan Zeiger, Entangling Alliances: Foreign War Brides and American Soldiers in the Twentieth Century (New York: New York University Press, 2010). p. 15 25 Ibid. pp 15-16 26 George Walker, Venereal Disease in the American Expeditionary Forces (Medical Standard Book Co, 1922), accessed February 15, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081563771. quoted in Zeiger, Entangling Alliances p. 23

Page 18 soldier requests for permission to marry within six months of their arrival to Europe. Their initial

response was to deny the petitions. The AEF was unprepared to address the situation. There were questions of the soldiers’ right to marry and the legality of the marriages. Some women were abandoned by American soldiers or their intendeds were prevented by their officers from obtaining leave in order to attend their own weddings. Many of these women brought their complaints to their French and British leaders who in turn shared these concerns with their counterparts in the U.S.27

Many U.S. officers saw marriage as distractions to soldiers and distractions could jeopardize the war effort. After all, wives back home were not permitted to join their husbands in

their deployment. In the officers’ assessment, it would not be right to then allow soldiers to gain

wives while overseas. Furthermore, the negative messages about foreign women given to soldiers in their pre-leave orientations were taken to heart by some officers who truly saw the

women as gold diggers looking to gain entry to the United States. Granting permission to marry women they were not even supposed to have contact with seemed incongruous. Some of the relationships presented to the commanding officers also involved complications such as unwed

pregnancy and bigamy, “a whole series of unsavory and complicated issues that the U.S. military

would have preferred to avoid.”28

General John J. Pershing, Commander of the AEF, despite his support for restricting

access to foreign women, rejected arguments for a marriage ban and instead acted on the idea

that the federal government should not interfere in individual decisions to marry, surprising in

era of anti-miscegenation laws that prohibited interracial marriage in the U.S. The issue of

interracial marriages between American soldiers and foreign civilians during World War I

27 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 28 28 Ibid. p. 28

Page 19 motivated both military and civilian leaders to write policy that was more marriage friendly and

addressed questions regarding a wide range of issues including marriage legitimacy and

international relations. For example, negotiations between U.S. State Department, French

government leaders, and AEF headquarters resulted in an agreement on soldier marriages in

early 1919. To address French requirements of documentation, military officers would provide a

sworn affidavit as to the soldier’s eligibility to marry and French officials would accept such

documentation in lieu of traditional French certificates. “The flood of intercultural marriages that

followed the armistice was undoubtedly accelerated and even expanded by the new

procedures.”29

The sudden increase in marriages required a new set of procedures regarding the care,

housing, and transport of the new brides. These tangible provisions for women in their home

country – preparing them for immigration to the U.S., providing temporary housing as they

waited for transport, providing needed medical care such as obstetrics for pregnant brides, and

giving them transport aboard military ships – were the impetus for the new legal immigration

category of “war bride” and World War I war brides gave the U.S. military a practice run for the

significantly larger number of war brides that would come to the U.S. after World War II.

As World War II began, there were some rule changes in the military that affected the likelihood and make-up of soldier marriages to foreign women. First, there was a difference in the average ages of the soldiers between the two wars. The minimum draft age in World War I was twenty and the average age of the doughboys was twenty-one.30 The draft age was dropped

to eighteen in World War II. A doughboy at twenty-one years old during World War I was more

29 Ibid. p. 35 30 Ibid. p. 72

Page 20 likely to be in a committed relationship back home than an eighteen-year-old GI in World

War II.

A second important difference was the length of deployment. The American

Expeditionary Forces were involved in World War I from 1917 to 1919. The longest possible deployment for American soldiers, therefore, was two years. In World War II, soldiers who married overseas were likely to have been deployed for much longer: “85 percent of GIs who married foreign brides had served overseas for more than two years, 30 percent for four years or more.”31 Additionally, the AEF were mostly concentrated in France and Great Britain. Nearly

half of the estimated 5,000 World War I war brides were French, another 1,100 were British, and

the rest came mostly from Luxemburg, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Russia.32 In World War II, war brides came from more than eighteen countries. Of course, the difference in the total number of soldiers also made for a considerable difference in the number of marriages. Accurate numbers are impossible to determine, but it is estimated that there were over 125,000 war brides from World War II.33

B. Regional Differences: Prostitutes and Wives

By the start of World War II, the U.S. military had learned it was impossible to keep the

men from interacting with foreign women. Political and legal arguments over the legitimacy of

interracial marriages were settled at the end of World War I and soldiers could marry women

they met in the countries to which they were deployed. Thousands of marriages to foreign

women in World War I provided the military with experience in sending brides home with their

31 Ibid. p. 72 32 “Letter from Adjutant General to Rep. Ramsyer Re Number of Military Men Married to Foreign Brides,” April 25, 1921, Record Group 407, Marriage Folder, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park. 33 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 71

Page 21 American soldiers as well as some insight into the logistics and political troubles that come with temporary housing, the brides’ medical care, and transportation.

A new rule regarding soldier marriage was introduced in 1942. A War Department directive stated “that all military personnel on duty in a foreign country or territory gain approval to marry from the commanding officer.”34 This rule was already in informal practice during

World War I, but was made formal by the directive. Formal directives generate formal procedures. Requests for permission to marry entailed a written request by the soldier. The soldier and the bride were then required to attend an interview with the military chaplain who would recommend for or against granting permission. The formal recommendation, along with supporting letters from the parents of both the soldier and the bride, were sent to the commanding officer who made the final determination whether to grant or deny permission to marry.

World War II was truly a world war in that soldiers fought in countries all over the world.

Besides Europe, battles were fought in Northern Africa, in the Indian Ocean, the South Pacific, and in the Far East. Islands never heard of by most Americans were becoming household names, such as Midway, Solomon, and Leyte. Where there were battles, there were soldiers, and where there were soldiers, there was sex. Views toward soldiers’ sexual activity had changed between

World War I and World War II. The emerging idea of sexual liberalism in civilian life had reached the U.S. military.

The earlier conception of the American soldier as a ‘boy’ requiring in loco parentis protection had given way to a ‘red-blooded’ American man to be serviced rather than protected – a view that entailed, of course, a highly instrumental conception of female sexuality.35

34 Ibid. p. 73 35 Ibid. p. 75

Page 22 The pin-up girl posters in military facilities, paintings of female silhouettes on military airplanes,

and performances by famous women considered “sex symbols” as part of USO entertainment

were all sanctioned by the U.S. military. All of this assured Americans back home that their

soldiers were strong, healthy, and most importantly, heterosexual.

In a 1943 magazine article that featured photos of women from different theatres of war,

the reader was informed, “You’ve wondered what they look like—the girls our soldiers meet

overseas. Here’s the answer, from Iceland blondes to sun-kissed Samoans.”36 The concept of the

“modern girl” was an international phenomenon during the interwar period that asserted women could make their own sexual choices, even if that went against the grain of their societies. Dating an American GI was a daring act that defied the social and sexual mores of their time and often went against their parents’ wishes.37 This internationally newfound freedom should not be

assumed, however, to mean that women across the globe had equal access to dating

relationships, or marriage, with U.S. soldiers. Of the approximately 125,000 war brides from

World War II, more than 80,000 were from predominantly white, English-speaking countries,

such as Great Britain and Australia.38 While it’s easy to assume that these numbers reflect the

locations of deployment and ethnic make-up of the soldiers, there were also race-based policies implemented by the military that affected the number of marriages to women of certain ethnic groups. For example, even the vocabulary used in reports about prostitution are distinctly different based on locale:

In Britain, for example, U.S. military reports insisted that the public ‘frowned upon brothels, so very few were known to exist,’ and outside of London, ‘there was relatively little commercialized prostitution.’ (an assertion clearly at odds

36 “Girls They Write Home About,” American Magazine, February 1943. Quoted in Zeiger, Entangling Alliances, p. 71 37 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 73 Interviewee, Lucy did not advise her parents, nor her in-laws, that she was about to marry, fearing the answer to a request for a blessing on the marriage would be refused. 38 Ibid. p. 71

Page 23 with historical evidence). Moving southward, they claimed, prostitution was ‘accepted as part of the social structure’ in Italy, and ‘women of all classes’ engaged in the trade. In North Africa, prostitution was ‘huge’; in Iran, ‘widespread and universal’; and in India, particularly Calcutta, where the population practiced ‘far eastern vices of all kinds,’ prostitution was ‘flagrant.’39

Even though U.S. federal laws criminalized prostitution, the U.S. military chose to tolerate prostitution in colonized or marginalized locations and to encourage marriage in other

locations. For example, in Britain, pamphlets were distributed to the public encouraging the

British people to welcome the American soldier in their midst. A book on courtship rituals was

also published to help the British and Americans to understand each other’s dating rules and expectations.40 In Australia, military leaders noted the relatively clean and orderly lives of the

Australians, finding “none of the squalid or poverty-stricken slums found in many other

countries.” They also noted that the “population consisted mainly of white people”41

The Australian family culture of the 1940s also had an effect on the nature of relationships between Australian women and American GI. Young Australian women were less likely to be employed during the war than their British counterparts and, culturally, parents were involved in the marriage decisions of their daughters. Their cultural practices promoted marriage, even when U.S. troops were present. “When Australian women gave birth, they were more, not less, likely to be married during the war than before it.”42

The military encountered a starkly different situation in Italy. The Allies invaded Italy in

September 1943 and the Germans were not defeated until May 1945. Mussolini’s regime and the protracted war there had devastated the economy and much of the country was bombed. Very

39 Ibid. pp. 77-78 40 Margaret Mead, The American Troops and the British Community: An Examination of the Relationship Between the American Troops and the British (Hutchinson, 1944). Quoted in Zeiger, Entangling Alliances p. 85 41 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 88 42 Ibid. p. 90

Page 24 little of the basic infrastructure was functioning. “When the Allied forces entered Naples, they found conditions appalling. ‘In no area previously occupied had there been such a complete collapse of all civilian functions,’ army officials reported.”43

However, military leaders knew the soldiers would engage in sexual relations with the

Italian women and took steps, not to encourage marriage, but to tolerate, and even foster,

prostitution. A survey researching the incidents of venereal disease was conducted in the

Mediterranean and in China-Burma-India theatres of operation in 1944. No such survey was

conducted anywhere else, not even in Britain where a sharp rise in cases of venereal disease coincided with the arrival of American troops. The response in Britain was to improve diplomatic relations even if such improvements did not result in lower disease rates.44 One

response to the Mediterranean study was to identify “better” brothels.45 The military went even

further and established locations for prostitution:

When attorney Robert Hill reported to Naples as a newly trained civil affairs officer for the Allied Military Government in January 1944, one of his first official duties was to find housing in suitable hotels and billets for up to a thousand local prostitutes, an order he evidently took in stride.46

Vice squads were assigned to patrol the streets of Italy and assess, by mere observation, whether or not a woman with a GI was a prostitute. These vice squads were “teams composed of an Italian civil police officer to arrest the woman and American MPs to subdue or if necessary arrest the American soldier … The frequently violent response of American Gis when police

stopped and questioned their female partners suggests that vice squads were often mistaken.” 47

43 Ibid. p. 94 44 Ibid. p. 82 45 Ibid. p. 96 46 Herbert L. Oerter, Robert M. Hill, and Elizabeth Craig Hill, “In the Wake of War: Memoirs of an Alabama Military Government Officer in World War II Italy.,” Military Affairs 48, no. 1 (1984): 48–48. Quoted in Zeiger, Entangling Alliances, p. 96 47 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 98-99

Page 25 Despite the military’s efforts to suppress marriage (and favor prostitution), GI marriages to Italian women did occur. In fact, the demographics mirrored the marriages that occurred in

World War I. Italian Americans were assigned to positions in Italy. Their cultural backgrounds and ability to speak Italian gave them an advantage in meeting and communicating with Italian women. Italian families back home encouraged their soldiers to “find a nice Italian girl” in the old country and many of the Italian soldiers did just that:

American Red Cross staff in Italy, responsible for processing brides for their departure to the United States, estimated that up to 40 percent of husbands were Italian Americans; another study found that more than half the brides on a shipping list from Naples had Italian surnames.48

5. The Philippine Theater of Operation

Another theatre of operations with a population made destitute by war was the

Philippines. When the soldiers landed on the island of Leyte, they found thousands of its citizens living in camps on the beaches, starving and homeless. Able-bodied Filipino men were quickly hired in clean-up operations, but women were not considered for these jobs, a problematic

decision for families in which there were no men because they had been lost in the war. Women found ways to earn money in the vicinity of the military encampments around their towns, including black marketeering, laundering services, and, of course, prostitution. Instead of focusing on the problems that Filipinas faced, military leaders began seeing the problem of

Filipinas immediately.

In the aftermath of the invasion, venereal disease was the leading medical conundrum for the U.S. military, according to medical reports. Prostitutes were seen plying their trade everywhere – “in any wrecked vehicle, behind any stone wall, and even in frontline gun implacements and foxholes.”49

48 Priti Ramamurthy et al., Modern Girl Around the World: Six Case Studies, n.d. quoted in Zeiger, Entangling Alliances, p. 100 49 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 103

Page 26 In Tacloban, one of the prominent cities on Leyte, the response of the military, again, was

not to support marriage, but to tolerate prostitution and even take steps make it safer for the

soldiers. “Army officials sponsored a “red-light district” near the business district in Tacloban,

where forty carefully inspected women serviced as many as 500 “army visitors” daily.50

It is important to note here that, as American soldiers began routing out the Japanese in

the Philippines, American military encampments were established in the towns directly within residential areas. Soldiers did not have to leave the base to be among civilians. Interactions inevitably occurred between soldiers and civilians through normal daily activities. Despite the

prevalence of prostitution in the Philippines as described above, with such close proximity,

romantic relationships developed between soldiers and the women in these rural towns and many

of these relationships turned into marriages. Two of the brides in this thesis met their husbands

this way.

Filipino GI were usually in America as laborers and, therefore, poor themselves. The men

lacked resources to support their brides while they awaited transport to the U.S. As soldiers, they

had access to military support and, as in other theatres of operation, the responsibility for

preparing these brides for transport to the U.S. fell on the American Red Cross. War Department

policy stated that the Red Cross was required to provide for the care of GI dependents as they

waited for their transport. The group of Filipina war brides and their husbands were “far needier

as a group than any brides the Red Cross had previously encountered during the war.”51 The

ARC workers, most of them white and middle class, viewed these women and their husbands

50 Ibid. p. 104 51 Ibid. p. 106

Page 27 with suspicion and accused them of trickery to obtain funds, believing that “Filipinos had

stretched the interpretation of the requirement beyond a reasonable point.”52

The ARC workers’ distrust of the Filipina war brides and their husbands prompted them to require a $100 US bond before the bride was provided transport. Such a requirement was not

implemented, nor proposed, in any other theatre of operations. The War Department initially

approved the requirement, but veterans sought legal counsel and successfully lobbied against it.

However, ARC officials continued to seek its implementation until the war bride program ended

in December, 1948.53

Chapter 2: Filipinos and the U.S. Pre-WWII

A. Immigration Laws and Filipinos

In the years between World War I and World War II, a debate in America arose between

nativists and internationalists. Globalists saw international cooperation as an opportunity a) to find ways to prevent another world war, b) for cross-border information sharing, and c) to open markets globally. Immigration restrictionists saw in the aftermath of war a migration crisis of the world’s poorest flooding America’s gates and pushed for a moratorium on new entries.

[T]he impression at the time was that not only were vast numbers of foreigners flooding the land but that innumerable hordes of ignorant, penniless Europeans were about to descend upon America. These and their fears fueled the post-war Red Scare, what Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post called the “deportations delirium of 1920,” helping to create the pre-conditions for the broader restrictionist movement to come.54

52 Ibid. p. 107 53 American Red Cross, Military Welfare Service, “Subject: Phillipine [sic] War Brides,” various correspondence, 21 and 27 December 1946 and 21 July, 6 October, 11 October 1948, RG 200, National American Red Cross papers, Group 4, 1947–1964, Box 985 (Folder: “War Brides, Philippines”), NARA., quoted in Zeiger, Susan, Entangling Alliances, p. 107 54 Roger Daniels, Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882, 1st ed.. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004). p. 47

Page 28 Instead of a moratorium, quotas were set to limit the number of immigrants allowed

entry. The Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 set quotas for new immigrants based on the total number of foreign-born in the 1890 census which occurred before the mass migration of Southern and

Eastern Europeans to the United States. The rules for calculating quotas favored immigrants

from Great Britain and Western Europe, but lowered the number allowed from Southern and

Eastern Europe.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 already barred new immigrant laborers from China.

However, Chinese merchants and their wives were allowed entry until the Johnson-Reed Act

further restricted new entrants. In 1907, The Gentlemen’s Agreement, though not an Act of

Congress, prohibited public schools in California from segregating Japanese students. In

exchange, “Japan would not issue passports good for the continental United States to laborers,

skilled or unskilled, but that passports could be issued to ‘laborers who had already been in

America …”55 The Agreement did, however, allow wives of Japanese to enter and many

Japanese men sent for their picture brides, “women married by proxy to men they had never

seen, a procedure legal in Japanese law.”56 Again, the provision for wives to gain entry was halted with the Johnson Reed Act.

The Philippines was in an odd place because it was a colony of the United States but

Filipinos’ status was “foreign nationals.” Filipinos were not citizens, and though they were allowed entry without restrictions, they were not eligible for naturalization. An exception to this was made for Filipinos who joined the U.S. military. Those who served for three years were immediately eligible for naturalization.57

55 Ibid. p. 44 56 Ibid. p. 45 57 Mary Yu Danico, “Nationality Act of 1940, Section 324 (a),” Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia (SAGE Publications, August 19, 2014). Page 1376-1382

Page 29 The exclusion of new Chinese and Japanese laborers made it necessary for labor

recruiters to look elsewhere to fill the labor gap, especially in the expanding agricultural

industry. They found these new laborers in the Ilocos and Visayan regions of the Philippines and

the immigrants were nearly all male. “Almost 120,000 Filipinos were brought to Hawaiʻi

between 1909 and 1934 by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association … Over 100,000 of the

Filipinos were men, nearly 9,000 were women, while 7,000 were children.”58 Some of these

laborers went to the mainland after finishing their contracts and others returned to the

Philippines. In California, the Filipino male-to-female ratio was even higher. “… in 1930, for example, there were more than 28,000 males and fewer than 2,000 females.”59

In Seattle, there were less than 1,500 Filipinos in 1940.60 According to Dorothy

Cordova,61 there were “… 28 or so Filipinas who lived in Seattle in the 1920s and 1930s.” With

this lack of Filipino women, Filipino men on the west coast (the manong), frequented

establishments, such as “dime-a-dance” halls for female companionship. An anti-Filipino sentiment began in California, partly because of competition for jobs, but primarily because of cultural clashes and outright bigotry. Politicians and labor unions, citing high birth rates among

Filipino families, stoked fears of an emerging population of mixed-race children. Furthermore,

Californians realized that, because Filipinos were under the ethnic category of “Malay,” anti-miscegenation laws that prohibited black men from marrying white women did not apply to

Filipino men. The California state legislature passed a law in 193362 that made mixed marriages

with “persons of the Malayan race” illegal. Other Western states soon followed suit. In

58 Daniels, Guarding the Golden Door. Page 68 59 Ibid. Page 68 60 “Seattle Segregation Maps 1920-2010,” n.d., https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/segregation_maps.htm. 61 Dorothy Cordova, “Email Correspondence - Seattle Filipinos,” October 15, 2019. 62 Mary Yu Danico, “Salvador Roldan v. Los Angeles County,” Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia (SAGE Publications, 2014).

Page 30 Washington State, however, two separate proposed bills that prohibited interracial marriages were defeated by a coalition of African-American and Filipino organizations.63

American labor unions and some U.S. legislators wanted to add the Philippines to the list of excluded countries. Some Philippine legislators also began to see America’s exclusionary immigration laws as an opportunity to aid in their continuing campaign for independence and suggested that this be tied to Asian immigration exclusion. With independence, they argued,

Filipinos would no longer have the status of “American nationals” and could thus be excluded from entry to the U.S. just as they excluded immigrants from other Asian nations. After several failed bills and some negotiation, a new bill was proposed in 1934 that dealt with objections from legislators in the Philippines and satisfied U.S. lawmakers who were pushing to add

Filipinos to those excluded from entry into the U.S. The Tydings-McDuffie Act was signed by

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and approved by the Philippine legislature. With this Act,

Filipinos went from unrestricted entry to only fifty spaces per year. Most important to the

Philippine lawmakers, is that the Act promised Philippine independence by 1945, but the plan for independence was disrupted by the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

B. Filipinos in Seattle

Filipinos who arrived to the U.S. prior to the Tydings-McDuffie Act established small, but distinct communities in cities along the West Coast, such as Los Angeles, California,

San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington. The War Brides I interviewed all settled in

Seattle, Washington and, at the time of this writing, still reside there. When Fannie was first transported to the U.S., she arrived to Seattle and settled there with her husband, Federico. Lucy

63 “Blocking Racial Intermarriage Laws in 1935 and 1937: Seattle’s First Civil Rights Coalition - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project,” accessed November 24, 2019, https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/antimiscegenation.htm.

Page 31 and her husband, Fred, as well as Josie and her husband, Pepe, settled in Seattle several years

after first immigrating to the U.S.

The State of Washington is known as the “Evergreen State” because of its dense forests

of pine trees covering two parallel mountain ranges: The Cascades on the east, and the Olympics

to the west on the peninsula. The city of Seattle lies between these mountain ranges along the

Puget Sound, an inlet from the Pacific Ocean that enters from north of the peninsula. Ferries

transport people and goods along the Puget Sound and out into the Pacific Ocean. It’s the perfect

setting for the lumber industry, which was thriving by the late 19th century. Laborers came from

various parts of the world to work in the lumber mills that dotted the beaches along the Puget

Sound.64 The first known Filipino to live in the area in 1883 worked at the lumber mill on

Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride away from Seattle.65

At the turn of the century, when the pensionados completed their education and returned

to the Philippines to begin taking positions in the Philippine government, other Filipinos,

inspired by their success, came to the United States as self-supporting students. Again, most of

these students were men as it was rare for a Filipina to travel alone. One such student was

Trinidad Rojo who completed his bachelor degree in English, Comparative Literature, and

Drama, as well as a PhD in Sociology at the University of Washington (UW). He and other

students at the UW, like Ponce Torres, worked in the agricultural fields and in the canneries in

the summer and as “houseboys” during the school year. For these immigrants, it was education

that drew them to the United States.66 Rojo was able to complete his education before the Great

64 “Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest,” accessed February 28, 2020, https://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/Website/Classroom%20Materials/Curriculum%20Packets/Everg reen%20State/Section%20II.html. 65 Fred Cordova, Filipinos, Forgotten Asian Americans: A Pictorial Essay, 1763-circa 1963 (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt PubCo, 1983). Page 5 66 John D Nonato, “Finding Manilatown: The Search for Seattle’s Filipino American Community, 1898 – 2016” (March 11, 2016): 36. p. 6

Page 32 Depression. However, Ponce Torres and many other Filipinos who came to study in the U.S.

were left stranded by the Great Depression. Unable financially, or unwilling, to return to the

Philippines they ended their studies and became laborers full time to survive.67

As the need for laborers increased, labor recruiters brought more Filipinos to the west

coast and Hawaiʻi to fill the void that was caused by America’s immigration exclusion of new

laborers from China, Japan, and other Asian countries. With such growing numbers of Filipino

laborers, and the need many Filipino students had to leave their studies and join the labor force,

the Filipino population shifted away from college campuses and into the migrant labor cycles

that followed the harvest seasons. One such laborer in Seattle was Mike Castillano. He and other

laborers, motivated by the stories of earlier immigrants making “good money” and the vision of

the “American Dream” they learned about through Americanized education in the Philippines,

decided to go to Seattle and other cities along the west coast to work. As the Filipino student

population became part of the growing group of Filipino laborers, public opinion of Filipinos

became more negative. Filipinos housed in the areas around the college campuses were forced to

move out and they joined other immigrant laborers in their ethnic enclaves, usually in the

previously-established Chinatowns.68

By the 1930s, Filipino-run businesses had been established in Seattle’s Chinatown.

Besides barber shops, hotels, and groceries, other businesses existed to serve the Filipino male

migrant laborers who returned to Seattle. Seattle had become a main stop along the west coast

loop for seasonal work in the agricultural fields and canneries, especially along Jackson street in the International District in downtown Seattle. “Along Jackson, the Filipino businesses consisted

67 Ibid. p. 7 68 Ibid. p. 7

Page 33 of Rizal Clothing, United Café, Filipino, the Leyte Hotel, along with an employment office and

pool and billiard parlor.”69

Chinatown in Seattle was adjacent to Japantown, which was next to a neighborhood primarily of African-Americans. This area of Seattle is now re-named Chinatown-International

District owing to its international origins in the early 20th century. Census reports give us some

idea of the ethnic make-up of the city of Seattle prior to World War II. The population data

reveal that, of the four main minority groups – Japanese, Chinese, African-Americans, and

Filipinos – the Japanese were the most populous. Even though the Japanese started out in 1890

with the lowest minority population, they dominated the other Asian groups by 1940.70 In 1890, there were 125 Japanese living in Seattle. That number grew to 8,448 in 1930, declined somewhat due to the Great Depression, but was still the most populous non-white group in

Seattle by 1940. The next most populous groups were African-Americans, and then the Chinese.

Next in line were Filipinos, Indians, and “all others.”71

69 Ibid. p. 13 70 Calvin F. Schmid, Growth and Distribution of Minority Races in Seattle, Washington (Seattle: Public Schools, 1964). p. 14 71 Ibid. p. 2 (Figure 1:11)

Page 34

Figure 2. Growth and Distribution of Minority Races in Seattle, Washington. p. 2

Page 35 Seattle’s non-white population did not grow above 8 percent until 1960. Compared to other U.S. cities (outside of the South), such as Cleveland at 28.9 percent and Oakland at

26.4 percent, this is remarkably low. However, when the numbers of African-Americans are excluded, Seattle ranked highest in total non-white population when compared to eighteen cities of comparable size. For example, San Diego’s non-white population in 1960 (other than African-

Americans) was 18,594. In Seattle, the same group’s population was 46,795. Seattle’s Filipinos in the first half of the century were living in a city with a dense population of Asian minorities clustered in a small section of downtown Seattle.

In the interwar period, Seattle’s Filipino history is marked by two issues. First, Seattle’s

Filipino community was a predominantly male population. As discussed previously, immigration laws created conditions for a male-female imbalance in the Filipino community. Those Filipinos who married were usually married to women from other ethnicities. In other states, such as

California, Oregon and Idaho, anti-miscegenation laws prohibited Filipinos from marrying white women, except in Washington State, where proposed anti-miscegenation laws were defeated.

Second, Filipino activism was most notable in the labor movement. In Hawaiʻi, for example, Filipinos participated in strikes on the plantations. One strike that occurred on the islands of Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi in 1924 resulted “in the deaths of sixteen strikers and four policemen, along with others wounded.”72 Filipino laborers in Hawaiʻi often retuned to the

Philippines or moved to the mainland west coast. Their experience in the labor movement in

Hawaiʻi continued in labor strikes in California, including a strike in the lettuce fields in Salinas,

72 Records of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, General Records Relating to More Than One Island Possession, General Classified Files, 1898–1945, Entry 5, RG350, 3037–40 to 103, “Laborers from P.I. for Hawaii,” Part 1, 3037/88– 3037/90, NA; Sharma, “Labor Migration and Class Formation,” 598. Quoted in Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power. p. 173

Page 36 California in 1934. Thousands of Filipinos were active in this strike which was met with heavy

resistance.73 These and other activities by Filipinos in the labor movement motivated

participation in unions in Seattle.

In 1933, a group of Filipino men in Seattle organized the Local 18257 Cannery Workers

and Farm Laborers Union (CWFLU). This union included both cannery and farm laborers.

Union recruiters went to a specific area within Chinatown to recruit Filipino laborers, speaking

in English and several Filipino languages.74 As laborer, Ponce Torres, recalled:

Yes, because that [King Street] was the only place where we can gather . . . lots of workers easily because during those times you may notice that there would be . . . fifteen to twenty thousand people in King Street around four blocks from Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue and you could see [an] ocean of Filipino workers.75

In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act provided protections for industrial workers, “including

collective bargaining, free speech, and provisions for elections, protests for unfair labor practices, and grievances.”76 However, powerful farm lobbyists succeeded in keeping

protections, such as social security and unemployment benefits from farm laborers. As explained

by Devra Weber:

By this omission, the government institutionalized farm workers’ separation from industrial workers and reinforced their economic and political powerlessness in relation to the agricultural industry.77

In spite of these disadvantages, strikes and other union activities of Filipino farm laborers in the

farms around the Seattle area brought some gains, including increased wages and the

73 Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power: Philippine Seattle and the Transpacific West, 1919- 1941 (University of California Press, 2003). p. 173 74 Ibid. p. 174 75 Ponce Torres, interview by Carolina Koslosky, FIL-KNG75-14ck, 25 Au- gust 1975, WSOAHP, 6–7 Quoted in Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power. p. 174 76 Devra Weber, Dark Sweat, White Gold: California Farm Workers, Cotton, and the New Deal (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994). Quoted in Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power. p. 172 77 Ibid. p. 172

Page 37 construction of “bunkhouses and bathing facilities…”78 These activities by farm laborers were a

motivation for cannery workers as well. As Fujita-Rony states:

Although the organization of farmworkers has been overshadowed by discussions of unionization in the Alaskan canneries, one can speculate that increased militancy on the farms contributed to a stronger drive for organization in Seattle and elsewhere.79

Union activity was only one of the ways Filipinos connected with their community in the

interwar period. Although many of the Filipinos in Seattle were migrant workers on their way to

their next employment location or returning to Seattle to await their next employment

opportunity, the small population of Filipino residents in Seattle established several community

organizations. The first was founded by Mr. L. J. Easterman, “an attorney who was very

interested in the welfare of Filipinos.”80 The Filipino Catholic Clubhouse “was organized and

used to house Filipino students who were attending high schools and colleges in the city.”81

More than just a religious organization, the Filipino Catholic Clubhouse held weekly social gatherings and Filipino annual holiday celebrations throughout the year. Another organization was begun in 1925 by Mrs. Jane Garrott. Mrs. Garrot established the Filipino Club at the UW.

The purpose of this club was to promote a multicultural understanding between ethnic groups at

the university.

78 Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power. p. 176 79 Ibid. p. 174 80 Pamana: Half a Century of Filipino Community Life in the Emerald City (Filipino Community of Seattle, 1986). p. 14 Pamana was a book published by the Filipino Community of Seattle, Inc. (FCS). The copy I obtained was one given to interviewee, Josie Sangalang, as a gift from the FCS President. In its pages are a compilation of stories of the people, events, and organizations of the Filipino community that make up the history of Filipino Seattle from the early 20th century through 1986. The stated purpose of the book’s publication: “This book attempts to capture what are rooted in the past as well as to present inspiring events in our time. And because the number of Filipinos with first-hand accounts of the early years continue to dwindle, it would be a monumental omission by the community-at- large if their stories and recollections are not preserved. Not only to educate future generations of Filipinos, but more importantly, to secure these priceless historical records of our forebears. Equally significant would be the challenge of the present: how the community now stands fifty years after a bunch of cold and homesick Filipinos got together one autumn day in 1935 to organize themselves into a cohesive and lasting group.” (page 3) 81 Ibid. p. 13

Page 38 It was the objective of this club to have interracial meetings and to encourage sympathetic understanding of national and international issues. Speakers of various nationalities were invited to dinner and chatted informally with the members after each program.82

A Filipino newspaper was also established in 1925. The Philippines Seattle Colonist was to “serve as the voice of the local Filipino community.”83 Published twice a month, the

newspaper reported on political issues and advocated for the rights of Filipinos. A few other

groups were formed during the 1920s and 1930s, mostly relating to the Philippine region the

members came from. For example, the Ilocano organization, the “Sons and Daughters of the

Santa Maria” was an organization established to promote “the general welfare of all natives of

that northern Philippine province.”84

To understand the interconnectedness of Seattle’s Filipino community with the local

unions and community activists, we can turn to the story of Bibiana Castillano. While much of

Seattle’s Filipino history involves the men and their involvement in union activism, Bibiana

Castillano stands out in the history of Seattle’s Filipinos. Bibiana’s first husband was Valeriano

Laigo. Valeriano immigrated to Seattle in 1916 as a cannery contractor. He eventually ran a

cannery business of his own. Tragically, he was killed in 1936 over a dispute over a gold mine in

Oregon. His death left his pregnant wife, Bibiana, to raise four children alone. For a time, she ran

his cannery business. Her cannery crew included non-union members which angered the unions,

including its Filipino members. A former connection of her late husband was the secretary of

fisheries who offered protection for her and her non-union crew members as they escorted the

crew to the port entrance on their way to the ship taking them to Alaska. Bibiana described what

it was like during those walks to the gate.

82 Ibid. p. 14 83 Ibid. p. 397 84 Ibid. p. 397

Page 39 Two policemen carrying machine guns would always guard me. Side by side, because you know this union with those big clubs in their hands, they block the gate to the boat.85

The stress of running the cannery became too much for Bibiana. By the end of her control of the cannery, she weighed less than ninety pounds. She gave up the business and soon married

Michael Castillano. My first interviewee, Fannie, is brought to Mrs. Castillano’s home when she

first arrives to Seattle. Interestingly, Bibiana is also the mother of Dorothy Laigo Cordova,

Director of the Filipino American National Historical Society.

Another important figure in Seattle’s Filipino history, most specifically important to the

PWBA, is Mariano Angeles. Mariano was an Ilocano who immigrated to Seattle in 1927 at the

age of twenty-two. His goal was to get his education. He worked as a houseboy for a year and

then registered for an English as a Second Language Course. He continued to work and go to

school, but decided to return home during the Depression. Unfortunately, he became seasick on

the voyage to the Philippines and he disembarked when the ship stopped in San Francisco

instead.

Mariano stayed in California for a few years, working in various jobs, such as seasonal

farmhand, houseboy to the Vice President of the Salinas National Bank, and manager in the

credit department of a jewelry store. At a time in Salinas when many Filipino organizations were

being formed, Mariano founded a “Young People’s Group.” A glee club also grew out of this

organization. In Salinas, Mariano tried again to complete his education and took classes for one

quarter in Political Science and History. Mariano moved to Los Angeles in 1938 where he was a circulation manager for the Little Manila Times. Like many of his fellow Filipinos on the west

85 Fujita-Rony, American Workers, Colonial Power.

Page 40 coast (and Hawaiʻi), he joined the U.S. military and was deployed to the Philippines where he met his wife, Ying. They settled in Seattle after the war where they raised their three children.

Mariano became the founder of the Philippine War Brides Association (PWBA), encouraging his wife and her fellow war brides to support each other with a formal organization.

Mariano was very active with Seattle’s Filipino community and was involved in or founded several organizations. He was Quartermaster and Manager of the Far East Club of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was President of the Layman Club of the Fellowship Church, and he held several positions with the Filipino Community of Seattle, Inc. (FCS). Pages from the FCS book,

Pamana, tell the history of the Philippine War Brides Association and include a photo of some of the members in 1986.

Page 41

Figure 3. History of Philippine War Brides Association, part 1. Pamana p. 395.

Page 42

Figure 4. History of Philippine War Brides Association, part 2. Pamana p. 395.

Page 43 C. The Japanese Occupation

All of the interviewees in this thesis talked about their experiences during the Japanese

occupation. Fannie and Josie are from the island of Leyte on the central eastern edge of the

archipelago, a key location at the end of World War II and the island General MacArthur first

returned to in the Philippines to win the war against the Japanese. Fannie is from Palompon, a

town on the western edge of the island. Josie is from Ormoc, a municipality on a strategic bay

just east of Palompon. The detailed descriptions by Fannie and Josie of life under Japanese

occupation and American victory give a deeper look at the tragedy of war and some insight into

the feelings most Filipinos had toward the two Armies.

The Japanese occupation of the Philippines was begun on December 8, 1941, just hours

after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Officials in Manila declared the city an “open city” in an

attempt to keep the Japanese from destroying it. The Japanese occupied Manila on January 2,

1942. Meanwhile, the people of Leyte prepared for the possibility of the Japanese’ arrival to their

island. They set up Volunteer Guard (VG) units led by Leyte’s Philippine Constabulary, Major

Arturo Reyes.

Each municipality had its own VG unit, drawn up according to Reyes’ specifications and placed under mayoral supervision. Many of the barrios also had their units, directed by the resident barrio lieutenant. The municipal police, assimilated into the constabulary by national directive for the duration of the emergency, served as a kind of cadre in the organization of the local units. Around each municipality, a defensive perimeter was staked out, and VG patrols were assigned to nocturnal sentry duty. In addition, some of the municipalities held weekly or biweekly musters of their VG units on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, scheduling a training program of close-order drill (without arms), instruction in military courtesy and first aid, and a public parade for popular inspiration. Where possible, Philippine Army soldiers were detailed to assist the municipal police in the execution of the training program. Of all the municipalities, Ormoc had the best trained VG unit.86

86 Elmer N. Lear, The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Leyte, 1941-1945., Cornell University. Southeast Asia Program. Data paper ; no. 42 (Ithaca, N. Y: Southeast Asia Program, Dept of Far Eastern Studies, Cornell University, 1961). p. 8

Page 44

Filipinas also became involved in these volunteer units, mostly in a first aid capacity. Most of the

volunteers were teachers or teacher-nurses in the local public schools. This companion

organization was called the Women’s Auxiliary Services (WAS).87 These volunteer units were

essential to guerilla resistance against the Japanese.

Indeed, it is no exaggeration to assert that without the psychological conditioning undergone by the men and women of Leyte in this fashion, the unsurrendered Filipino soldiers who were to form the guerilla nuclei would have found their objectives impossible of realization.”88

The Japanese attack in the Philippines ousted General MacArthur, though he vowed to return, his departure effectively abandoned the Filipino and American troops in Bataan. Here they were defeated by the Japanese who led their prisoners on the infamous Bataan-Corregidor death march in April of 1942. On May 20, 1942, after being captured by the Japanese, General

Jonathan M. Wainwright, leader of the division in Bataan wired Brigadier General Sharp, leader of the Visayan-Mindanao forces, ordering him to surrender to the Japanese to ensure the survival of the remaining troops. General Sharp relayed this order to Lt. Colonel Cornell, leader of the

Leyte-Samar portion of his command, stationed on Leyte in the city of Tacloban. The Filipino soldiers under Cornell’s command argued over surrender. Nearly half of the troops chose not to surrender and headed to the mountains in the interior of the island, bringing their weapons with them, in resistance to the Japanese. This decision, which meant disobeying a direct order, made them outlaws of the U.S. military. 89

The order did not satisfy the Filipino fighting instinct as real fighters for it was believed that such an order was not a genuine wholehearted one because the said General was at the point of a bayonet. With the rapid spreading of the Japanese

87 Ibid. p. 8 88 Ibid. p. 9 89 Filipinos and Americans alike used the term “Japs” when referring to the Japanese, a term not acceptable today. The use of direct quotes requires me to include their use of the term. It also gives an accurate depiction of the era as well as the sentiment many Filipinos and Americans felt towards the Japanese soldiers.

Page 45 propaganda however, out of fear of the supposed might of the Nippon Army, and thinking they could protect their own families in an easier way, a few Army officers and enlisted men surrendered to the enemy. But those who have tougher and stouter hearts … braved all possible dangers and fled to the mountains to escape from the enemy. They preferred to die rather than to surrender. There was a general feeling of hatred for the Japs and the strong faith that America will come back sooner or later to give the promised aid.90

For their own form of resistance, the citizens of Leyte practiced evacuation drills into the

interior. Those with property planned ahead and moved necessities such as foodstuffs and

clothing to properties away from areas likely to be invaded. Those who did not own property in

the interior surveyed possible locations of refuge and stayed for periods of time to familiarize

themselves with life outside of town. “When the time came of choosing between submission to a

despised regime and taking up resistance, those who had already been initiated into the fraternity

of the evacuees found the second alternative less formidable.”91

Japanese troops arrived on Leyte five days after the order to surrender on May 25, 1942.

They razed the airport at Ormoc, but most planes were already gone. Their advance to Tacloban

was mostly uneventful. Their terms of surrender included the return of the members of the

provincial government to their posts, including Governor Torres, who had gone into hiding.

Once the officials returned, they were told they must order all civilian evacuees to return to their

municipalities and barrios and resume normal life, including attendance by the children in public

schools.92 The Japanese troops were centered in Tacloban and Ormoc. There were between 2,000 and 5,000 Japanese troops in this first phase of the occupation.93

Resistance operatives were starving in the mountains and any currency they may have

held was not accepted in Ormoc nor in Tacloban where it was easiest to get foodstuffs and

90 Lear, The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Leyte, 1941-1945. p. 16 91 Ibid. p. 9 92 Ibid. p. 19 93 Ibid. p. 19

Page 46 supplies. They began ambushing Japanese convoys along the roads. The Japanese ordered

provincial authorities to organize volunteers to clear the roadways of bush and trees to give the

Japanese more visibility and make the ambushes more difficult to carry out. In the tropical

climate, such work was time consuming and required constant maintenance. The civilians

assigned to do the work were not always diligent and the ambushes continued.94

The Japanese, in turn, hired local Filipinos to help them ferret out insurgents. These

“stoolies” were to search for the Filipino guerillas, looking for clues as to their whereabouts in the mountainous interior. Any Filipino found to have sheltered an insurgent was to be reported to the Japanese authorities. No Filipino was to possess firearms. Any firearms found in a Filipino’s home was to be confiscated and the Filipino, again, to be reported to the Japanese authorities.

Opportunistic stoolies also bribed Filipinos with promises to not report them to the authorities

and, after obtaining the bribe, reported them anyway.95

Guerillas observing these Filipinos began to suspect that any Filipino living within the

barrios and municipalities was pro-Japanese. “The upshot of all this was that residents in

Japanese garrisoned districts … and the local officials came to be branded as ipso facto pro-

Japanese. The burden of proof rested upon the townspeople in their demurral against such

accusations.”96 Residents were caught in the middle – pressured to aid the guerillas and fearful of

Japanese retaliation against them for doing so. It was not only individual residents that were

labeled pro- or anti-Japanese. “Whole families, in fact whole areas, came to be marked out as

either pro- or anti- Japanese.”97 In the cases of possible kidnapping or murder by guerillas

against the civilians, no investigation would occur as the police feared for their own safety.

94 Ibid. p. 26 95 Ibid. p. 27 96 Ibid. p. 27 97 Ibid. p. 28

Page 47 Many of the civilians who had been hiding in the mountains began to return to their

towns as they saw that the Japanese, at least initially, strove for orderly, if not peaceful,

operations on the island. The civilians also faced dangers from the guerillas and outlaws in the

jungles. The most pressing issue was hunger. All of the Philippine islands experienced food

shortages during the occupation, but the shortage was more pronounced on Leyte, in part due to

the suspension of most inter-island shipping.98 Food was more difficult to obtain in the

mountains than in the municipalities and many of the civilians left their mountain hideouts.

However, the cities were controlled by the Japanese and guerillas made efforts to cut off supplies

from the Japanese by ambushing the deliveries to the garrisoned towns. Therefore, municipal

authorities and merchants had to win cooperation from the guerillas. One merchant in Tacloban

sent a letter to a guerilla leader to request safe passage along the road to Tacloban for the

delivery of rice:

[T]he population of Tacloban and other occupied territories have for a long time been striving to live on whatever meager produce could be gotten from the narrow strips of land within their reach … I know that in this struggle a piece of your patriotic heart is also reserved for them … in view thereof, I am availing of this opportunity to advance the suggestion that a constant supply of rice sufficient to cover the daily needs of the present population of the aforesaid territories be allowed to pass your guards … 99

As the occupation continued, returning to the cities became less of a voluntary decision.

While the residents remained in the mountains, they were not producing goods and services that

the Japanese needed to function. The Japanese began searching the hills for the evacuees, with

the help of stoolies and fifth columnists, and forced the people to return. Those who refused were

98 There were several reasons for the food shortages that are discussed in depth in Satoshi Ara, “Food Supply Problem in Leyte, Philippines, during the Japanese Occupation (1942–44),” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 39, no. 1 (February 2008): 59–82 99 Lear, The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Leyte, 1941-1945.

Page 48 killed to keep them from aiding the guerillas and entire hill barrios were burned to the ground.

One member of the guerilla forces reported:

I myself watched while the Japs in force burned four barrios. That was why we fought close to the coastal towns rather than pick the more advantageous ambush spots in the hills for our battlefields. We wanted to fight the Japs back out of the hills to save the barrios and save the people there and keep the Japs bottled up in the towns. We knew they wouldn’t kill the people they were living off of.100

The guerilla forces also gained in strength, number, and cohesion as the occupation continued, spurred on by the atrocities committed by the Japanese on the Filipino people. They were also in communication with American forces and were advised that American troops would soon be on their way. Rumors of the Americans’ return spread through the civilian population.

Though they were happy at the prospect of their enemy’s defeat, they now had to tread carefully.

The Japanese were becoming more easily agitated and even more unpredictable than they had been throughout the occupation. A wrong word or a smug expression would invite violence.

Those who had been working as city officials under the Japanese authorities began to worry what a post-occupation world would be like for them with regard to the guerillas. A mass exodus of these officials began to be apparent to the Japanese who initially thought some had been kidnapped or killed by the guerillas. As they began to understand that these Filipinos were abandoning their posts, tighter restrictions and more stringent surveillance were imposed on those who remained.101

The Japanese increased their propaganda against the Americans proclaiming they would never return to Leyte in attempts to downplay the news the Filipinos were hearing of the

100 Ibid. p. 214 101 Ibid. p. 218

Page 49 American forces nearing the island, trying to convince the Filipinos of the “devastation the

inhuman Americans would rain down if they were only given the chance.”102

Meanwhile, the guerillas warned civilians to evacuate from the towns because they knew

the Americans would soon conduct an air raid and there were no bomb shelters in the towns:

September 1944. Mayor Gallego passed the word to town warning everybody to leave the place by all means before the end of the month. He repeated it for days and he meant it … the civilians in the población … gradually diminished without the Japs’ notice. By mid-October, 1944 the población of Abuyog was only a población of Japs, except for some Chinese civilians who were also prepared to slip away into the swamps. The people were scattered into the barrios along the coast as well as inland …103

MacArthur’s fleet arrived in the Leyte Gulf on October 19, 1944. The bombardment began through that night, first destroying Japanese “installations and supply dumps”104 followed

by air raids on the beaches and inland areas where the Japanese installations were known to be

located. By the afternoon of October 20, “the 1st Cavalry Division stormed the beaches, followed

by the XXIV Corps.”105 Three days later, MacArthur and Philippine President Osmena entered

and retook the city of Tacloban to restore the Commonwealth Government in the Philippines.106

“The hunger and poverty of civilians captured the sympathetic attention of the army’s

First Filipino Regiment, Filipino American soldiers who were among the early landing forces on

Leyte. One army corporal noticed a young woman with her feet wrapped in banana leaves and

began to bring food to her family; she later became his wife.107

D. The Filipino Regiment

102 Ibid. p. 219 103 Ibid. p. 219 104 Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Fateful Years: Japan’s Adventure in the Philippines, 1941-45, 2001 ed. (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2001). Vol. 2. p. 804 105 Ibid. p. 804 106 Ibid. p 805 107 San Jose Mercury News, 20 October 1995; linked as “Filipino-American War Brides— Banana Leaves for Shoes,” The American War Bride Experience: GI Brides of World War. Quoted in Entangling Alliances. p. 103

Page 50 It is not uncommon for immigrant men to visit their home country to find wives or to send for wives from abroad, especially if they are from immigrant groups with an imbalanced sex ratio. During World War I, Soldiers of the AEF marrying foreign women were often foreign- born themselves, or were second generation immigrants who grew up in ethnic enclaves. While the phenomenon of picture brides is largely associated with Asian immigrants in the early

20th century, contract marriages were also common among other ethnic groups where men outnumbered women, such as “Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, and others…”108 Such immigrant, or second generation, soldiers in the AEF would not have found it odd to find a wife while deployed overseas. In fact, a surprisingly large percentage of the soldier husbands in World War I were foreign born:

35 percent of the doughboy husbands in the sample were born outside the United States. The immigrant soldiers who chose foreign brides fit the general profile of immigrants to the United States in the early twentieth century; 12 percent of husbands were from Italy, 8 percent from Great Britain, and 15 percent from other foreign countries.”109

The U.S. military in World War II also had its immigrant soldiers integrated with the regular units, but this time the military also established racially segregated units. For example, the 442nd Infantry Regiment was made up of second-generation Japanese soldiers. The unit fought with distinction in European theatres of war even while their people were kept in internment camps on American soil. The 442nd Infantry Regiment is now the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.110

A Filipino segregated unit was also established in response to petitions from Filipinos for permission to join the military. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and began occupying

108 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 52 109 Ibid. p. 66 110 Masayo Duus, Unlikely liberators: the men of the 100th and 442nd (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987). p. 231

Page 51 the Philippines, Filipino immigrants in the continental U.S. and in Hawaiʻi, prohibited now from

joining the U.S. military because of their “aliens ineligible” status, petitioned the government to

be allowed to enter service. Roosevelt approved and a racially segregated battalion was

established. “… in the spring of 1942, Secretary of War, Henry Stimson announced the

formation of the First Filipino Battalion, made up entirely of Filipino troops and a mix of

Filipino and white officers.”111 So many Filipinos volunteered for the battalion that “officials re-

designated the battalion as the First Filipino Regiment on July 13, 1942.”112 A second Regiment

was formed in October of the same year. The Regiments trained for nearly two years and were

deployed to the Philippines in 1944. In Filipino Infantry Regiments, author Antonio Thompson

describes their military accomplishments, “The unit made a strong accounting of itself by

inflicting severe damage on Japanese forces on the islands.”113 As the war wound down, these

soldiers, long without the opportunity to marry in the U.S., began marrying the Filipinas they

met near their encampments in the rural areas or near the bases in the Philippines, but their brides

were Asian women now facing severe restrictions to entering the U.S. because of the

Tydings-McDuffie Act. How were these soldiers going to bring “alien ineligible” Filipinas back

to America?

E. The War Brides Act

In late 1945, the military was inundated with requests from American soldiers to hurry

the process of bringing home their brides from European theatres of war. As Wolgin and

Bloemraad state in Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers, “Initial emergency legislation targeted military spouses from Europe, with little thought given by policymakers to the consequences of

111 Antonio Thompson, “Filipino Infantry Regiments,” Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia 2013, 301–03, n.d. 112 Ibid. 113 Ibid.

Page 52 war and reconstruction in the Pacific.”114 In fact, a hearing of the Committee on Immigration and

Naturalization was held on December 6, 1945 to expedite the passage of the War Brides Act

because most of the soldiers who had fought in Europe were already back home and the War

Department was flooded with thousands of requests for military transport of their brides to join

them. Assistant Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Services, Edward J.

Shaughnessy, testified at the hearing and was asked about the number of brides to be expected to

enter the U.S. He stated:

Well, the bill covers all brides, but the great mass, an estimated 40,000 to 55,000 are in Great Britain. And over a month ago, the War Department told us they actually had 22,000 applications for space on ships. So, it is Great Britain where we are primarily concerned. As far as I know, it’s the only point that the War Department is concentrating on now.115

A member of the committee, Congressman John Lesinski, Jr., said the War Department would

concentrate on the Southern Pacific area “later on.”116

Assistant Commissioner Shaughnessy was, however, mistaken. The War Brides Act did

not cover all brides. The first passage of the War Brides Act provided expedited entry only for

those brides that were already eligible under the existing quota system. The National Origins Act of 1924 favored immigrants from Northern Europe and Australia and brides from these countries were not barred from entry under the quota system. For brides from Asia, an amendment was needed to allow them to enter regardless of quotas. It was not until 1947 that an amendment117

was passed to remove the words “if admissible” from the Act. As stated in the Amendment,

114 Wolgin, Philip E., and Irene Bloemraad. Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers: Military Spouses, Family Re- Unification, and Postwar Immigration Reform." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 41, no. 1 (2010): 27-60. 115 “U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. [Regarding the Admission of G.I. Brides]. Hearing, Dec. 6, 1945. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service. (CIS Unpublished Hearings Microfiche 79 HIm-T.37).,” December 6, 1945, Richardson School of Law. 116 Ibid. 117 “Public Law 213 An Act To Amend the Act Approved December 28, 1945 (Public Law 271, Seventy-Ninth Congress),” (July 22, 1947): 1.

Page 53 “These girls,118 under present law, are ineligible for admission and the only relief in such cases is

through private legislation.”119 Omitting the words “if admissible” allowed Asian women, those

barred under exclusionary laws, to enter the United States, including women from the

Philippines. Soldiers’ unions with brides from Asia prompted U.S. lawmakers to find a way to

circumvent exclusionary laws that prohibited Asians from entering the U.S. The expiration date

for the Act was extended and between 1946 and 1950, members of the Filipino Regiment, as

well as many Caucasian and African-American soldiers, brought their Filipina brides to the

United States under the authority of the War Brides Act.

It is impossible to know the exact numbers and ethnic make-up of war bride marriages

from the Philippines because no government entity – the military, the American Red Cross, nor

any state departments – recorded the demographics of war bride couples in aggregate data.

Author, Susan Zeiger, states “The preponderance of war couples in the Philippines almost

certainly comprised Filipino American GIs and Filipina women.” Zeiger then states, “Though

most GI husbands were Filipino American, the racial and cultural configuration of war bride

marriage in the Philippines was almost certainly more complex and varied than army and Red

Cross officials chose to emphasize.”120 The authors of In Search of Asian War Brides (Saenz,

Hwang, and Aguirre), attempt to ascertain the total number of all Asian war brides by analyzing

118 The use of the term “girl” to refer to the women the GIs dated or married was used here in a legal document, but was also common in popular literature. For instance, the February 1943 issue of American Magazine included this headline: “Girls They Write Home About.” This was an article about the women in the foreign ports to which GIs were deployed, including “Ireland’s winsome sweater girl, Muriel” and “sultry Iranian ‘lovely’ Bahareh Sabet.” (Zeiger, p. 71). Anthropologist, Margaret Mead, wrote the book, American Troops and the British Community, during World War II to help the British understand the dating rituals of Americans. In the book, she explains that British men seek the company of other British men during times of leisure, whereas American men “enjoy the company of girls and women more than the British do.” (Zeiger, p. 84) War bride interviewees referred to themselves as girls, as well. Interviewee, Doris Bailey, in These Are My Sisters: World War II War Bride Memories, described dances that were held close to an air base in Essex, where “there were many more men than girls.” (Zeiger, p. 86) 119 “Amending Act to Admit Alien Spouses of Members of Armed Forces so as to Admit Racially Inadmissible Spouses, 80th Congress, House of Representatives, Report No 478,” May 28, 1947, Richardson School of Law. 120 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 104

Page 54 data from the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). However, in their first step to identifying

war brides from their sample, they identify couples consisting of “… a U.S.-born, non-Asian

husband who had served in the military at any time and a foreign-born Asian wife.”121

All of the seven founding members of the Philippine War Brides Association were

married to Filipinos who were born in the Philippines, joined the U.S. military and were deployed to the Philippines – foreign-born, Asian men. Josie’s mother also married a member of the Filipino Regiment. These and all of the marriages with members of the Filipino Regiment would have been eliminated at this first step of the study with these criteria. In the article, Our

Gratitude to Our Soldiers, authors Wolgin and Bloemraad use data from the Immigration and

Naturalization Services (INS) Annual Reports and the numbers of Asian brides in their article are shown here.122

Figure 5. Excerpt of Table 3: Origins of Wives Admitted Under the War Brides Act. Philip E. Wolgin, and Irene Bloemraad. Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers: Military Spouses, Family Re-Unification, and Postwar Immigration Reform. P. 32

Their article reports that the total number of Filipina war brides was just over 2,200. However,

authors, Saens, et al explain that researchers using data from the INS that estimates

121 Rogelio Saenz, Sean-Shong Hwang, and Benigno E. Aguirre, “In Search of Asian War Brides,” Demography 31, no. 3 (August 1994): 549. p. 551 122 Philip E. Wolgin and Irene Bloemraad, “‘Our Gratitude to Our Soldiers’: Military Spouses, Family Re- Unification, and Postwar Immigration Reform,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 41, no. 1 (June 2010): 27–60. p. 32

Page 55 “approximately 66,681 Japanese, 51,747 Filipino, 28,205 Korean, 11,166 Thai, and 8,040

Vietnamese war brides entered the United States between 1947 and 1975 … do not allow for

the unique identification of war brides.”123 Therefore, researchers are:

… forced to approximate the number of war brides by using the number of foreign- born spouses immigrating to the United States as spouses of U.S. citizens. It is evident that such a category is too broad because it includes any foreign-born woman who entered the United States during the 1947-1975 period as a U.S. citizen’s wife.124

What we are left with, then, is estimates, personal testimonies, and various primary

resources. In the book, War Brides of World War II, Shukert and Smith-Scibetta explain how

they used data from several sources, such as military documents, immigration tables, newspapers that reported on war bride arrivals on transport ships, and statistics from regional and local

sources. Shukert and Smith-Scibetta explain that war brides did not only arrive in groups via military transport. Some arrived via private transport or with POWs and wounded soldiers.

Travel to the U.S. was delayed by many years for many of the brides because of difficulties with immigration procedures. Hundreds of brides were given permission to immigrate by special legislation because of individual petitions by their husbands. “All things considered, the estimate of one million overseas marriages between 1942 and 1952 is quite probable, although ultimately

unverifiable.”125

Chapter 4: The Voices of Filipina War Brides: Fannie, Lucy, and Josie

A. War Bride Interviews

The stories of Fannie, Lucy, and Josie come directly from their interviews, follow-up

interviews, correspondence, and conversations. I arranged their statements to make the

123 Saenz, Hwang, and Aguirre, “In Search of Asian War Brides.” p. 550 124 Ibid. p 550 125 Elfrieda Berthiaume. Shukert, The War Brides of World War II (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1988).

Page 56 chronology understandable. Where they are quoted, I did little to correct their use of the English

language as I believe it is important to hear their experiences in their own voice.126 At times,

small edits were done, such as sometimes removing the words “um” and “ah” as well as repeated

words to help make the meaning clear. Transcripts of their interviews are provided in the

Appendix. My purpose in telling their story is to bring to light their significance in American

history and in the history of the Filipino diaspora.

B. EPIFANIA APOLINAR SUMAOANG “FANNIE”

The day I drove to Fannie’s house in January of 2016 was a typical cold and rainy winter

day in Seattle. Fannie lives in the Rainier neighborhood of Seattle, a historically Asian

neighborhood, full of houses built in the 1950s and 1960s, squeezed tightly together on narrow

streets. Fannie’s daughter, Betty, opened the door and warmly greeted me, as did the dog who

barked to let the whole household know a visitor had arrived. Betty and I had met at a TGIF

(Thank God I’m Filipino) meeting held by FANHS just a few weeks before, when she and two

other Filipinas were featured speakers for their pioneering work as Filipina women in certain job

sectors. At that meeting, Betty spoke of her days working on telephone poles in the 1970s and

1980s. Now in her 70s, Betty spends her days as a caregiver for her mother and her

grandchildren in her home.

Betty brought me to a room at the back of the house on the main floor. The room was

spacious with a large bed, an ornate dresser with many photographs and decorations, and a

bookshelf with a statue of the Virgin Mary and other Catholic artifacts. In a cushioned chair in

the corner of the room, wrapped in a blanket, sat Fannie. She looked so small in the chair I didn’t

126 Both Fannie and Josie are from Leyte, the island bordering my mother’s island of Samar. Their accents, gestures, and facial expressions are nearly identical to the way my mother speaks and I found them endearing. For this reason also, I decided to quote them without correcting their English.

Page 57 see her there right away, but her smile was cheerful and welcoming. I greeted her with the

customary mano po127 and we talked for a few minutes as I set up my recording equipment. I

could see she was eager to share her story and we got started right away.

1. Growing Up in the Philippines

Fannie was the eldest of twelve children in Palompon, Leyte, Philippines in July 1927.

She lived in a large, raised hut with her parents and siblings. She describes their house as being

“high” with maybe eight steps to the two-room structure. One room was for her parents and the

baby. The other children all slept on mats in the other room. In the mornings, they would roll up

their mats and put them away. Beneath the hut lived the chickens and the pigs.

As did all elementary school children in the Philippines, she began learning English in

first grade. It was not easy for her to learn English because she only spoke English in school, but

spoke Visayan in public and at home. English was the only language the children were allowed

to speak while on school grounds. She remembers being punished if they spoke Visayan while at

school. Her teachers were Filipino and her lessons included learning to count in English using

local items for counting, like oranges or other local fruit. They learned how to care for livestock,

such as pigs and chickens, and they took care of the school grounds. She thinks she was not very

smart in first grade.

Her parents did not speak English. She does not know how old her parents were when

they got married, but after getting married they quit school. Education is highly valued in the

Philippines, but Fannie’s parents did not force her to go to school. It was their expectation she

would someday get married and her husband would take care of her, but she attended school

anyway and had hopes to continue, “When I go to school, my mother, she save little money here.

127 Mano po is a respectful greeting to elders. The younger person takes the hand of the elder and puts the elders’ hand to their forehead.

Page 58 She bake bibingka, you know, cake, and sell it so I could continue my schooling, but the war stopped me.”128

2. Japanese Occupation

She was thirteen years old when the Japanese began their occupation of the Philippines and she recalled that the towns were filled with Japanese soldiers. “They go Tacloban, Ormoc,

Bongabonga, Palompon.”129 Her family decided to hide from the Japanese in the mountain areas surrounding her town and stay with extended family members where food was more available.

We are in the mountains. We ran. I was even separated from my father, parents, because I went to my uncle’s house, place, that’s six kilometers from town because we tried to get some food. I help my mom because she got small babies. We go to my uncle because they got farm, we go get some corn, banana, you know, we got sweet potato because they plant that in the mountain. We get, but I was separated by myself, but the rest of my brother and my father they were together … it’s about one kilometer from town to my place, where my mother’s house is. I was separated …

When her family reunited, they remained hiding in the mountains, but the Japanese ordered civilians to return to their towns.

You know what, during the war, because the Japanese come stay in Palompon, we have to come down to town, because otherwise, if you stay in the mountains, they cannot see us, they will kill everybody, even babies, so everybody come downtown. I remember that… it’s better to come down than they hunt you in there because they hunt you, they see you, they will kill you right there. But if you come down, it’s ok.

The scarcity of food on Leyte extended to the Japanese soldiers and they would steal from the civilians. Japanese patrols searching for guerillas would come upon civilians and harass them.

When you are cooking, they are the one who eat the food. I remember, you know, my mother cooking rice because we don’t have much food at that time and then two Japanese came, you know, they patrol, and my mother cooking rice. That’s for us, was for us. You know who ate that? The Japanese. Because they are cut out of the supply. They cannot, they cut their ship cannot go through anymore

128 Epifania Sumaoang, “Second Interview by Jeannie Magdua. Seattle, Washington, July 26, 2019.,” July 26, 2019. p. 21 129 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” Page 5

Page 59 because the American lock the place already, you know. It’s not easy at that time for us we are growing.130

Fannie’s family was directly affected by Japanese efforts to root out the guerillas and recruiting Filipinos in locating them. The following exchange from page 6 in Fannie’s transcript is difficult to understand, but knowing the actions of the different actors during the Japanese occupation may shed some light on what she means here:

“Are there any people who worked for or were involved with the U.S. military somehow?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, but they were killed,” she answered.

“They were killed?” I repeated.

“My, my brother. Hit and run they call it. Hit and run. They just go there night time and then they just run away because they don’t have any, any ah supply, no bullet, no gun during that time when Japanese was still in Leyte.”

“The Filipinos didn’t have any weapons. Is that what you mean?” I asked

“Uh huh. No more,” she confirmed. “No. They hide themselves because if they know that they are serviceman, they will kill you. Uh huh. They will kill you.”

“So, your brother was killed by the Japanese?” I asked for clarification.

“Yeah.” She answered

“[B]ut my uncle the one. And my grandpa, two grandpa, you know … they were more like spy … for the Japanese, so they know where they are … they kill them both, two uncle, ah, grandpa, we call them grandpa. They are brothers of my grandpa, you know, my mother’s father, the brother who is killed,” she said.

“They were killed helping the Americans spy on the Japanese?” I tried again for clarification.

“The Japanese,” she replied. “But they didn’t tell them that they are spy. They just, we call it … tudlok.”

130 Ibid. Page 8

Page 60 “Tudlok?” I repeated.

“Tudluk,” she confirmed. “They just say [pointing] “that one, that one.”

“Oh. Does that mean point then?” I asked.

“Uh huh. Yeah,” she confirmed.

Many of the guerillas hiding in the mountains were Filipinos in the U.S. military who had chosen not to surrender when the surrender order was given, but ran and hid in the mountains instead. It is likely Fannie’s brother was one of these unsurrendered Filipinos and he was discovered and killed by the Japanese. The Japanese also hired Filipino civilians to locate the guerillas, gathering information by searching the homes of other Filipino civilians and looking for incriminating evidence. If such evidence was found, the Filipino reported their fellow

Filipino to the Japanese, or they simply notified the Japanese by pointing to them (tudlok). It seems that Fannie’s great-uncles were involved in this activity and the Filipino guerillas found them and killed them.

3. American Soldiers

The Battle of Leyte was a decisive moment in the war against the Japanese. Fannie and her family were again hiding from the Japanese in the mountains when the Americans warned the people that they should take shelter prior to the scheduled air raid.

Yeah my father and mother [said] ‘come on let’s go let’s go someplace’ because they know where the Japanese is so they drop oh the leaflet drop down … When American arrive the American drop leaflet they tell us to move that place because they are start bombing because we are high, the Japanese below. See? So, we didn’t listen to that. I read, but my mother father didn’t listen. 131

131 Ibid. Page 5

Page 61 When the Americans began the air raid, she and her family had climbed high enough in the mountains to see the ships in the bay. When they saw the Americans’ ships, she describes their excitement:

[W]e climb, we walk to the mountain and then we could see the water with ship where my father go fishing, the big boat will come in, you know, and then the barges come in and then we jumping, jumping … we could see … from the mountain … So, when the bomb come in, American airplane dropping the bomb, we start running away. I remember. Oh boy. I kept my brother my side. I kept my bundle in this side and, you know what, we didn’t think of getting hurt. We just get away, but Japanese, you know they went to the mountain forest, the trees where they hiding there, too, because they don’t have any supply anymore. They were cut off.132

Her town of Palompon was directly targeted during the American bombing because there was a

Japanese base there. When the Filipino residents had left the town to run to the mountains, the

Japanese occupied the town and many of the houses. After the bombing, when Fannie’s family returned to her town near the ocean, they discovered that her house had been hit.

The American bombed it because the Japanese, some of them they stayed there. Our house was bombed. We don’t have house when we come back. My father built a little hut for us to stay.133

Resources, such as livestock and crops, were consumed by the Japanese soldiers. When the

Filipinos returned, there was nothing left for them.

… we used to have lots of chicken and pig, we could have meat once, at least once a week, but during that time, we don’t have chicken, we don’t have pig. … when we come back to town, no more. All gone.134

Upon their return, Fannie’s family discovered that the American soldiers had already set up camp in her town and along the beach. “But lots of American already. Uh, the beach, that uh, we know, full of tent … even downtown.”135 The Americans also installed a shower facility

132 Ibid. Page 5 133 Ibid. Page 10 134 Ibid. Page 11 135 Ibid. Page 10

Page 62 roughly twenty-five yards from her house. Fannie recalled that the soldiers used the showers in the open where everyone could observe them taking a shower. After showering, many of them passed her house on their way to and from the shower and spoke with Fannie and her family.

Some soldiers expressed surprise that she and her sister could speak some English.

I speak English with them when they ask me, ‘How did you learn how to speak English?’ Well, I said, ‘We got school here.’ And we are under the American. We don’t have independence at that time.136

Fannie describes a contrast between the Americans and the Japanese. In her assessment,

the Americans were very generous and less authoritarian. She recalled that the Japanese

demanded more formal interactions.

They [Americans] give us some food. They didn’t take the food away from us. They give us food. Canned goods, like that, you know. And besides that, the Filipino are in charge of the kitchen, they sneak out some food for us. It was nice … when the American, white American came, we are safe than the Japanese that time. We are … forced to go downtown when Japanese was occupy the town and we bow even we see there, visit my auntie, my uncle. We have to pass the road. We cannot pass someplace else.137

The first wave of American soldiers was sent out to the jungles to continue routing out

the Japanese. Many of these Americans died in battle. Fannie would meet someone who came to

her house after they used the shower facilities, then she would later hear that they had died in

battle. She expressed some sadness over this, “You know, it’s kind of hard … they are older, but

they are kinda nice anyway. Yeah. They treat us people nice, you know.”138 The presence of the

American soldiers in their town gave some of the women an opportunity for paid domestic work,

such as washing and ironing their clothes. The pesos they earned for this work helped provide

food and other needs for their families. Fannie had some advantage in securing some of this

136 Ibid. p. 4 137 Ibid. p. 12 138 Ibid. p. 8

Page 63 work since she lived near a fresh water source, the same water source that provided water for the

showers the soldiers used near her house. She remembered the Americans as generous in their

pay for her services. “And sometimes they give us more, you know, maybe two … peso more,

and we’re happy. We are happy.”139

She described in some detail the work she and the other women in her town did for the soldiers. Her pride in the quality of her work and in the ability to earn much needed pesos for her

family is evident.

You know how we do it? We wash, we starch and iron. Do that. You don’t wash only. You starch the shirt and pants and then we’ll iron, too, and they are happy because it’s nice and neat for them to wear, and lots of them, when they know we are doing it, lots of them asked if we could do some washing for them. And … it’s good, too, because the water, it’s close to the house … We have, uh, beside shower that the American people, serviceman, we have our own area to wash the clothes. Uh huh. We do some work for my parents. I really help my parents a lot of things. Uh huh. I remember that. And, uh, when we got the money and we give it to them and they can buy rice or fish.140

4. Federico Nool Sumaoang

With continued success in their efforts to route the Japanese, U.S. military presence in

small towns like Palompon diminished and the military began setting up more prominent bases

in larger cities like Ormoc and Tacloban. Fannie recalled that the first troops left after about a

month, then the 77th Division took over for a time. The Filipino Regiment soon followed.

Oh, the American first, and then the seventy-seven division. We met those guys yet. They take over, the seventy-seven division. Small company now because the first American come, they forward. They go forward and the seventy-seven division take over. And then after that, the Filipino regiment, they call it Filipino regiment, take over and they are the one at the time.”141

139 Ibid. p. 11 140 Ibid. p. 11 141 Ibid. p. 10

Page 64 Federico Nool Sumaoang was a member of the Filipino Regiment, which was engaged in

ferreting out the Japanese hiding in the jungles. Fannie met Federico soon after he arrived, but

she didn’t expect he would return from fighting the Japanese in the town of Buga-buga where he was sent. When he did return, he greeted Fannie and, like so many other soldiers before him, he

asked her to wash his clothes.

I saw him and then she142 says ‘Hi Fannie’ and then I turn around. ‘Oh, hi Sergeant!’ We call them sergeant. ‘Hi Sergeant. Oh, you come back.’ He said, ‘Oh, yeah they send us again,’ he said. And then he said, ‘Fannie, could you do something for me?’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Could you wash my clothes?’143

Fannie laughed as she remembered this. Federico later invited her to eat at the camp. “‘You

wanna go dinner with me?’ I said, ‘Sure! Why not?’ I was not scared. Yeah. He’s just like my

father.” She laughed again. “He’s just like my father.”

“Because he’s older?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she answered.144

Fannie and her friend went to the camp together and stayed together during the meal. She

recalled being served and going to the tent to eat. She also recalled the generosity of the soldiers.

They bring us canteen, you know, their plate, and put coffee or tea. We go to their tent with my girlfriend and then we eat with them. Hmm we eat and it’s good to eat. They got good food. Oh, you know when you are kid that time, you know you eat anything they have. You want to eat it. So, they give us some food and then we bring some for my mom.145

One day Federico handed her a letter before leaving for Ormoc. She was scared her

family would see it so she hid the letter in the roof of their hut. When she read it later, she saw he

142 In Philippine languages, the word for “he” and “she” is the same. When speaking English, it is common for Filipinos to use “he” when they mean “she” and vice versa. The meaning must be understood in context. In this instance, Fannie used “she” when referring to her husband. 143 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 12 144 Ibid. p. 13 145 Ibid. p. 12

Page 65 was asking her to marry him. She refused, “No thank you. I’m too young to get married. I don’t

even know how to cook yet. I cook rice only.” She received more letters from him through

mutual friends asking her to marry him and she refused each time. Federico remained persistent,

however, sometimes taking her to breakfast in town. Fannie’s daughter, Betty, explained, “Yes.

They’d go out to Sunday breakfast and he’d take her to eat hotcakes.”146

Three friends of Fannie, all sisters, planned a day to walk to Ormoc to visit their GI

boyfriends. Fannie went with them, bringing suman and rice they had prepared. They stayed at a

friend’s house. More friends arrived to the house after attending a wedding while Fannie was

cooking.

So, they came, and then, I was in the kitchen. The kitchen is, you know, I don’t know if you know … it’s not like here. You have the kindling and then the pot in the top. You have to watch the rice, the rice boil. I was alone there because the girls attending their own, their boyfriend. So, I was alone and it was supper time, and I saw somebody behind me.147

The person she saw behind her was Federico. He stayed with her while she cooked the rice and

soon asked her again if she would marry him. She refused him again. One of her friends also

came into the cooking area and greeted Federico. Fannie saw them walk away together and she

believes he tried to solicit the friend’s help in getting Fannie to agree to marry him. When it was

nearly time for him to leave and return to camp, he asked her one more time.

And then before they go, before they left, she148 asked me again, and then, you know, I said, Ok! Ok. And then she was happy. She was there going, they … took the jeep, and then … I walk with them and then I wave. They were maybe twenty- five yards from where we at the house, and then when she come back … “Oh, what happened Sergeant?” and then … Oh, she just kissed me! [Fannie laughed] I said “Ah! Wow!” Yeah. That happened that way.149

146 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 12 147 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 15 148 Fannie began speaking more excitedly when telling this part of her story and referred to Federico several times as “she.” 149 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 15

Page 66 Fannie agreed to marry him, but according to custom, Federico was required to ask

Fannie’s parents for their blessing on the marriage. Federico was Ilocano and he could not speak

directly to Fannie’s parents because they only spoke Visayan. Fortunately, Fannie had an uncle

who could speak English.

So, he talked to my uncle, Serio, to ask my parents. See, my husband, well he’s not my husband yet, my boyfriend, talked to my uncle … to ask my father and mother that he is going to marry me. That’s how they do it.150

Fannie’s father, however, disapproved of the marriage. “Because he don’t want me to marry him because I’m still young. Yeah. That’s how Filipino is.”151 Federico did not give up

and tried to come up with ways to win him over. Fannie’s daughter, Betty, explained, “Mom was

telling me a story the other day, that my dad, you know, he gave her dad a pipe, cause he

smoked.” Speaking to Fannie, Betty said, “Bribing your dad so he’d like him, so he gave a pipe

to him.” Fannie laughed and said, “He was so happy.” 152 Despite Federico’s efforts, Fannie’s

father would not give his blessing and Fannie’s Aunt and their neighbor had to convince him to

allow the marriage. Although he allowed it, Fannie’s father was still unhappy about it. I asked

Fannie what her mother thought of her marriage. “My mother will not say nothing. You know, in

the Philippines those days, my mother, the wife, just listen when they have conversation,”153 she

answered.

Permission from Fannie’s parents was granted, but Federico also needed to obtain

permission to marry from his commanding officer. Betty helped me clarify my question to

Fannie, “But after you got grandma and grandpa’s blessing, when you went to the camp, did

daddy have to request from his commanding officer if he could marry you?” She asked. “Oh

150 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 8 151 Ibid. p. 9 152 Ibid. p. 9 153 Ibid. p. 9

Page 67 yeah. Because he have to sign,” Fannie responded. Fannie recalled going with Federico to meet

with the commanding officer who implied Fannie was pregnant. Fannie laughed as she recalled

the conversation, “Huh? Have a baby?” Fannie laughed. The couple convinced the commanding

officer to grant permission despite her youth and apparent naivete. However, the commanding

officer did want her to understand one important point. He explained to Fannie that when

Federico was sent back to the United States, she would not be able to go with him. “The

commander said, ‘Do you agree to that?’ Sure. Why? I stay with my mom. My parents. You

know.”154

There were more formal steps for the couple to follow. Fannie recalled that there were documents to sign, but that she really didn’t understand the process.

I don’t know what they was doing. I just walk, go with them all the time, and then, I just signed my name. Sign it there, sign it there. What is that for? ‘Oh, you just need to show that you want to get married with me.’ [Federico explained] We sign at the priest. And then we have to go to post office, we sign again for the paper. So, I don’t know … I don’t know what happen. Really, I don’t know what going on that time, because I never attend a wedding. If only there is a wedding, all I want to go is eat. Yeah. So, I don’t know that I’m getting married.155

After the paperwork was completed, Federico was assigned to Tacloban and could not

return for a month.

They are Tacloban again. And then she said I’ll be coming back there certain day and then we are gonna get married. She … what you call that, bulan156, one month. One month. He stay there … and then we get married.157

While she waited for Federico to return after the one month, Fannie was given instructions on

preparing for the wedding.

And then they said, they give me some money, they said, you buy rice. You buy pig for our wedding. So, I got that money. I got thirty pesos. I got the one pig. Big

154 Ibid. p. 11 155 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 16 156 Bulan is the Visayan word for “month” 157 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 16

Page 68 one. And then one cavan of rice. That’s a hundred pounds. That’s what, for our wedding ... I got my dress, oh no they rent because there’s nothing to buy in there in those days. I rent my cousin’s Filipina white dress, and then I got white shoes, which I bought it for two pesos. Yeah. That’s what I wear. And then my parents, because it’s Sunday, at night time they were killing the pig … and then, that’s it. We go to church.158

When Federico returned for the wedding, he had one more formal step to follow before

marrying Fannie. He had to meet with a priest for confession.

I remember, before Sunday we go and married, but we go confession. You confess in the church … after I go … she159 went there, she said, ‘That priest, he’s not shame of me. He asked me if I’m married. Why should I marry you if I’m married already?’ Ay ay ay. Yeah. She was upset. Want to get out of the confession area in the church. Of course, the church don’t have any roof, just side.160

Although Fannie’s father gave permission, he was still not happy and did not attend the

wedding. I asked Fannie if her mother attended the wedding.

Oh yeah. But my father, no.161 My father does not even go to church with me. I asked my godfather to stand for me. My godfather. Because he knows me because I always go there and ask money, one centavo. He was nice.”162

Fannie and Federico married in Palompon, Leyte163 on October 14, 1945. Besides

Fannie’s mother and godfather, her brother, cousin, aunt, and uncle also attended the wedding.

Fannie was eighteen years old and Federico was thirty-six years old.

158 Ibid. p. 15 159 Fannie is again referring here to Federico. 160 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 16 161 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 10 162 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 16 163 Although the Catholic church maintained an official position of neutrality during the Japanese occupation, priests in the region were often conscripted into guerilla service into the chaplaincy corp. They officiated at weddings, baptisms, gave communion, and performed last rites … all without a fee. However, there is a possibility some priests were not neutral and were, in fact pro-Japanese. According to Lear in Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, A guerilla officer claimed that the priest in Palompon, Padre Astorga, never participated in rituals for guerillas, implying Padre Astorga was pro-Japanese (p. 193). Fannie’s marriage certificate states that her marriage was solemnized by Manuel Astorga, Parish Priest ad Interim.

Page 69

Figure 6. Portrait of Fannie Sumaoang, ca. 1950. Tribute Album, 1996.

For two weeks, Federico was stationed in Palompon immediately after their wedding.

Even after their wedding, Fannie’s father tried to make Federico and Fannie stay in the

Philippines, “You have to stay here and build your house here!”164

“He didn’t want you to go to the United States?” I asked.

He don’t want me to go there. And you know who convince him? My neighbor because you know house in the Philippines, one there, one there, one there … So, [the neighbor] said, “No. She’s married. You cannot stop her now.” Yeah. Because my father would not let me come here, you know.165

The soldiers were then moved to Ormoc. An Army driver came to Palompon to gather the war brides. “They come to Palompon with the truck, all the brides go to Ormoc, and then they move out again we go to Tacloban.”166 In Tacloban, the husbands provided a place to stay for their brides. “[O]ur husband see to it that he got place for us outside of the camp, we rent a place.

164 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 9 165 Ibid. p. 9 166 Ibid. p. 12

Page 70 We got four. Four war bride in one camp and then when they come there, they say (pointing),

“You sit down there, you sit down there, you sit …” Fannie laughed.167

Federico had been injured during battle. His injury meant his tour of duty could end.

“Yeah,” Fannie said, “He got points during the war, I guess they have by points?” Federico was

sent back to the U.S. and he left the service. However, while he was on active duty, Fannie

received military benefits as his dependent.

But I’m receiving fifty pesos already. Money [holds up her hand, rubbing two fingers against her thumb]. Because they have to support us, their wives, you know. So, the money that they get from him come direct to me. And you know what? What I did? I give to my mom. Because that’s how, if I living with them, living with them house.168

5. Immigrating to the U.S.

Federico was sent back to the U.S. from Tacloban in 1946. Fannie waited at home with

her parents to hear from him. With the passage of the amendment to the War Brides Act in 1947

that allowed Asian brides to enter the U.S., the military could begin transporting Filipina war

brides to join their husbands. Federico completed the paperwork for her transport while he was in

the U.S. Fannie received the paperwork and needed help from her uncle to know her next steps.

They write me that when your paper arrive, be sure to fill it up and get it notarized and the only thing I know to notarize it, my uncle. He filled up the paper, notarized it and I have to send it to him, here in the United States and then he will be the one to apply for me and then when I got the paper from him, I go to my uncle. What shall I do with this? Because I don’t know what’s going on? He said, “Oh, your husband wants you to go to the United States.”169

The initial paperwork could be completed in Tacloban, but the final immigration steps needed to be completed in Manila.

Well, you go to the American Embassy and show them your paper and they will help you right there. It’s true they help me. And then they approve. Was in

167 Ibid. p. 12 168 Ibid. p. 13 169 Ibid. p. 25

Page 71 Tacloban, Leyte, but they cut it off the immigration there. You have to go to Manila to continue. So, I did. Well, it’s alright to Manila because my Auntie Rosa was there, you know, working in there. So, they help me where to go and then if I know the place already I go myself and the American is the one take care of us … They will tell you only, when I was in Manila, your husband want you to go to the United States. I said, That’s too far. Where is United States? I talked to my Auntie. Auntie Rosa. I said, Is that ok? ‘Oh, yeah. Your husband is there already. You better go follow him.’170

I stay in Manila for three months because they give us check-up, you know check- up us if we were TB or something else, you know, before we could come here. They did that in Tacloban and then they stop the ship in Tacloban, so we have to go to Manila, and then in Manila, they have to check us again.171

Fannie was part of the second group of war brides transported to the U.S. from the

Philippines. An important lesson was learned from the first group, many of whom were not met by their husbands at the destination port.

… some of them, you don’t have money when arrive here, the husband didn’t meet them because some of them they are someplace else, you know. They don’t have money to buy food. So, they have to go to … Red Cross to get food. For me, I was lucky because I was in the second group the war brides to come here and they told us already that you have to have some money because in case your husband is not right there, you could buy some food for yourself. So, I wrote your daddy [speaking to Betty], “I need two hundred dollars before I could come there.” So, they send me right … to the Red Cross. They didn’t send it direct me. To the Red Cross … So, I was good. I was alright, but I didn’t spend wildly the money, like some of them they blew it out, but me, oh no.172

When asked how she felt about coming to the U.S., Fannie expressed that she was not excited. “You know, when you think of it, it’s too far.” She had never traveled before her immigration to the U.S., not even within the Philippines. “I didn’t even go to Ormoc. My parents too strict. But my sister can go anywhere! But not me.” Fannie said.

“Cause you were the oldest?” I asked.

170 Ibid. p. 13 171 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 18 172 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 25

Page 72 “I’m the oldest. Watch my mama’s babies,” Fannie laughed. “It’s true!”173

Betty asked her, “Were you excited or were you afraid or …”

I was worried where I’m going! Where am … where is Manila? You know. Because I never travel. Some of them they say they travel already, but me, no174 … Well, the only thing I could think, where is United States? Am I safe over there? You know. Because I never travel. The only … I travel when they told us the first time they took us to Tacloban, to take the boat from Tacloban and they change the order. You have to take the boat to Manila to the United States.175

Her thoughts about the trip brought up fears of abandonment. She heard that some brides from the first group transported to the U.S. were not met at the port. Even so, she believed that, if

Federico did not meet her, she would simply return home. “All I think is if my husband didn’t meet me, they send me home. Yeah. That’s all though.” When asked what she expected of the

U.S. before she arrived, she said she didn’t expect anything and attributes that to her youth.

Well, I didn’t think anything ... Yeah. I didn’t think of that. Maybe my mind is just look like it’s still a kid, you know, because my parents and even, even I was married already, I didn’t think about sex. I know I sleep with my husband, but what for?176

When it was time to board the ship, Fannie’s Auntie Rosa and her husband brought her to

the dock. “… and then when they call my name, ‘Bye bye!’ I didn’t even hug. I just go to there,

run to the ship.”177 Fannie boarded the US Army Transport David C. Shanks in March 1947 and

headed for San Francisco. There were more than seventy war brides on the ship and a few had

small children. Fannie also discovered that one of the workers on the ship had a family

connection.

I meet somebody, Mary’s boyfriend … My auntie Mary, he was working in that boat, so I was safe … He bring my food into the room and then they found out. ‘No more that food in there. You go to the dining room. Because, I don’t go out. I

173 Ibid. p. 15 174 Ibid. p. 16 175 Ibid. p. 16 176 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 21 177 Ibid. p. 21

Page 73 stay in the room, on that bunk, what they call it? Because we are four in this one room. Two bunks up and down, but we are up, because they want the one they got kids, so they got below.178

The trip across the Pacific was faster than Fannie expected, “… supposed to be one month, but seventeen days only cause we got the big ship.179 This information surprised her daughter, Betty.

Seventeen days? I thought it was a month. But they were diverted from San Francisco. They were supposed to land in San Francisco because they changed the route she ended up in Seattle and there was kind of a mix-up because my dad wasn’t able to meet mom in Seattle.

The ship docked in Seattle on March 27, 1947. In a way, this was better because Federico was in Seattle. When Federico expected she would land in San Francisco, he also expected she would be transferred and sent to Seattle. However, he was not notified that the ship had detoured and it was only by chance that he learned the ship was headed directly for Seattle. While he was working at a restaurant as a bus boy, Federico happened upon a newspaper and saw an article with Fannie’s name and picture on it. The article said that the ship was not to be docked in San

Francisco, but Seattle instead. He tried to meet Fannie at the pier when the ship arrived, but was not allowed to enter to pick her up because he was no longer active duty. When Fannie docked and he did not show up, she believed she was one of the abandoned brides she heard about.

So, and then, they go by the alphabet, and Sumaoang is in the bottom the alphabet. I was crying already! My husband didn’t meet me! I cry. I said, Hmm. I don’t care. They send me back. And then one of the nurses said, ‘Oh no. That’s ok. We’ll take care of you.’ Yeah, cause my husband, I send him telegram, but did not receive it.180

Because the military members on board the ship with Fannie did not know Federico was at the gate of the dock to pick her up, she was brought to Fort Lawton in Seattle via military bus.

178 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 15 179 Ibid. p. 25 180 Somaoang, “Fannie, January 2016.” p. 19

Page 74 There were other brides on the bus with her, but she did not speak to them. Fannie recalled that on her way to Fort Lawton she looked at the trees and wondered why they were bare. She did not know that trees lose their leaves in the winter. It was early spring and the leaves had not yet returned.

Federico managed to make his way to Fort Lawton. Again, because he was no longer active duty, he was not allowed into the base, but gave an address in Seattle to the person at the gate. Fannie was given the address. She and another bride were put in a taxi and driven to the

Seattle addresses provided to them. On the way, the taxi driver drove on the steep hills of Seattle.

Fannie remembered fearing the car would careen down the hill on Denny way. The bride who rode with her was dropped off at her destination first. Fannie was then taken to the house of a friend of Federico. She had one bag of clothes because Federico told her not to bring much, not even a sleeping mat.

When she got out of the car, she looked hesitant, so the taxi driver asked her if he could help her. She asked him if he could find out if her husband is at the house. He went to the door and came back to her and told her that her mom is there. “My mom? How can it be mom? My mom is in Philippines,” she thought to herself. She asked the taxi driver to bring her to the door.

“Because I don’t know if it’s the right place, you know.” The driver knocked and a young woman answered the door and said, “Mom! She is here!” Fannie did not know how they could know to expect her. “How do they know I’m coming?” she thought. She then said thank you to the driver and he left.181

When she entered, she didn’t know for sure what to do next. In the Philippines, you take off your shoes before entering someone’s house. “So, I said in my mind shall I take off my

181 Ibid. p. 22

Page 75 shoes? I said myself, you know, but I said, hmmm, bahala182 – I said in Visaya, bahala – I bring my shoes with me.” The woman of the house, Mrs. Castillano, was sewing at a table and said,

“Oh don’t worry. Your husband will be coming here soon. They are coming here with his friend.” Fannie recalled.

So, I sit down. I keep quiet. I didn’t say nothing. I was quiet before. I’m not talkative. Yeah, and when she183 arrive there, we didn’t stay there long. My husband have apartment already, it’s in the attic. Two rooms. Kitchen, dining room, and then bedroom. That’s all.184

6. Learning to Live in the U.S.

When I asked Fannie what was the most difficult part about adjusting to life in the U.S., she recalled looking for housing.

I should not say bad because I came from the Philippines. We got hard time. We, the first place where I was stay was two rooms apartment and then we, they, they sell that building, so we have to go … my husband apply to, you know the housing, then we go to the housing projects in Delridge Way … they have two bedrooms, but the stove is charcoal. Hot! It’s alright for winter, but for summer, and we have to order the charcoal, and then they demolished that, too, we come here to Rainier Vista, much better because we got it the stove.

She also recalled learning to navigate shopping in the U.S. American cash was unfamiliar to her and she needed help from strangers to pay for her items in the store.

Because I don’t know the money. What I used to do if I go there, here’s the truth, you think I’m ignorant, but I told them to get what they want for that price. I just show them my money because I don’t know. My husband don’t tell me anything.

And then, I went to buy beer. Ok? The six pack, and then I show them I want to buy this. She said, ‘Ma’am, you cannot buy this. You are underage.’ And I’m twenty-one already, but they think I’m underage. I cannot buy beer. They didn’t let me buy the beer. And I don’t have, what’s call that … I.D. They didn’t let me. I told my husband, I cannot get you some beer. He loves beer. You don’t have nothing to drink for your birthday. And then the poor guy said that’s ok.185

182 Bahala or bahala na is a phrase used in the Philippines to mean something like “oh well” or to leave it up to God. 183 Referring to Federico 184 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 22 185 Ibid. p. 27

Page 76 Federico worked as a bus boy for the Gowman Hotel in downtown Seattle. Fannie sometimes brought their daughter, Betty, to visit him at his workplace. Betty recalled walking down the alley to the kitchen entrance and that sometimes the workers would give them food.

Though of humble means, Federico took pride in providing for his family and did not want

Fannie to work outside the home. Betty explained:

She didn’t even tell my dad that she got her first job. Remember? She had a friend here that worked at Sportcaster, sewing, and she told my mom, ‘Do you want to work?’ And my mom said of course, but my dad wanted her to stay home and take care of the kids.

“My husband said, ‘I can support you. You stay home,’” Fannie said.

Betty added, “Yeah, but mom, she was bullheaded.”186

“You know what I do?” Fannie continued. “When my husband goes to work, take the bus, cause we don’t have car.” She laughed as she remembered, “He take the bus, because we are close to the bus line. He take the bus. I take the next bus.”187

Fannie was unable to keep this secret for long. Betty described her mother’s work:

You know how, when they were sewing at Sportcaster, which later became Eddie Bauer, but anyway, they cut the materials and mom would be the cleanup woman and she’d clean and clean. She’d get on the bus. She’d be all dirty and one day my dad got off early and they were on the same bus … She’d beat my dad home and get cleaned up and our neighbor took care of me and my brother by that time when she got her job but he didn’t know but she got caught. You know, it catches up with you. And what did daddy tell you on the bus?188

“How could you? You are dirty!” Fannie laughed. “I don’t know that they was in the back. Because I been doing that for a month.”189

186 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 17 187 Ibid. p. 17 188 Ibid. p. 17 189 Ibid. p. 17

Page 77 Another member of the PWBA, Bobby Pastores, also worked at Sportcaster and offered

to teach Fannie how to sew. “So, on her lunch time, mom was practicing,” Betty said. When

Fannie had learned well enough, Bobby spoke to the supervisor to let them know of Fannie’s

new skills. She moved up from cleaning the floor to sewing products. Sewing for Sportcaster had

other benefits. “And she brought material home and made us coats and jackets. I had so many

homemade dresses. You know?” Betty said.190

Fannie added, “Well, why not? It cost too much to buy it ready made. I could sew. I cut

them.”191

More opportunities came along when a friend offered to help her get a job at Boeing.

Betty remembered her mom’s accomplishments:

[A]nother one of her friends worked at Boeing, told my mom, she went to Boeing and spent twenty-five years there and the last job she had, mom was one of the only sewers … she went from sewing the upholstery for the airplanes to doing aerospace doing the installation for the space craft.192

Fannie revealed her way of thinking about the opportunities that came her way:

I make money in Boeing. Cause if I know how to do it, why not show it to them? Cause if you just wait for somebody to talk to you … blah. Don’t do any good. I cut all the time. When they give me good clearance for my paper and I be the one to teach the new one in Renton Avenue and then I go Everett and then come to Plant Two and then back to Kent.193

Betty nodded in agreement, “You know, she shared her wealth, with her knowledge and other Filipinos came in, got them jobs as well, you know, what they need to bring them in.”194

190 Ibid. p. 17 191 Ibid. p. 18 192 Ibid. p. 18 193 Ibid. p. 18 194 Ibid. p. 18

Page 78 Fannie agreed, “That’s why they said, “Fannie, where did you learn?” She pointed to her head. “Use your head! You learn how.”195

Betty added, “A lot of the war brides did the same thing and they shared amongst themselves, you know, jobs and …”

Fannie interrupted, “When somebody got better job, we want to get a better job, too, we follow, and then, when I go Boeing, ah! Come on!”

“So, you supported each other with jobs and information?” I asked.

“We have to find a way that we could go up, you know,” Fannie answered.

Betty observed of the war brides, “The opportunities, they got the opportunities and they go for it.”196

Fannie used her earnings to “go up,” and again did so against her husband’s wishes. Betty explained:

And then when she had the money, she’d save it up. My dad didn’t want a car. He was very frugal. Mom bought our first car. Cash. She didn’t want to live in the projects anymore. She said, we’re buying a house.197

Fannie described the discussion with her husband:

My husband said, ‘No. We’ll stay here in housing projects.’ Oh. We sign that house there the one … ‘Oh no. It’s too much,’ he said. I told him if you don’t come with me, I sign it myself.

Betty explained, “Well, you know, daddy lived through the Depression, you know, and it was really really hard. He was tight. Ilocano tight.”

195 Ibid. p. 18 196 Ibid. p. 18 197 Ibid. p. 18

Page 79 Fannie added, “Yeah. If I’m not stubborn, we don’t have much money then if I didn’t do my way.”198

Fannie retired from Boeing in 1992. With more than twenty-five years in their employ, she was eligible for their pension plan.

7. Visiting the Philippines

Fannie made her first visit to the Philippines in the mid-1960s. After buying the house and the car, she still managed to save money for the trip. She made her first trip alone, visiting family in Palompon. Her father had already passed away, but her mother was still living. She made a second trip with her son, Tracy, in the early 1980s, and then a third trip with her daughter, Betty, sometime in the mid-1980s. Betty recalled that it was after her third child was born and she herself was in her late 30s.199

Some of Fannie’s many siblings were doing well. Several moved to the island of

Mindanao. “Mostly there now. They are in Davao. They are not Palompon.”200 Betty added,

“That’s where all the jobs are.” Fannie continued, “And some of them they work in the ship. So, they got good job and the wife take care of the kids at home.”201

8. Today’s Immigrants to the U.S.

In Fannie’s opinion, more recent immigrants have an easier time adjusting to living in the

U.S.

They are lucky when they come here because some of the family is here already, some of the relatives, they come here. They come here as student, you know, they could just call and tell that they have family here, so it’s easy for them.202

198 Ibid. p. 18 199 Phone conversation with Betty Ragudos, April 2, 2020. 200 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 22 201 Ibid. p 22 202 Somaoang, “Fannie, January 2016.” p. 27

Page 80 She also expressed some resentment of Filipinos who come here and brag about their status in

the Philippines.

You know they tell us, ‘Oh, I got, we have servant there. One will cook. One will wash. One will clean the house.’ What are you doing here anyway when you are better off there? And there, it’s hard. So, why did they come here? For me, it’s alright because we are poor. We are big family. We are ten children, plus my mother, father, we are twelve. They call it hand to mouth. But these people show off. My gosh. That’s the one I don’t like, some of our people, but lately, of course, I don’t go no place no more. I didn’t hear those comments no more.203

She acknowledges that not all new immigrants behave this way. Some come here with a different outlook.

Some of them come, they ask help. That’s what I want, you know, like in the community, because I was a council there for twenty years, even I was not council, I help without pay. If they need help, the president will help to start with … where to live, for housing, you know, that’s supposed to be that way, but don’t show off that you are better, you have big house in the Philippines, you know, that’s no good.204

Fannie’s husband, Federico, passed away in 1980 from complications with cancer and

asthma. Fannie said she doesn’t have anyone left in her life who understands or shares her

experiences. She tries to talk to her daughter and grandkids, but they are busy living their own lives.

Sometimes I don’t know what to think. My grandkids they have their own things. They won’t listen. Even when I try to talk to Betty. Sometimes they are all busy with their own thing, they go to school, you know. But when I see some of my family, we talk about it, you know. Yeah, right now, I’m the only one left among the war brides.205

As of the date of this writing, Fannie lives in a care facility in Seattle. Before moving there, she enjoyed occasional outings to the casino and get-togethers with the Filipino community.

203 Ibid. p. 28 204 Ibid. p. 28 205 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 10

Page 81 C. LUCIANA HAYNES MCCANTS “LUCY”

Lucy lives in an upscale senior living facility in the Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle,

Washington. At ninety-nine years old, she walks with minimal assistance from her walker. When

I arrived to our meeting, she and her two daughters, Lucile and Carlotta, walked with me to the

restaurant located within the building. We conducted her interview there amid the noise and

activity, but Lucy had no difficulty understanding my questions and was able to communicate

her memories to me clearly. Lucile and Carlotta were with us during the entire interview and

sometimes contributed parts of their story to the conversation. In phone calls prior to our

meeting, I let Lucy know that I would like to record our conversation on video. She wore a colorful blue jacket and her nails were painted to match. She was prepared for our interview with a piece of paper on which she had written a list of the places she has lived and the calendar years she lived in each place. After ordering our food, Lucy began telling me her story.

1. Growing up in the Philippines

She was born in Balamban in 1920 on the island of Cebu, Philippines. “It was in the western side of Cebu. This is Cebu,” she said as she held up her hands. “We are on the western side. Samar is on this side and I’m on the other side.”206 She lived with her mother and father

and younger brother in a remarkable house.

Oh, in that house that I grew up, my father had built this house, it was supported by coral. Half of it was in the sea, the other was in land. When it’s high tide, we go jump out our window so go swimming in the ocean.207

The house was near a fishermen’s port and Lucy recalls interacting with the fishermen in

her village alongside another member of the family.

And then, outside our house is a fisherman thing. Every day, he go out fishing and when they come back, we go out and we buy the fresh fish, right there where we

206 Luciana Haynes McCants, “Interview by Jeannie Magdua. Seattle, Washington,” July 24, 2019. Page 3 207 Ibid. p. 4

Page 82 come back. When I was two or three years old … it’s very clear in my mind … when they line their net … when they would take care of their nets, we would dance. There was a little sister. Not my little sister. She was a daughter from my father’s …

Lucy hesitated and nodded her head.

“Other woman?” I asked.

Yes, and she was about my age. We were just two months apart. She was born November. I was born in January. She lived with us, and so, we go out there in front of the, of the fishermen, we would sing the song from the … [softly singing] We just made it up from the words as we hear it from the movie those songs and we dance and they give us money.

“The sailors gave you money?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she answered, “A penny or something.”208

In grade school, Lucy’s English lessons began.

So, by the time you’re in second grade you have to speak English. Because in my school, you must speak English anywhere on the ground because if you didn’t, if somebody caught you not speaking English, you have to wear a dunce, not the cap, like a little necklace. It says ‘speak English.’ That’s how we, we really learn. I don’t know how quickly we learn, but by the third grade, second grade, they taught us in English.209

When I asked Lucy if she remembered any of her English lessons, she held up her hands and began to sing, “I have two hands, the left and the right, hold them up high, clean and

bright…”210

Before the start of the war, Lucy began college at Silliman University in Dumaguete, but

the war disrupted her studies and her first marriage. “I married my boyfriend, my childhood

boyfriend. He was their father,” she pointed to her daughters at the table.

208 Ibid. p. 7 209 Ibid. p. 6 210 Ibid. p. 6

Page 83 He was in the military when the Japanese were there. We married because of the war. He need to go to the military and I was running around all over the place with my family.211

Lucy and Carlos married in October, 1939 when Lucy was nineteen years old. They named their three children after themselves, Carlotta, Lucy, and Carlos.

And so, he uh … before, let’s see, maybe after four years, four years, I think, um, my youngest son was still in my … [she gestured toward her belly] … and he was drowned. He was on a mission on Bantayan Island to go to Cebu City, and the ship was, the boat … collapsed, I guess. They never found him, but they found a survivor.212

Her husband, Carlos, died in 1944 leaving her a widow with three children.

2. Japanese Occupation

During the remaining months of the war, she stayed with her husband’s parents on the northern part of Cebu.

We stayed in Bogo. They have a hacienda, a sugar plantation, so they have a big place there and they have a house downtown. And so, we stayed there at that house for a while and then the Japanese started coming around so we had to go, we decided to go move somewhere because they come with their bayonets.213

Twice they came, but the first time they came, they were looking for guns … and the Japanese had Filipino people with them, to help them, you know, interpreting, and so fortunately, this man he came with these Japanese people because there was one time they came I was pregnant and he said, ‘Where’s the man? Where’s your husband?’ Well, he go in the military and this time, this man, the Filipino person with the Japanese, found a diary that I had that said what we were doing and where our friends were. They were little things that you, I don’t know, they may be of some help you know. So, but anyway … and then they go away. You see, he help me. He withheld all the information that they found in my home, and he didn’t tell the Japanese. So that was very nice.214

Eventually, Lucy and others began traveling with their children from barrio to barrio to escape the Japanese.

211 Ibid. p. 4 212 Ibid. p. 4 213 Ibid. p. 8 214 Ibid. p. 9

Page 84 We go somewhere, next barrio and town and find a place to stay. People were right, they will help us. They will help us. I don’t care how small a space they had. They will help. They were nice neighbors.”215

Lucy’s daughter, Carlotta, described the things they had heard about life during World

War II. “They said that during the Japanese occupation, it was fun. That’s what my Auntie said

because we are running from one place to the other, hide,”216 Carlotta said.

“Young people always make things more pleasant wherever they go,” Lucy responded.

Carlotta continued and explained that a friend of the family was a Japanese soldier and he would inform them when the Japanese were coming. “‘We are coming this way so you guys we want you to move that way, or you go this way because the soldiers are coming this way.’ So, he was our, our, you know, savior, or something like that.” Carlotta’s sister, Lucile, cut in, “This is just hearsay because we didn’t know.”217

Lucy described moments when battles between the Japanese and the Americans were

visible from land. “We can see the boats, the Japanese boats, and then we can see the fight,”

Lucy said as she pointed in the air. “Oh, we like to see the dogfight. And we see the one that

when they are bombing the ships. And there were Japanese people that were … go to the shore

and they hide someplace.”218 When I asked Lucy what it was like at the end of the war. She

described it with only one statement, “We were happy.”219

After the war ended, Lucy felt it was time to complete her college education.

And then after the war, in ‘44, I make plans to go back to school.220 Very difficult because I had these kids, you know, but they were cared for. My, my in-laws, they

215 Ibid. p. 10 216 Ibid. p. 10 217 Ibid. p. 10 218 Ibid. p. 10 219 Ibid. p. 10 220 It’s likely Lucy simply didn’t remember which year the war ended. WWII was effectively over in mid-August 1945 after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Page 85 really, they don’t want these kids to be taken away somewhere. They were always in their care. And at that time, they help take care of them.221

Lucy’s three children remained with her in-laws while she went away to college. “I went back to school in Manila, to Far Eastern,”222 Lucy said.

3. Fred Haynes

During her studies in Manila, Lucy became friends with two African-American women,

Virginia Reynolds and her sister whose name Lucy could not remember. The women were

singers at a bar and they invited her to their show.

They just said, ‘Oh, come on, just come and watch.’ And they were singing and they were doing the music, Virginia and her sister, and the two of them would sing, you know. I guess at that time, they were entertainment, they were trained cause there weren’t too many black people in Philippines, but they were entertainers. A lot of entertainment parties.223

Lucy met Fred Haynes, an African-American soldier, in 1946 at the bar where her friends were singing. Lucy would go to the bar “now and then,” but Fred took notice of Lucy. “He didn’t forget. He said in his mind, that was the one. It was gonna be me.”224 Lucy says his rank was not

important and neither was their age gap.

But he was a first lieutenant only you know but he was a good person. He was older than me, much older, but, almost ten years older, about nine I think, nine, but anyway, I thought he should at least be married or something and I said, that’s why I was kind of … but no he wasn’t married at all, had not been married, not divorced.”225

Fred eventually invited her out for a date. “So, he tried to invite me to his place, the

military place for Thanksgiving. He said, ‘I will come to Manila and pick you up.’”226 However,

221 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 10 222 Ibid. p. 10 223 Ibid. p. 11 224 Ibid. p. 11 225 Ibid. p. 13 226 Ibid. p. 11

Page 86 Fred never showed up. “On that day he was supposed to come and pick me up, you know, they were on the way to come over to Manila to pick me up, but they never showed up. I said, ‘Oh, that’s ok.’” Lucy took this as a sign that Fred was not as interested in her as he portrayed and decided not to interact with him or their mutual friends.

Maybe that’s the thing, you know. He didn’t really care then. So, I ignore. I didn’t want to be bothered with him and Virginia would call me to play mahjong or something. I said no, I don’t really want to be with them.”227

After some time, a friend of Virginia’s reached out to Lucy.

She was a stenographer in Manila who was a friend of the Reynolds, but she was a white gal, but she worked too … at Pampanga, but she was a court reporter, and she brought his letter. She said that she wanted to see me. I said, ‘I don’t know her.’ But she finally came and met me, and she said, she told me that she had a letter to give to me. I said, ‘From whom?’ So, it was from Fred, but I didn’t want to be bothered with him. So, I said, ‘That’s ok. I don’t want his letter.’228 She said, ‘Lucy, you have to read this because he had an accident.’ And she told me about the holdup, that they were held up.229

In the letter, Fred explained he had been attacked on the road to Manila

He was, captured, held up, by, you know, the little Filipino, um … bandits. They took the car away from his and his driver and he and his driver had to go in the cornfield and that’s where they were hiding, they are running to, because they took the car and those things and whatever. … they were on the way to come over to Manila to pick me up.230

Lucy had read a report in the newspaper, but ruled out the possibility that it was about Fred.

I read in the newspaper about these people that were held up on the way from Pampanga to the city, to Manila, and, but they spelled the name was HAINES. So, that’s Haines, but my name, it’s HAYNES. So, I said, ‘I don’t think that’s the same one.’231

227 Ibid. p. 11 228 Ibid. p. 12 229 Ibid. p. 12 230 Ibid. p. 11 231 Ibid. p. 12

Page 87 Realizing she had not been snubbed on their first date, Lucy allowed Fred to continue to court her. “So, we become friends again because he nearly died, because he said he nearly died. They got the guns and everything, you know, and that’s why they run to the cornfield, and so that was the story.232

Lucy and Fred dated for two years and when Fred knew he would soon be sent back to the U.S, he asked Lucy to marry him in an unconventional way.

In 1948, he decided, ‘Would you like to go with me to the Chief?’ You know, the head of the military in Manila. He was a colonel and he wanted me to go with him and ask him about something about maybe getting married. I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Well, we’ll just ask.’233

Military policy required soldiers to obtain permission from their commanding officers to marry foreign brides.234 Fred and Lucy met with Lt. Col., Wilson B. De Chant to gain a recommendation for approval.

Fred asked me to go to the Chief of [Chaplain]. It was the headquarters. The Chief of [Chaplains] asked all kinds of questions. Where are you from? Where I was born. Does your family agree about marriage with … especially with black or something? And I said … I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know. They sort of look at me like I say yes or something. I was forced to say something. I just say I don’t know. I said, well … he was looking for if we would be a good couple.235

Despite Lucy’s hesitant responses, Lt. Col., De Chant granted approval and sent a letter to the Commanding Officer,236 but further approval was required from the bride’s family to obtain the marriage license. Lucy had not been in contact with her parents since the war. “They

232 Ibid. p. 12 233 Ibid. p. 12 234 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 15 235 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 12 236 “Letter From Lt. Col. De Chant to Commanding Officer Recommending Approval to Marry for Fred Haynes,” April 8, 1948, Record Group 554 Entry (A1) 1457 Records of the Philippines-Ryukyus Command. Adjutant General Section. General Correspondence Files, 1/1/1947 - 7/31/1948 https://catalog. archives.gov/id/627708 Box 81.

Page 88 were in another place. I didn’t see them.”237 The next person to ask would have been her father-

in-law who, together with his wife, were caring for her three children.

When I decided that, ok, ok with Fred, you know, yeah I was afraid to tell anyone. I know the father-in-law will say no. What he said, we have to obey, so it’s better for me not to tell them so I wouldn’t have to disobey anybody.238

Unable to gain permission from any of her family members, Fred and Lucy had to turn to

another authority for approval. Lt. Col. De Chants directed them. “So, he said, ‘You can go and

get your license at the justice of the peace downtown.’”239

The judge, Lopez was the last name, she was a mean judge … according to everybody. She was very, very watchful, to make sure that the girls went to the right person or something, I guess.240 So, we went to the judge. She was very, sort of stern looking you know. Fred went and sat down. He talked with her very cordial. If you met my, my Fred, you will be impressed, too. But anyway, that judge was so impressed with him. She just turned real nice. She talked to Fred for a long time, and she said, I mean to me in our language, she said, ‘He’s a reliable person and you’re lucky.’ So, she arranged to help him, sort of, you know. So, I didn’t have time to think really. That was just the same day that he asked me to go Chief of Chaplain to ask about something and then we end up getting married, getting a license.241

After obtaining approval from an accepted authority, the Chief of Chaplains sent a letter

to the commanding officer recommending approval:

237 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 15 238 Ibid. p. 15 239 Ibid. p. 12 240 I did a search for a Judge Lopez in Manila circa 1948 and found a recent news article on the abs-cbn website entitled “The Country’s First Female Judge.” According to the article, Justice Natividad Almeda-Lopez was awarded The Presidential Award for Leadership in the Feminist Movement. The article also notes that “she was the executive judge of the City Court in Manila for 10 years.” Her reputation as a “mean judge” when it came to granting American soldiers permission to marry Filipina brides makes sense in her work as a feminist in mid-century Philippines. https://news.abs-cbn.com/-depth/09/28/12/countrys-first-female-judge-remembered 241 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 13

Page 89

Figure 7. Lt. Col. W. Be De Chant, Letter Recommending Approval of Request for Permission to Marry. April 8, 1948242

“So, when was his tour of duty in the Philippines done? When did he have to leave the

Philippines?” I asked.

“In April,” she answered. “That’s because his ship was leaving early April.”243

4. Immigrating to the U.S.

Lt. Col., De Chants’ letter of approval was dated April 8, 1948. Lucy and Fred were married only a few days before he was transported back to the U.S. by ship.

So, what he did, he tried to arrange everything … he was in a hurry because he did not fly. He had to go by ship, too, so anyway, he arranged everything, all the papers any information or anything, and this is the lady, the person that you

242 “Letter Recommending Approval to Marry for Fred Haynes.” 243 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 13

Page 90 contact, the name and the address, and telephone number. So, after that, I waited.244

Fred remained enlisted after his tour of duty in the Philippines and was stationed at Fort

Bliss in El Paso, Texas while he waited for Lucy to be transported to the U.S.245The paperwork

was only for Lucy and not for her three children. “So, you didn’t bring your daughters with

you?” I asked.

“No! I couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me bring them,” Lucy answered.

“Who would not let you?” I asked.

“My father-in-law,” she answered.

Carlotta described her grandfather. “Very strict,” she said. “So, when his son died in the

war, my grandfather took care of the children. So, my mother, when she married in 1948, when

she came, I was seven. She was six,” she said as she pointed to her sister, Lucy, at the table, “and

my younger brother was five, but my grandparents were the ones that raised us.”246

Lucy decided not to visit her family in Cebu before leaving for the U.S.

That would be hard flying over there, to flying back. It’s a lot of money … and I was so sad, and I said if I have to leave a lot of people, you think, oh then we’ll all be crying, you know, naturally. Yeah. I’m sad and I think about all of them, you know, but I also think about coming, what’s going to be in the future.247

Lucy’s daughter, Lucile, wanted to know more about that and asked, “Were you happy or

were you sad? Cause she left the three of us over there.”248

Yeah. I was really sad … Well, I’m not … I’m sad in a way that we are not together. We don’t have a closeness, but in a way, it would have been difficult for me to leave, small kids, you know. All I know is that, is that they are loved and

244 There was a lapse in the policy of the War Brides Act regarding transport of alien spouses of civilian and military personnel. A policy guide was circulated that stated such accommodations would expire December 27, 1948. It is likely Fred Haynes was in a hurry in order to gain her military transport before that expiration date. See Appendix K, “Effect of Lapse of PL 271” 245 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 16 246 Ibid. p. 14 247 Ibid. p. 25 248 Ibid. p. 25

Page 91 they are doing good things and that’s a … what do you call … a blessing. So, just have to think of the future now. What I really wanted to do to begin with when I went to Manila, is I want to be a Foreign Services, and oh see the world. 249

“What did you expect for the United States?” I asked

“It’s chaos right now,” she answered. “It’s not like it was before. When I came, I thought

that this was the best country in the world, you know. They have lots of opportunities, and lots of

love and, you know, and everything, and I was lucky that I came.”250

5. Learning to Live in the U.S.

Lucy immigrated to the U.S. via military transport on the USS General W.F. Hase in

October, 1948. She landed in San Francisco in November.251 Fred picked her up from the port

and drove with her to Chicago. On the way there, Lucy began learning about racial relations in

the U.S.

You know, it’s so funny, when we are on the way from San Francisco, we stop in Chicago. I don’t know anything. When we were at the station, everybody start coming, they looking at me, so, I said, well, if we were in the Philippines, everybody probably would curious too, looking at the same when they are there. So, I just smiled and then I waved, so that was ok! So, it was ok. I was ok. From that time I said, well, they’re people just like us and they are friendly.252

In Chicago, they boarded a plane and Lucy experienced a reality for African-Americans

in the Jim Crow era.

So, when we went to Chattanooga from Chicago, we had to go on the plane, and so we were together, but we went on a single gate, we were on separate plane or, coach, or something, we were sitting together with the black people, and I said I don’t care where he sits. Where he goes, that’s where I go.”

Lucy again took the situation in stride, “Yeah, I had no problem at all.” 253

249 Ibid. p. 25 250 Ibid. p. 26 251 Ibid. p. 14 252 Ibid. p. 16 253 Ibid. p. 17

Page 92 In Chattanooga, Lucy met her new family for the first time. She explained her first impression of them, “My God, they’re all big people!” They’re all tall, big. And I’m just little and they look at me so pitifully.” Fred’s father, mother, and sister were all there to greet her and began welcoming her to the family. “They said they didn’t know that Fred married a child,” she laughed. “They thought I was a child and then from then on, they called me baby. That was my name.”254

Fred did not get to stay with Lucy in Chattanooga for long. He was still stationed in Fort

Bliss and had to return, leaving Lucy alone with his family until accommodations could be made

for housing. “That’s where I stayed for about three months because we didn’t have any quarters.

We have to wait for quarters, for place to stay in El Paso.”255

“So, in Chattanooga, were you the only Filipina?” I asked.

“Yeah, the only. The very only,” she answered.

Alone with Fred’s family, Lucy began her adjustment to American life. “I learned, when

I was in Tennessee, I learned everything. I learned to cook food, you know, southern food, I learned to clean house. I have to do the kitchen and the beds and everything, just learned the

American way you know.”256 I asked Lucy who taught her these things and she said, “My

mother-in-law, Edna.”257

Lucy also made efforts to learn about this new world around her. “I was curious, really,

and I read the papers, and I listened to the radio,” she said. The newspaper and radio were Lucy’s

only view of the world while she stayed with her in-laws. Fred’s parents would not allow her

many opportunities to interact with people outside the home. “My in-laws did not allow me to

254 Ibid. p. 17 255 Ibid. p. 16 256 Ibid. p. 16 257 Ibid. p. 16

Page 93 just go. I mean, they watch me, they just really watch me like a kid, you know, and so I did not

have much social life in Chattanooga. Fred had cousins who wanted to take me out, you know, to

have fun, but my in-laws were no, they didn’t allow her to take me somewhere,” she

explained.258

Lucy said her only regular outings in Chattanooga were trips to the grocery store and

church on Sundays. Growing up in the Philippines, Lucy had attended Catholic church most of

her life, but her experience at the school in Dumaguete exposed her to other beliefs.

I grow up Catholic, but I went to Silliman and I said, oh, there’s another way of praying that’s really closer to my heart. You know? The Catholic memorize everything, by praying, we pray, like the rosary, but there, over there I went to Silliman. They were Presbyterian. So, I can pray for myself, you know, and there’s no confession, and it was just different and it felt really alive like I’m, I’m communicating with my God, you know, directly. That’s it. I had a hard time, cause my mother was a Catholic. They were all Catholic. Explaining this to them, to my parents, to become a Presbyterian, would be a long, long time, a hard time. So, I went home on vacation. I have to tell them because I know I want to join the church, I said, somehow, my father was the one who really was more open minded. In the end my mother crying.

Lucy was sympathetic to her mother’s feelings.

I know. I know. I know I feel it deeply in my heart to the Catholic. Even now, I genuflect when I have to pray. You know, it’s there. So, when I went back, my father now, when they say something, that’s the law. He said we all go to heaven, you know. If you’re sincere with your prayers with God, then He will accept you. So, my mother couldn’t say anything, so I joined the church. I became a Protestant.259

“But Presbyterian is very different from Southern Baptist,” I said.260

Oh, yes! It was very different from the church I was born in … and one time I went there and we were all dressed, you know, my first hat. I never wore a hat. I had a picture of my first hat and gloves and everything.261

258 Ibid. p. 18 259 Ibid. p. 19 260 I also grew up Catholic and I have visited both Presbyterian and Southern Baptist church services. The difference in service styles for me was striking and I was curious what her impression was of her experience in a Southern Baptist church, especially in the Jim Crow era South. 261 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 18

Page 94

Figure 8. Lucy Haynes, ca 1948. Tribute Album, 1996.

And they sang a long time. You have the long Sunday because they would talk one after another, you know. One priest after another and they say, you know, long prayers. So, anyway, I survived that.262

One moment at church was particularly memorable to Lucy. “Everybody was dressed up to go to church and then somebody screamed! I thought she was going out of her mind or something cause she screamed.” Lucy recalled that her mother-in-law saw that she was startled and hugged her and explained to her, “She was just happy.”263

Despite the restrictions her in-laws had imposed on her, Lucy did have one opportunity for travel.

And while I was in Chattanooga, I was able to visit in Washington, DC and Baltimore because my sister-in-law worked in Baltimore and my other friend

262 Ibid. p. 19 263 Ibid. p. 18

Page 95 from the Philippines, a military that knew us, invited me to Washington, DC for a dance, an important event. So, I visited those before I went to El Paso.264

After three months in Chattanooga, Lucy joined Fred in El Paso, but housing was not yet arranged. “Yeah. I get there and we have to wait still,” Lucy said. While Lucy and Fred waited for their quarters, they were put in temporary housing. Lucy had no complaints about the temporary arrangements.

It was a house, I mean, an Inn, where we are waiting, those who are waiting for their quarters, but we are the only one really ended up with one, one big quarters, one big house. It was a three-bedroom, big hall, big kitchen, big living room, and big dining room. It was big. There were three officers that stayed there before, but that’s the house they gave us. We finally got a house. So, whenever anybody wanted to entertain and they come to the base, they come over to our house. We had everything, you know, and we had a big yard, big mulberry tree.265

“Were there other Filipinos there on the base?” I asked

“No,” she answered. “There were, there were Mexicans, so I was ok.”

On the base, Lucy began working at her first job. “And then I started working on the PX.

All they had to show me was how to do the cash register.” Lucy excelled at her job and she

recalled a supervisor remarked that her closing register was always exact. “I just, you know, I

just do it, did it what I’m supposed to do. And so, they treat me good over there.” Lucy did so

well she was moved to the larger PX store. “To the main PX, you know. So, at the small PX, I

know the count for all the product they have. I don’t have to look and worry … but over there, I

just went to every place I could take care of it.”266

Lucy’s favorite part of work was interacting with people and she received comments

from customers. “And I just love everybody, you know. I’m very pleasant to everyone. I’m

264 Ibid. p. 19 265 Ibid. p. 19 266 Ibid. p. 19

Page 96 happy and so they’re happy, too, when they see me happy you know. So, they get letters about me and how I help them.”267

Lucy had only one complaint about her job.

The only thing working in a place like that, you have to stand up. There’s not place to sit down and then I look forward to the break, you know, at 9:00 for thirty minutes or something break for coffee. I didn’t drink coffee before, and I just go, oh, it’s so good to sit down someplace, but I stayed there. I worked there the whole time that I was there.268

“How long was that?” I asked

“Oh, I was there from 1949, ’50, and then ‘51 Fred has orders to go to Korea. Now we had to be separated again,” she answered. This time, Fred did not send Lucy to live with his family in Chattanooga.

He said, no you’re not going to the South. You’re not going back to Chattanooga. You’re going to stay in California. In California, we had a friend. They were all three of them had ‘H’ [last names] and they were together when they were being shipped somewhere. They were [always] together. Then the wife of one of the friends, he was in San Pablo, California, said I could stay with her. So, she had nice house.269

Before Fred left for Korea, Lucy began learning a new skill.

I was learning to drive. I was driving every day. I had a new Chevrolet. He taught me to drive, but oh, I was not interested because he had to open the engine and say this and that and I said oh, I have to learn that? No. No. I just want to learn to drive. I said you go ahead, but I know how to stop and brake and all that. So, I gave up. When he went to Korea, that’s when I started really learning to drive.270

Her desire to drive was motivated by her new ambitions.

I was doing something. I went to a business school, where they had typing, shorthand, all this business school things. I said I might go there. It was a junior college. So, they had … all that business thing that you learn. They also had other subjects. I went to a, what you call this thing? It’s a meeting that we discuss world affairs. World affairs. I go to world affairs. I was enrolled. I attended those.

267 Ibid. p. 19 268 Ibid. p. 20 269 Ibid. p. 20 270 Ibid. p. 20

Page 97 Everywhere I go, I learned about the world, what’s going on, cause I kept up with, you know, local happenings. So, I really was, I just stayed kind of in tune, you know. Tried to learn something more.271

Lucy considered becoming a teacher and learned that the requirements were attainable,

but she also learned that the teaching environment would be very different from what she was

used to in the Philippines.

But then, one of my girlfriends was telling me about the school in California, the way they do things. [She] said discipline is very difficult. You cannot spank the children, cause you’ll end up in jail, and they will talk back to you. Yeah, in Philippines you can spank them, in the Philippines, if you want to sometimes. I said no. That’s not for me. So, I just took all this business courses, then I was in the court reporter thing.272

For the eighteen months Fred was deployed to Korea, Lucy kept him apprised of her

activities.

I had to write every day, just like a diary, every day what I was doing. I send it to him. He received letter from me every week, and letters to me too from him, but that was our communication. So, he was so happy cause he knew what I was doing every day,” she laughed. Fred had more reasons to be happy when he returned. “And I saved all the money that he send me. When he got back, we bought a house in Berkeley. And he was so happy. He said, ‘Gee whiz. You really took care of things.’273

Lucy had become such a skilled driver that Fred and his parents left the task to her.

I just drove everywhere, and you know the way they drive in California. Yeah. My husband, he came back from Korea, he was afraid. He couldn’t drive, so I had to drive for a while, and they were all scared. Because my in-laws came over to California and they finally ended up here in Washington.274

6. Stationed in Heidelberg, Germany

Sometime after his return from the Korean War, Fred was assigned to Fort Lawton in

Seattle, Washington, but then was transferred to another base overseas. “He was assigned to

271 Ibid. p. 19 272 Ibid. p. 19 273 Ibid. p. 20 274 Ibid. p. 21

Page 98 Europe, so I went with him, oh not with him, but later on. So, he was in Heidelberg, the

headquarters of the military, the army, in Europe, in Heidelberg. So, I stayed in Heidelberg for

four years, ’54 to ’58.”275

Lucy followed the same pattern of learning her new environment when she first arrived to the U.S. in Chattanooga, making efforts to learn more about the world around her in Germany.

When I got there, the first thing, I had this little Berlitz book. I learned those little, guten tag. Finally, I said I’m going to learn this thing while I’m here and the University of Heidelberg is right there. So, I went to a summer course. The university was open. So, I talked German there for that summer, learned some conversational, and then we had some students, German students who were interested in learning English also. We go out for our break. We have learn in German and they tell us how to say it in German, but anyway, by the time I finished there, I was able to get along in Germany.276

Lucy continued, “So, we go to the university, we have to go on the tram, you know the

train, the little thing, and I supposed to go to the old folks. ‘Good morning,’” Lucy said, as she

bowed. “It was my only word first. Then, I increased my vocabulary, so I speak a little bit more.

So, by the time I finished the course, oh they were loving me,” she laughed. “They loved me,

they even brought me flowers, you know. I said I got the wrong idea of these Germans. They are not bad. You know you got the wrong attitude in the brain and you get to see, oh they’re friendly people. And so, they’re very nice.”277

After a few months, Lucy became restless.

Whenever I belong to all these women’s clubs in the base and I attend all these meetings, went on all the tours and trips, pretty soon I said, listen I got to do something more than this. So, I thought I’d go, I try to go to work, so I applied to work, work again, find job. I enjoyed being in the military and work. I worked there. I found a job. I worked, it was for, for a colonel, but there was a civilian temporary counterpart for this major who was hired me. Nobody like him. Nobody could work with him. So, I said why did you give me to him. So, anyway, I work with him. He throw the phone away when he didn’t get the

275 Ibid. p. 21 276 Ibid. p. 22 277 Ibid. p. 22

Page 99 number, but every day, I said good morning to him. When he makes his telephone call, I said let me call the number for you, I know, cause I memorize all the numbers he could possibly call and I know it, but I told him, I said I’ll call them for you, just wait.278

Lucy’s friendliness with her coworkers and ability to get along with others, even long- distance coworkers, was a benefit to the couple in their travels. “You see we had military attachés. We were connected to all the military attachés in Europe. So, I also made friends from different countries. So, when we go to different countries, we got place to stay somewhere for five dollars.”279

Lucy also continued her driving adventures in Germany, but first she had to buy a car.

“But when you buy the car there, you have to wait. They will build it when you buy. You give your money and everything and then they build the car and they give it to you later on when they build it, finished. I have to wait. I can’t have the car right away.”280

Learning to drive in California appeared to be a preliminary lesson to driving in

Germany.

Oh, I drove in Germany like crazy because there was no speed limit on the Audubon. You go fast as you can and when you’re near the base, you slow down to fifty miles and fifty miles is crawling. Generally, on the Audubon, everybody they’ll go as fast as they can, where ninety miles is ok, with my little Karmann Ghia, it was a little sports car, I drove all over Europe. We go to France and we go to Amsterdam, you know, for the tulips, we go to Zurich. And on weekends we go to Munich, Busch Gardens and stuff like that.281

Fred’s assignment in Germany ended in 1958 and the Haynes’ moved back to Seattle where they made their permanent residence.

7. Visiting the Philippines

278 Ibid. p. 22 279 Ibid. p. 22 280 Ibid. p. 22 281 Ibid. p. 22

Page 100 In 1959, a year after settling in Seattle, Lucy made her first trip back to the Philippines to

see her family. It would be the first time in more than eleven years her children would see her.

Carlotta and Lucile gave me their perspective on this part of their mother’s story.

Carlotta described how she felt when she learned her mother was coming.

I was in my high school. I was graduating. So, we were so excited when my cousin say my mom is coming. ‘Oh, really?’ I say. We don’t know how to react, whether we get excited or we’re scared. So, we went to the airport, and then the plane landed, and then the passengers went down, so we wanted to hide,” Carlotta laughed.” Carlotta recalled her first thought when she saw her mother. Oh, mom is pretty!

Carlotta’s sister, Lucile, recalled their next action, “We went to hide in the bathroom.”

Carlotta agreed. “We were hiding, you know, and we were just crying, and so, when she

came, and we stayed that day and she was sitting with us and hugging us, looking at us and then

we were just like …” At this, Carlotta had no more words, but gave an expression that seemed to

indicate she felt shy with her mother during their visit.282

“How old were you when she came back to visit. Do you remember?” I asked Carlotta.

Speaking to her mother, Carlotta asked, “You came here in ’48, right? So, you went back

in ’59. Ten years after.” Turning to me, Carlotta said, “So, I was in my high school. I was

graduating.”283

8. The War Brides Association

After she returned from her visit to the Philippines, Lucy’s life in Seattle was again filled with activities, including clubs every Saturday and hula lessons. It was during a hula lesson that

Lucy was invited to a Philippine War Brides Association (PWBA) meeting and finally made a connection with a Filipino community via the war brides. “I hadn’t been in any Filipino

282 Ibid. p. 16 283 Ibid. p. 16

Page 101 community at all anywhere since, only here I got a Filipino community, and everywhere else, all those years, no,”284 Lucy said. “When did I join? I think it was around the 60s I joined the

Philippine war brides.”285

“How was that different for you?” I asked.

I was so busy with them. We go and have picnics and we go things for children things, and we go to casinos. I arranged casino trips for that, for us, most of the time. And then, there were many activities. And the consulate was pretty busy here. They were here, not in San Francisco. They’re in San Francisco anymore, but they were busy. We participated in most of the holidays they have and they come to our meetings. Mrs. Soledad used to come to our meetings, and it was fun.286

Everybody has a ticket to sell to you for a weekend thing, a dance, you know, ballroom dance, and all that … We were always doing making money, and actually, we have more money now in the treasury.287

Lucy is one of the last remaining war brides of the PWBA. Outings together are rare.

Lucy learned that fellow war bride, Fannie, went on a recent trip.

[Betty] told me that she just took her mom to Las Vegas a few days ago or something. I said why don’t we all go to Las Vegas, you know, us old folks, just take us with you because we got some money in the treasury why don’t we just go, go someplace and we will have fun. We all love to gamble.288

Lucy spoke of the funds the PWBA still had available and speculated what might happen to it.

I know it was twelve thousand dollars and that was many, many years ago. So, it should be more than that because we just spend it for little things, so I don’t know. I hope we give it to some charity, or just leave it. I don’t know, but we’re dying off.289

284 Ibid. p. 21 285 Ibid. p. 23 286 Ibid. p. 24 287 Ibid. p. 23 288 Ibid. p. 25 289 Ibid. p. 23

Page 102 Lucy is very clear about her age and counts every day that she has lived. “I’m the oldest

person, I think. Ninety-nine and a half.”

“And a half?” I asked.

“Yeah, cause it’s already July,”290 she said seriously.

“We don’t meet anymore,” Lucy continued. “Once in a great while. We meet, what,

Christmas?”

Lucile countered, “No. We had one time that dinner.”

“At the casino,” Lucy agreed.

“Casino, yes,” Lucile continued. “That was a Christmas thing. They retire. They had us

children be in the War Brides.”

“Yeah,” Lucy nodded. “All our children will become the War Bride members.”

“So, now you take care of the Association?” I asked Lucile.

“Yeah,” Lucile replied. “Betty is the President and I’m the Vice President. They said, ‘Do

something!’ I said I don’t even know. I just joined this. You know? They elected me as a Vice-

President. I was not even there. I was surprised, but it’s ok. Whatever they want, we help though.

Every meeting they have, we have to go, the younger ones.”

“So, what do you think your purpose is for the War Brides?” I asked.

“We just have to continue what our parents are doing,” Lucile answered. “Every time our

kids are graduating high school or elementary, we have to give them incentive. Give them some

money in order to do walk through, birthday or something like that. It was a community thing,

too. It was a part of the community.”291

290 Ibid. p. 23 291 Ibid. p. 24

Page 103 Lucile explained the difficulty in planning events and get-togethers for their mothers and the community. “Yeah cause we’re getting older, too, you know. We’re old. Cause our kids, they don’t do it anymore. They have different things that they want to do. So, they are so busy. So, I don’t know. We don’t even have meetings anymore.”292

9. The Later Years

Lucy and Fred continued to live and work in Seattle. Fred worked for the military for

more than twenty years after returning from Germany. He retired from his job in the 1980s. Lucy

worked for the District Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service where she was, again, well

esteemed and thrived in her work.

I was the secretary there for the District Counsel and then I had the award from my work with the Treasury Department cause I worked for the Treasury and then when I retired from the government, everybody didn’t want me to quit and my job was so nice. It was so easy for me. Because they were all lawyers you know, all professional and I was their Wonder Woman really. I took care of all of them, their secretaries. I was the, more or less, administrator. So, I was happy in my job.”293 After retirement, Lucy started her own business. “I went into the travel industry. I traveled a lot. I did cruises and tours. So, I went into the Orient, Southeast Asia, so I had the tours, for seven years I went from here to Bangkok, to Singapore, and Malaysia, and Hong Kong. I did that seven times because everybody loved the tour. But anyways, I continued until I was, oh, about, almost, I’m ninety-nine now, so eighty-nine or ninety.294

It appears both Fred and Lucy did well with their retirement planning. After Fred’s

passing, Lucy had enough to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

I have retirement. It will be until I die I have a retirement, you know. So, I was covered, but when he died, my first husband, he left something for me. He said make sure that I had something, supplements, you know. I got [his] social security, and he also worked for, after he retired, he went back to Office of Personnel Management. He was a long time in there. So, he had a retirement from there and from the military and his social security. I got those plus my pension. So, I’m really ok by myself, you know.295

292 Ibid. p. 25 293 Ibid. p. 2 294 Ibid. p. 2 295 Ibid. p. 23

Page 104

Lucy did not do all the work in her travel agency alone, but had help from Fred’s friend,

Lester, after Fred passed away. “I continued to do travel, and then Lester was a friend of his. He

was helping me around, so then in about two years we went to the Philippines. Everybody was

questioning this relationship.”296

“So, they got married,” Carlotta said and laughed.

“So, then we got married over there.” Lucy said. Lester is also a veteran. “Now I’m

married to this colonel, this lieutenant colonel.”297

Marriage to Lester has also been financially beneficial. “So, we got married. So, I’m

McCants, so we came back here, and he had two apartments, here in Seattle, which is about three blocks from here. They’re right down there. So, we moved from my house to here in 2006. And, that’s a long time we stay here.”298

10. Reflections

The conversation shifted to comparisons of culture. Lucile asked her mother, “Was it kind of hard to adjust?”

“Oh, I learned. What I learned was invaluable because it turned my life this way … you cannot separate from your culture. Impossible,” she answered.

I asked Lucy what she found to be the most difficult to get used to in America. Lucy paused for some time trying to think of an answer. Carlotta answered for her, “She just blended, just go with the flow. She doesn’t have any, she just adapted right away.”

“Is that true?” I asked. “Did you adapt to the United States easily?”

296 Ibid. p. 2 297 Ibid. p. 23 298 Ibid. p. 3

Page 105 “Yeah, well, it seems like I, well, I don’t have an enemy, you know … I didn’t

have any animosity. I’m not jealous,”299 Lucy answered.

When Lucy spoke of the discrimination she experienced alongside her husband during her early years in the U.S., she put her hand to her heart and said, “I have no … no nothing in here. No fear.” 300

“So, when you remember World War II, immigrating to the United States, how do you

feel about your experience, your memories?” I asked Lucy.

Oh, I love those memories,” she answered. Speaking of her memories of the war, she

began to tear up and said, “You know, I was writing my thing, I could feel like crying, you

know. Even though it’s difficult to move from one place to another. We have fun. We enjoyed

anyway, singing. We’re afraid from Japanese, hiding from Japanese, but … we go sing and love.

It’s just the relation, the, uh … it’s different. We loved differently.”301

“So, you know a lot of Filipinos here. They don’t know very much about the war, the

Philippines and the Japanese and the war. What do you want them to know? What is your

message to them?” I asked.

Well, try to learn as much as you can about what there is around you and be, oh I’m just thinking about love all the time. Be loving. There’s no problem, if you love everybody, the world will be ok.302

D. JOSEFA PARILLA SANGALANG “JOSIE”

I visited Josie at her home in the Skyway neighborhood of Seattle. She lived alone in the

house where she and her husband had raised their children and there were many pictures of

family along the walls. The most prominent photo, however, was a portrait of her late husband,

299 Ibid. p. 27 300 Ibid. p. 17 301 Ibid. p. 27 302 Ibid. p. 28

Page 106 looking dashing and serious in formal Navy dress. His portrait was not hanging on the wall, but

propped up on the floor against the wall near the fireplace. Along with photos, Catholic artifacts

and books were displayed throughout her living room. She and I set up for the interview in her

kitchen, placing my camera on a tall stack of books about Catholicism because I had forgotten

my tripod. Josie was very friendly and was happy to talk about her life experiences.

1. Growing Up in the Philippines

Josie was born in the Philippines in 1933 in the city of Ormoc, Leyte. As a child, she enjoyed what she called the simple pleasures of childhood, such as climbing trees. She also spent a lot of time with her grandmother at her grandmother’s mountain home. She spoke Visayan at home, but in school, instruction was conducted in English, “That is how they taught us.” English instruction in the Philippines included songs that sound a bit like nursery rhymes. During our interview, Josie sang one of the songs she learned in school, “I have two hands, the left and the right. Hold them up high so clean and bright. Clap them softly, one, two, three. Clean little hands are good to see.”303

2. Japanese Occupation

Things changed in the Philippines when Josie was eight years old. On the day of the Pearl

Harbor attack, she and her family were at church. Expecting an attack on the Philippines, her

family left church and ran to the mountains. She says it was the beginning of regular evacuations

from their town. The Japanese occupied Leyte and her hometown of Ormoc. However, the

Japanese commanded that the children return to go to school. With most of the city’s population

303 This is a well-known song among older Filipinos. Lucy also sang this song in her interview. My mother sang it to me as a child and when I mention it to older Filipinos, we often sing it together. This makes me believe it was part of a national curriculum brought to the Philippines by the American teachers in the early 20th century.

Page 107 hiding in the mountains, there were no people to run the city and the Japanese needed them to

return.

So, the Japanese are looking for people that will live in that town. So, we have to come back because of me. Ok? Because I have to go to school … the Japanese occupied our military school. So, we were attending the Catholic school, the St. Peter and Paul, but we were not taught by the nuns, but the civilians, regular teachers, but because it’s so small, there are so many students, they divided us, morning session and afternoon.304

She says the first wave of occupiers were good to them, but the second wave were “not very gentle to the civilians anymore.”305 She believes the first Japanese occupiers were making

efforts to gain the confidence of the Filipinos. One of these early Japanese officers stood out in her memory as someone she looked up to.

The people really, a lot of people, even as a kid I admired him. When he was goes through a church when there is a meeting, he never wears his uniform or his sword. You know how the Japanese are? They wear swords. No. He just wear his khaki uniform and a white shirt. That is it … but his second in command. Oh wow, he’s always dressed up … he was military man. His long sword dragging behind him and oh that was his demeanor.306

The first officer was soon transferred and Josie recalled that the new wave of occupiers

was different. A garrison was established in her town. “Well, you see, this is a marketplace here

and then there’s a huge house there where they are the garrison and a house there … some big

ones, it’s like a plaza type thing.” Interrogations and torture were conducted in the garrison. “So,

they were torturing a lot of men. Ok?”307 Josie recalled seeing men tied “… around the lamp post

like this all day, all night.”

In fact, I will tell you something too that really, uh, I was so scared I guess I was growing up I have nightmares because … I was a kid and so we were, we have a little place my mother, a little place there in the market selling vegetables and then we befriended some Japanese. They come. They buy vegetables and all that and then some of the girls, if I remember correctly, they want to bring food to some of those civilians that being

304 Josefa Sangalang, “Interview by Jeannie Magdua. Seattle. Washington,” October 15, 2016. p. 2 305 Ibid. p. 1 306 Ibid. p. 6 307 Ibid. p. 5

Page 108 tortured, the relatives or something, but they permitted me to go because … I’m a kid. See? I could bring the food. Well. Ok. I did, but I hear cause the windows were open cause it’s in the marketplace are like a square thing. So, I start walking. I’ve got this food in my basket and I could hear screaming coming out from the house. I tell you I could not go on. I was shaking. I could not go. I was not a brave kid. Yeah. because I could hear the screaming. Oh, my goodness the beatings. So, I turn back. I didn’t go up the stairs. No. I turn back … As I said, I could hear screaming because the windows are open to intimidate the people. That’s what it was. So, I turn around. I don’t go in. I was shaking. Let me tell you. I was shaking.308

Japanese occupation brought many changes to the lives of the civilians, but some aspects

normal life continued for a time. “But we were able to practice our religion, go to church and

everything. I was still going to school and then the war just got worse. So, we have to abandon

our house, everything, move again. That was part of my childhood. World War II.”309

As the fighting intensified and conditions in their towns worsened, Josie recalls a pattern

of running to the mountains to hide and then returning to the town when commanded by the

Japanese, and then running to the mountains again. Each time they returned to the town life

became more difficult. “And when we’re in town we’re like prisoners there because we cannot

go out of town. We’re not permitted by the Japanese to go out of town.” When the people needed

to gather food, the Japanese would escort them out of the town to pick vegetables and harvest

rice. The Japanese went with them, in part, to guard the townspeople from the guerillas hiding in

the jungle. The guerillas assumed the Filipinos being escorted were siding with the Japanese and

did not discriminate in shooting whoever was there with the Japanese soldiers. Hungry guerilla

fighters were also taking the food the townspeople gathered.

308 James M. Scott’s book, Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila, provides detailed descriptions of acts of torture and mass killings carried out by Japanese soldiers against Filipino civilians. One interviewee for the book described victims being electrocuted: “The shock would be so terrific,” remembered Filipino Generoso Provido, “that the victims would shout like mad men and plead to be killed.” (p. 209) Josie did may not have visually witness the torture, but it’s certain the screams of torture were intended to be horrific and terrifying for a young girl, and they obviously left a lasting and painful memory. 309 Sangalang, “Josie, October 2016.” p. 3

Page 109 One time, Josie was caught in a skirmish between the Japanese and the guerillas. “And then one time there was shooting and we have to run and cross the river and [in] the river they

put barbed wire and I had this slice of my leg here.” Josie counted herself lucky in the incident.

“That was about the only thing, but there were some that hit the bullets, especially the men.”310

From that time, the townspeople did not go to the mountains to gather food and remained like

prisoners in their town.

Josie gave the Japanese credit for protecting the townspeople from the guerillas. “… they

were good to us because they know that we cannot go out and get food because they could not

understand why the guerillas, these Filipino guerillas were shooting at us, also civilians … The

Japanese won’t let us go out. So, we were caught in between.”311

Every time they had to move, the people would run to the mountains. Josie’s

grandmother lived in the mountains where there was a bit more land and, therefore, more food.

However, the Japanese would not allow them to remain in hiding in the mountains for long. Josie

recalls this is when the Japanese were losing the war effort and the Americans were bombarding

their town. “They were having a dogfight already when the Japanese could still do it and the

civilians, of course, we have to hide and then we keep moving, moving toward the jungle. Yeah.

And then, slowly and slowly we’re losing our food, clothes, but it’s a good thing that Philippines

is warm,”312 she laughed.

Food was becoming scarcer and the people were employing risky methods to ensure

families had something to eat. The people were starving. “In fact, we were starting to chew on

the guava, you know what guava is? On the young leaves, very young leaves, because there is no

310 Ibid. p. 2 311 Ibid. p. 3 312 Ibid. p. 3

Page 110 more fruit. Because, when there is a little fruit, they pick it and they eat it because they are

hungry.”313 They told the children to gather food. “… because we are small … so we hide at

night and then we would retrieve it very early in the morning.”314 Josie recalled a particularly

frightening moment in one of these early morning ventures.

Well, one time, we were trying to put our stuff there with these other kids like my age and there were some Japanese walking around. It scared me and I’m telling you I was. So, it’s a good thing that we didn’t run. We just keep still and then when they all left, we took off also. See, what the Japanese does is they go up the coconut tree and they look around … and also there were snipers.315

Her family were worried about the dangers she faced gathering food because children were being taken or killed. “Of course, they were afraid that they would take me also … the boys

would climb the coconut, but some of them they don’t come back.”316

The Japanese, cut off from their supplies because of the Americans’ attacks and because

of the tactics of the Filipino guerillas, were also starving and were stealing food from the

Filipinos. Josie remembers one particular night when they had successfully harvested some yams. “We were in this hut that collapsed and so we build fire and they found a big pot, clay pot, and they put the yams in there, cook it. [The Japanese] saw the smoke, so they came and they just helped themselves.” A small child had one of the yams. “Well, one Japanese took it from her. We did not eat because they all just helped themselves. See? I’ll never forget that one.”317

Her mother and grandmother decided it was time to try to go to another area on the

island. Other people came along with them as they trekked along the island. “So, there were

some civilians that came along with us. So, we would try to stay in caves where they would

313 Ibid. p. 3 314 Ibid. p. 3 315 Ibid. p. 3 316 Ibid. p. 3 317 Ibid. p. 4

Page 111 allow us to sleep, just maybe a day or two like that and then we would move again to another place.”318 Her mother soon learned that people were moving back to Ormoc. There were rumors that the Americans were arriving in the town. They traveled at night along the river to try to avoid the Japanese. By this time, the Americans were bombing Leyte. “… they did that first because there were so many Japanese there.”319 On the way back to Ormoc, if they encountered any Japanese, they would lie about their destination. “Because if you are telling the truth if the

Japanese ask you, oh yeah, they know that the Americans are in town, they’ll kill you. They will massacre.”320

The Philippines has the largest predominantly Catholic population in Asia. Nearly four hundred years of Spanish colonization included a successful conversion of the majority of

Filipinos to Catholicism. Josie’s family, especially her grandmother, were devoted Catholics who relied on prayer to survive their ordeals during the Japanese occupation. On the way back to

Ormoc, Josie’s group did encounter some Japanese.

So anyways, we were walking and then these Japanese soldiers stop us and then he ask us to line up like this and one of the Japanese had a bayonet and he went over this way for our bags that really it was nothing, we just pretend to carry something to make it look like we’re really moving out. See? So, there’s nothing there, just dirty clothes like that. Cause they were looking for food … and then it reached my grandmother. My grandmother’s devoted to St. Anthony and she always have her rosary around her neck. So, this sergeant for example, asked her to open the bag. My grandmother did that and he saw the statue of St. Anthony. Believe it or not, he bowed reverently and back off. He did not just ‘Ah, let’s go.’ No. No. He bowed very reverently. And then, from there on, I know he told this guys, let’s go. They left us alone. And then, um, from there on, we were able to proceed to town. We never met anymore live Japanese, but dead ones only on the way.321

“And why do you believe that was the case that nobody bothered you after that?” I asked.

318 Ibid. p. 3 319 Ibid. p. 3 320 Ibid. p. 4 321 Ibid. p. 4

Page 112 Oh, St. Anthony help us! The Holy Spirit. Because we are devoted Catholic and we believe and we always pray, especially my grandmother’s Holy Rosary is always around her neck and sometimes she stop and say the rosary … oh sometimes she say the rosary while we were walking.322

When they arrived in Ormoc, they found out that their house had been demolished in the

fighting. They were directed by the Americans to a different area in town. “in fact, when we

were able to, we build. My mother, my grandmother, we build a hut in town, we build a house already we were able to go in there.”323

When asked how she felt about the Americans, Josie answered, “Oh, they were our

liberators! Hooray! Yeah. They were … oh yeah. We welcomed them right away.”324 One particular soldier paid special attention to her as one would a favorite child.

And this one American guy, he is kind of big, . Oh my gosh he was my favorite. He always bring a big box of still hot bread or whatever that he bake in there and he called me Lucy. Maybe that was his kid here in the States. Oh, he was very good. When I was sick, he had a doctor come to the house, brought me blankets. Let me tell you.325

Josie did not talk about her father and this is where my Filipino upbringing prevented me

from probing further with questions about him. I respectfully refrained from asking about her

father out of respect for her silence on the subject. However, in a follow-up visit, I felt that our

relationship had developed enough that I could ask her about him. She told me that her father had

abandoned her mother soon after she was born, so he was not part of her life before or during the

war.

3. Pascual Manipon and Philippi Sangalang

322 Ibid. p. 4 323 Ibid. p. 6 324 Ibid. p. 6 325 Ibid. p. 6

Page 113 Josie’s mother, Espectacion, was thirty-five when she met her husband, Pascual

Manipon, in the Philippines at the end of World War II. Pascual was thirty-six and a member of

the Filipino Regiment. Prior to joining the military, he was a migrant farmer from Pangasinan

who had worked in Hawaiʻi and then was in California when the Filipino regiment was

established. He volunteered with the Regiment which was sent to the Philippines and he was

assigned to the town of Ormoc.326 Josie briefly described how they met and married.

My Aunt had a friend visitor, a Filipino visitors, and then, according to the story, cause I wasn’t there, my mother was just coming and going to our house, our yard and my step-dad saw my mom and said that, ‘Oh, who is she?’ And then my aunt [said] ‘Oh that is my cousin’ and he invited her. Well, anyway, to make a long story short, they got married. At first, of course, I didn’t like it. I think that’s a reaction you know. But then there was nothing I could do. I was a kid.327

Pascual brought Josie and her mother to Manila when he was transferred to the city. They

arrived in Manila late in the school year and she was unable to register for school. They moved

to Pangasinan, the region where her step-father grew up. Because he was well-respected there, he

was able to get her registered in the Manaoag Military school. “I was fourth grade or fifth grade

and then I was there for one year in Pangasinan.”328

Josie met her own future husband, Philippi (Pepe) Sangalang, who later became a

member of the U.S. military in the Philippines, while she was in Pangasinan. Pepe’s uncle and

Pascual were childhood friends. “So, when we were there visiting, they invited us for dinner and

it so happened that my husband was there vacationing.”329 Pepe was from the nearby town of

San Jacinto.

And then they had a social box they had a dance under the mango tree. The social box, you know what a social box is? Where they put chicken in the box and they pay that to dance and then they pay like one box is two pesos, that kind of thing.

326 Correspondence with Josie Sangalang via Facebook Messenger, July 17, 2019 through February 17, 2020 327 Sangalang, “Josie, October 2016.” p. 6 328 Ibid. p. 7 329 Ibid. p. 8

Page 114 And then it so happened that my husband, Philippi, he was there, of course, you know, and then his uncle were there, he didn’t have any money, he was a kid [Josie laughed]. So, then his uncle bought my box and then, of course, he give it to him. Yeah, we danced and all that.330

4. Immigrating to the U.S

After one year in Pangasinan, Josie’s family moved back to Manila and lived there until the family immigrated to the U.S. The family was transported via U.S. Army transport with her pregnant mother, her step-father, and her five-year-old little brother. She was sea sick on the ship and doesn’t remember how long the trip was. She remembers that dinner was upstairs with the civilians. Others were seasick as well and lying on the deck.

When they arrived in San Francisco, all the families and wives were transported by bus to the city of Pittsburgh, California where they went through the immigration process. Some of the husbands met the wives that had traveled alone in Pittsburgh. From there, Josie’s family went to

Los Angeles where Pascual had an older brother and found an apartment. She started junior high school in Los Angeles where she remembers a favorite English teacher, Mrs. Nelson. The year was 1949.

5. Learning to Live in the U.S.

A family of four German sisters, all married to Filipinos, helped Josie and her mother adjust to life in the U.S. One of those Filipinos was Pascual’s brother. This family is remarkable because of a California state law enacted in 1934 which made marriages between Caucasians and

Filipinos illegal. Even though a 1948 ruling reversed the law, state legislators did not expunge the invalidated laws from the California code until 1959.331 Therefore, the marriages of these

four couples were legally invalid and such marriages were viewed with hostility by whites. Anti-

330 Ibid. p. 8 331 Leti Volpp, American Mestizo: Filipinos and Anti-miscegenation Laws in California, 33 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 795 (2000). p. 824

Page 115 miscegenation laws were ruled unconstitutional in the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court ruling in 1967, nearly 20 years after Josie met this family. It was these sisters that helped Josie and her mother adjust to life in the U.S. “So, they were the one who take care of us, showing us how to do things in America. How to do dishes and everything. Yeah. Gave us clothes, cause we don’t have jackets or coats. So, we lived in L.A. … oh! They are very good experience, kind of funny in a way.”332

“So, it wasn’t really the Filipino community in California that helped you transition?” I asked.

“No. Caucasian families married to Filipinos,” she replied.

Josie recalled a time when the sisters took her and her family to a Filipino restaurant in downtown Los Angeles called Leyte Café.

Our eyes were burning so we were going like this [rubbing her eyes]. Ok? There at the restaurant while our order was being cooked and then the waitress was some Italian lady married to a Filipino guy. And then we were tearing. And then after that because we became friends because we lived in the same apartment and she said, ‘Well you know what? I really feel sorry for you guys because you were crying when you first went to the restaurant. You probably miss your country.’ Crying? Miss our country? No! Because our eyes were burning …the smog.333

Pascual bought a car and taught Josie how to drive before he re-enlisted in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington in 1949. He moved his family to

Washington with him. Josie described her experience in Washington as being “kind of on our own”334 with no Filipino community to connect to, other than some relatives in Seattle, which is more than an hour’s drive from Tacoma. Josie attended Clover Park high school in Tacoma and the family was living in WWII housing when Pascual was deployed to Korea in 1950.

332 Sangalang, “Josie, October 2016.” p. 12 333 Ibid. p. 12 334 Ibid. p. 13

Page 116 Espectacion gave birth to another child, Josie’s baby sister, while Pascual was deployed.

Pascual learned by telegram that his daughter was born. “My dad was already in Korea. So, he

just received a telegram from Red Cross,” Josie said.335 Unfortunately, there were complications

with the birth that caused Espectacion to be hospitalized for several months. Josie was eighteen

years old and left alone to take care of her two younger brothers and her newborn baby sister.

[B]efore my dad left, he tried to teach me how to drive. Ok? He was teaching me, but luckily, the cars, the highways before are nothing compared to what there is now. So anyways, he taught me how to drive. I learned a little bit, but when he went to Korea, I was forced to really drive because, my mother she just had a baby. In fact, she was hospitalized for several months. And my baby sister has to leave the hospital and they said, ‘Hey, this baby here is going to grow up in the hospital. So, I had to take care of her.336

“And how old were you when this was …” I began to ask.

Let’s see. I was about eighteen … and then luckily we had some family/friends whose husbands also went to Korea so they rented a house and they helped me take care of my baby sister while my mother was still in the hospital. Cause she could not leave cause she was paralyzed. And then

“You stayed with them with your baby sister?” I asked.

“Yeah. They really helped me. I don’t know anything about how to take care of babies.

They say, ‘Oh, the baby was crying and crying and you didn’t wake up.’” Josie laughed.

“Ok. So, this family that you stayed with, this was a Filipino family?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. Married to Filipinos or so. Military,”337 Josie answered.

When Espectacion returned from the hospital, Josie continued doing most of the

housework. “Because being the oldest, I have to do everything, you know?” When describing

their home, she remembers that there was an electric stove, but they used coal for heat. “We

335 Ibid. p. 11 336 Ibid. p. 11 337 Ibid. p. 11

Page 117 knew take a shower, you have to wait … to heat the heater first and then it will connect to the water heater, then you can take a quick shower,”338 she laughed.

They befriended two Filipino farmers in the nearby town of Sumner. When Espectacion was released from the hospital, she asked these two farmers to drive them back to Los Angeles.

“… and then she’ll pay them and then she’ll pay them for the bus fare coming back to

Washington. Because I couldn’t drive really. I didn’t have a license and then I have a little sister and my mom was still have the brace.”339

“How did your mom handle that, being on her own?” I asked.

“My mom is not very, um, how shall I say? It was mostly where she doesn’t express her feelings,” Josie replied.340

When they arrived in California, they enlisted the help of her uncle’s German wife. Her sister was the manager of an apartment in Los Angeles.

As I said they’re four sisters all married to Filipinos. All very nice. Very nice people. She helped us. We had an apartment. We live there in L.A. Close to downtown L.A. Yeah and we just kinda lived there and we moved downstairs where it was a bigger place, and stayed there and I attended Belmont high school and that’s where I graduated. And then, after that, I went to Los Angeles, L.A. college.341

6. Philippi (Pepe) Sangalang

“So, when did you meet up with your husband again?” I asked.

Oh. Ok that’s a good one. Ok. I’m glad you asked that question. In 1955, my mother decided … let’s go for a vacation because she was so miss my grandmother. They’re very good, they’re close … but me, cause I was already going to Los Angeles City College. I was working during the day and going to school at night. And I didn’t want to go yet. I said I want to finish, but she insisted. I was really upset. I didn’t want to go.342

338 Ibid. p. 13 339 Ibid. p. 13 340 Ibid. p. 13 341 Ibid. pp. 13-14 342 Ibid. p. 14

Page 118

Josie was not able to travel with Espectacion on military transport because she was twenty-one years old and could not travel with her as a dependent. She had to travel separately on a commercial ship. When they arrived in the Philippines, they went to Pangasinan where she learned from Pepe’s aunt that he had just departed for the U.S. “Well, come to think of it, maybe we’re just passing by, you know. His ship, Navy ship, coming here and I was going,”343 she laughed.

When she returned to the States, her uncle’s wife met her in San Francisco carrying a stack of letters from Pepe. Her best friend in Los Angeles, Pepe’s relative, notified Josie that he was staying with her and her family and invited her to visit. Josie drove to her friend’s place.

“Well, from there on, well, history. We got married in 1956.”344

Though he served in the Philippines, her husband was a member of the U.S. military.

Because in those days, they recruit Filipinos. Soon as they pass physical and mental. You know, they have to take a test and then the physical, of course, make sure they’re free of any illnesses. So, he passed that. We got married in 1956 in L.A. and just across from my high school, Belmont high school, was my church, Filipino Church, very tiny. In fact, they say it used to be a firehouse before it was converted to a godly church. So, we got married there. And, yeah, we were married for fifty-six years and eight months.”345

343 Ibid. p. 14 344 Ibid. p. 14 345 Ibid. p. 14

Page 119

Figure 9. Josie and Philippi Sangalang Wedding Photo, 1956. Tribute Album, 1996.

7. Filipino American

“What is your first language?” I asked Josie.

Oh my first language? Well, I would say English really … I can speak my dialect, Visayan, and then Pangasinan, my husband. That’s why sometimes I can speak better in Pangasinan than my Visayan. Why? Because when my husband was still alive, that is what we speak here at home, Pangasinan and English. Now, the Visayan, I can only speak when we go to events or we belong to an organization. So, it was kind of mixed up where I was not sure anymore. 346

Josie learned Tagalog when she lived as a child in Manila and Pangasinan. “I was not good at it, but just enough to get by.” She explained that when she is with other Filipinos, she mostly speaks English because, “My Tagalog is not that great.”347

Josie talked a little about the colonization experience of the Philippines.

Remember. Spain and America had a deal. My history is kind of faded. I like history. Because after Spain, it was the Americans who took over the Philippines. Yeah, so that taught us in English. But that was the legacy they left the Philippines. The legacy of Spain was religion. That’s how we got Catholic religion. But, it’s ok. That was fine.348

346 Ibid. p. 9 347 Ibid. p. 10 348 Ibid. p. 10

Page 120

Because it was Josie’s mother that came to the U.S. via the War Brides Act, she could only

speak on her observations of the immigration process. She believes War Brides had an advantage

in the immigration process, “… as far as immigration is concerned, the military brides, it’s easier

because the process quicker, the paperwork because they are military, take them first.”349

However, she sees today’s Filipino immigrants are more educated than the Filipinos of the World

War II era and may have an advantage when it comes to adjusting to American life.

Because she, some of them [war brides], they were not so expose, they didn’t have much education, like my mother, not very much. Few grade schools at that time. So, it was probably a little bit harder, but the ones that are civilians coming here, they’re more educated. Yeah, and so probably easier.350

Josie was very active within the Filipino community. She served as President of the

PWBA from 1988 to 1996 and still has many of the mementos and photo albums belonging to

the PWBA. She allowed me to borrow some of her artifacts for information for this thesis. She showed them to me after the interview and allowed me to take photographs. She was most keen to show me the portrait of her husband, Pepe, and portraits of her parents, Espectacion and

Pascual.

349 Ibid. p. 16 350 Ibid. p. 16

Page 121

Figure 10. Josie with a portrait of her husband Philippi, 2019 Figure 11. Josie with portraits of her mother, Espectacion, and her step-father, Pascual, 2019

Josie also served as Council Member of the Filipino Community of Seattle, Inc. (FCS). It was her copy of FCS’s Pamana from which I obtained information about the pioneers of

Seattle’s Filipino community.

During my second visit with Josie in the summer of 2019, I noted her sense of American patriotism. She has flags and other patriotic articles displayed throughout her apartment in the senior living facility to which she recently moved. It is evident that her love for this nation is strong.

As of the date of this writing, Josie still lives in Seattle, Washington, participating in events at her church and in the Filipino community.

Chapter 5: Analysis

A. Two Hands

Page 122 The women in these interviews have lived a dual sense of place since their childhood. As colonial subjects of the United States, they lived their Filipino culture while learning American patriotism. This duality had a profound effect on the immigration experience of these war brides.

Author of the article, The Power of Culture, Lisa Lowe, states, “For Filipino immigrants, modes

of capitalist incorporation and acculturation into American life begin not at the moment of

immigration, but rather in the “homeland” already deeply affected by United States influences

and modes of social organization.”351 The mode of social organization that all the interviewees

shared in common was Americanized education in elementary school. The education imposed on

them established English as the language of instruction and was a cornerstone of “benevolent

assimilation.” As explained by Vicente Rafael in his book, White Love and Other Events in

Filipino History:

Colonization as assimilation was deemed a moral imperative, as wayward native children cut off from their Spanish fathers and desired by other European powers would now be adopted and protected by the compassionate embrace of the United States. As a father is bound to guide his son, the United States was charged with the development of native others.352

In the eyes of American politicians, development of Filipinos into a population ready for

self-governance meant teaching them the English language. Evidence of standardized English

lessons throughout the archipelago emerged in the interviews with the war brides. Lucy, who

grew up on Cebu, and Josie, who grew up on Leyte, both sang the song “I Have Two Hands.”

This was a nursery rhyme taught to the children to help them learn English. I was able to sing

along with them during the interviews because I learned the song from my mother who also

learned it in elementary school on her island of Samar and she sang it to me when I was a child.

351 Lisa Lowe, “The Power of Culture,” Journal of Asian American Studies 1, no. 1 (February 1, 1998): 5–29. 352 Vicente Rafael, White Love and Other Events in Filipino History (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2000). p. 21

Page 123 Lucy was born in 1920. Josie was born in 1933. My mother was born in 1944. Not only was the

use of this song widespread, the fact that all these women learned the same song is also evidence

that at least some of the tools used to teach English in the Philippines remained in the curriculum for many years.

Nursery rhymes are easy to pass along to children and can be a happy form of interaction.

I fondly remember my mother smiling and singing this song to me. When this song has come up

in my conversations with other Filipinos, they happily remember singing it in elementary school

and will spontaneously begin singing it, using the hand motions that go along with the lyrics.

Learning English in this way equated English with happiness and fun.

However, not all of English learning in the Philippines was fun and games. Compulsory

education with English as the language of instruction was also a method of forcing the Filipinos

to participate in their own suppression. The teachers in these Filipino schools were themselves

Filipino. As Fannie explained, “Filipino teachers, but they are speak English … they go to

school, too, before they teach us.”353

Compulsory education in English provided the archipelago with one unifying language in a country with eight major language groups and several hundred dialects. The eight major language groups in the Philippines are: “Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano, Hiligaynon (also known as

Ilonggo), Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense.”354 Although news and other publications

were offered in local languages, “The politically dominant language over the last century has

been Tagalog (ta-GAH-lug), the language of Manila and the surrounding provinces.”355

Instruction in local languages was proposed, but “Americans retained control of the system of

353 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 3 354 P. N. Abinales, State and Society in the Philippines, State and society in East Asia series (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005). p. 11 355 Ibid. p. 11

Page 124 public education and vetoed a switch to vernaculars at the primary level.”356 The U.S. employed similar education policy in Hawaiʻi after it was annexed in 1893:

Coinciding with the municipal progressive reform that swept the United States from 1890 to 1920, the domination of interests consolidated power in professional administrators, created a more centralized school system with fewer individual schools, and abolished the Hawaiian language for classroom instruction.357

After the Philippines gained their independence in 1946, instruction in English continued

and Tagalog remained the dominant Filipino language. For a time, there was some resistance to

“Tagalog linguistic imperialism.”358 However, exposure to popular music, television shows, and

news reports in Tagalog have diminished this opposition.359

All of the women in these interviews, after they married and immigrated to the U.S., spoke a language at home that was different from their native Filipino languages. Both Fannie and Josie married Filipinos, but either spoke English with their husbands or learned some of their husband’s Filipino language. Josie’s Visayan mother also spoke English at home with her

husband who spoke Pangasinan.360 Such language situations also existed within the Philippines.

Raphael in Motherless Tongue, describes his own family’s use of language when he was growing

up in the Philippines, which has some similarities to the experience of the war brides I

interviewed:

Both my parents had provincial roots and met in Manila after the war. Born in the mid-20s … Living under U.S. colonial rule entre deux guerres, they attended the colonial public school system, where English was enforced as the medium of instruction, while the vernaculars were repressed and denigrated. My father spoke Ilonggo while my mother

356 Ibid. p. 122 357 Maenette K. P. Ah Nee-Benham, Culture and Educational Policy in Hawaiʻi: The Silencing of Native Voices, Sociocultural, political, and historical studies in education (Mahwah, New Jersey: LErlbaum Associates, 1998). p. 22 358 Abinales, State and Society in the Philippines. p. 12 359 Ibid. p. 12 360 Facebook Messenger correspondence with Josie

Page 125 spoke Kapampangan, though she became fluent in Tagalog, having gone to school in Manila. English was their lingua franca.361

At home, neither of my parents spoke in their respective native languages to any of their four children. Coming from different parts of a country with over one hundred languages, they spoke mutually unintelligible tongues. They communicated with us in the only language they had in common: English.362

In addition to learning a language in common that did not stem from their own country,

attendance in public school enabled Filipinos to be visible to the colonizer. It put the upcoming generations under the Americans’ watchful gaze, ensuring that their efforts were effective and future generations of Filipinos would look to the United States as a benefactor and guide. In the book, White Love, Rafael explains that when Filipinos participated in gathering demographic data on their compatriots in the 1903 census, it was a way for Filipinos to “represent themselves as subjects of a colonial order: disciplined agents actively assuming their role in their own subjugation and maturation.”363 Americanized education provided one way to ensure continued

cooperation.

Fannie and Lucy explained that to speak their native language on school grounds earned a

student some form of punishment. Lucy recalled that the punishment was to wear a necklace that

displayed the message “Speak English.” Fannie recalled that a student was made to clean the

school grounds if they were caught speaking their native Visayan. Such methods made the

school an extension of the colonizer’s presence and to disobey the one in power meant facing

humiliating consequences. Within their own villages, because of the presence of Americanized

schools, Filipinos lived with one hand in their native culture, and one hand under American

361 Vicente L. Rafael, Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation (North Carolina, UNITED STATES: Duke University Press, 2016), accessed April 5, 2020, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhm/detail.action?docID=4452840. p. 2 362 Ibid. p. 2 363 Rafael, White Love. p. 26

Page 126 authority. However, a new authority would soon arrive, one that believed all Asians should resist

Western power.

B. Japanese Occupation

When the U.S. passed the Johnson Reed Act in 1924, which further restricted

immigration from Asia to the U.S., protests against the Act were held throughout Japan.364 These protests intensified ongoing discussions in China and Japan regarding pan-Asianism. Japanese writers saw pan-Asianism as a “tool for establishing Japanese hegemony in East Asia.”365

Support for pan-Asianism with Japan at the lead had mixed support among writers and political

leaders from other Asian countries. Korean and Chinese writers felt that solidarity with Japan

was necessary in their struggle against Western hegemony. “However, in the end Japanese

efforts to legitimize its various forms of aggression, including the war against China, as a pan-

Asian ‘holy war’ completely discredited the idea of Asian solidarity in China for many years to

come.”366

In the pre-war years, Southeast Asia was dominated by Western powers and Southeast

Asian leaders did not see Japan as a threat. In the Philippines, for example, revolutionary leader,

Emilio Aguinaldo, had enjoyed some Japanese support in the Filipino-American War at the turn

of the century and a pan-Oriental society was later formed in Manila in 1915, headed by General

Jose Alejandrino who was one of the revolutionaries in the Filipino-American war. British

intelligence reported that General Alejandrino wrote and spoke Japanese and that the goal of the

society was an “Oriental Monroe-ism” to be led by Japan.367 It wasn’t until Japan began

364 Sven Saaler et al., Pan-Asianism: A Documentary History, 1920–Present (Lanham, MD, UNITED STATES: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011), accessed March 7, 2020, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhm/detail.action?docID=669807. p. 27 365 Ibid. p. 27 366 Ibid. p. 28 367 Ibid. p. 29

Page 127 occupying countries in Southeast Asia that distrust over Japanese hegemony grew. Author,

Elmer Lear, explained in his book, The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, “The Japanese

occupation of Southeast Asia in the wake of Pearl Harbor and the economic exploitation of the

region that followed called into question the sincerity of pan-Asian rhetoric.”368

Japanese occupiers found some allies among the Filipinos, like Fannie’s uncles, who were willing to report to them any of their neighbors who were aiding the Filipino guerillas.

Lucy encountered one of these pro-Japanese Filipinos in her home, but the Filipino in her story

chose not to report her to the Japanese when he found her journal which documented

incriminating evidence against Filipinos.

One of the pressing issues during Japanese occupation, especially on the island of Leyte

where Fannie and Josie lived, was hunger. Both Fannie and Josie recalled incidents when

Japanese soldiers stole their food. Both women vowed it was something they would never forget.

However, Josie also told her story of the Japanese soldiers leading her and other townspeople out

to the fields to harvest food and she gave the Japanese credit for guarding them. In her

experience, the same occupiers that killed children that were gathering food in the middle of the

night also made efforts to feed the residents.

Fannie believed it was the Americans who had cut off food supplies to the Japanese, and

thereby to the Filipinos, but it was a fact that the Filipino guerillas themselves played a major

role in the food shortage on Leyte. In their quest to cut off supplies from the Japanese, the

Filipino guerillas thwarted efforts of the municipalities to grow, harvest, and deliver food to the residents. In correspondences exchanged between the Provincial Governor of Leyte, Bernardo

Torres, and various municipal officers, the guerilla activities and their effects on food supply are

368 Ibid. p. 30

Page 128 evident. For example, a letter from Mayor San Miguel, to Bernardo Torres states, “Guerilla

activities handicap the food production campaign. Only yesterday, C. Diola was killed by a

guerilla.”369 Another letter from A. Olo, Mun. Mayor Matalom, “The food production campaign

is not active due to guerilla activities. The people in the población and in all barrios content

themselves to work little and stay in hiding places because of the frequent sounds of guns and

bombs.”370 A report by the Provincial Agronomist in April 1944 gives further examples of

guerilla activity:

“Because of periodic outbreaks of guerillas and bandits in La Paz, Tarragona, and mainly Abuyog, the great source of corn seeds, no more corn seed at present procurable …” and “Flow in cereals in Eastern towns up to Carigara and Tacloban should be liberated to fast spread to the people in order to save most from the clutches of the hands of lawless elements … Rural districts of great rice requirements should be patrolled incessantly…”371

It is difficult to judge the actions of Filipinos during desperate times under a cruel occupier that had forcibly taken control of their country. In their fierce resistance to the Japanese, guerillas targeted both the Japanese soldiers and the Filipino civilians they believed had betrayed them. Some Filipino civilians, whether motivated by the Japanese call for pan-Asianism or simply caught in the middle of a struggle for power, aided the Japanese in identifying Filipinos who aided the guerillas (“tudlok” as Fannie explained). Meanwhile, innocent civilians like

Fannie and Josie simply needed enough food to survive. After years of suffering and dangers from so many directions, it is no surprise that the arrival of American forces caused Fannie’s family to jump in excitement, forgetting for a moment to run for cover from the bombs the

Americans were about to drop.

369 Lear, The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Leyte, 1941-1945. p. 211 370 Ibid. p. 211 371 Ibid. p. 211

Page 129 With American victory, beginning with the Battle of Leyte, American forces moved into

the islands’ interior areas to ferret out the Japanese. Military encampments were established near

the villages and American soldiers encountered Filipinos who, like my interviewees, were taught

from their elementary school years to view America as a caring older brother. For the Filipino,

the arrival of American soldiers was a welcome relief and after decades of “benevolent

assimilation,” the kindness of the soldiers was expected and appreciated, and in sharp contrast to

the treatment they had received from the Japanese.

The cruelty of the Japanese Imperial Army is well-documented. General Tomoyuki

Yamashita, leader of the Japanese Army in the Philippines, was charged with war crimes and

court testimony detailed the brutality and torture endured by tens of thousands of Filipino

civilians. One witness testified he was forced to decapitate two men next to a gravesite and

retrieve the heads to bury them with the decapitated bodies. Wives of suspected guerillas were

tortured in front of their husbands. Japanese soldiers showed dead bodies to prisoners to frighten

them into cooperation.372

All three of my interviewees told stories of the dangers they faced in encounters with the

Japanese. Lucy stated she and her family had to leave her home in Bogo to hide from the

Japanese and their bayonets.373 Josie and her childhood peers risked being shot by Japanese

snipers to gather food for their families. Fannie declared she and her family were lucky to be

alive:

I think of the Philippines during war, I think we are very lucky because my mother, brother, father, we are alive, but my other sister, you know, the whole family was killed by Japanese. Bayonet. They kill even the baby. They kill it ...

372 James M. Scott, Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila (W. W. Norton & Company, 2018). p. 212 373 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 8

Page 130 The family. Lots of them killed by Japanese. They are mean. Even the baby. What can the baby do? But if they kill the parents, they cannot take care of the baby. 374

Fannie also contrasted the behavior of the Japanese soldiers with that of the Americans,

“Because it’s not like the American. They take care of the kids, but the Japanese … baby … they will just kill.”375

Even more difficult than understanding Filipinos betraying their fellow Filipinos during

the occupation, is understanding the sheer brutality of the Japanese soldiers toward the Filipino

people. An interview of one of the Japanese prisoners of war may shed some light on the motive

of Japanese soldiers in their horrific acts during the sack of Manila at the end of the war:

Of all the interviews with prisoners of war, investigators zeroed in on one enemy serviceman who offered a motive, an explanation that dovetailed with what many Filipinos believed. The sack of Manila was payback for Filipino loyalty to America, exemplified not only by the organized guerilla resistance throughout the islands, but also by the passive resistance of the citizenry.376

It’s possible that in their quest to bring about a pan-Asian region, to convince Filipinos to turn

away from their Western colonizers and join them in their resistance to the West, the staunch

loyalty the Filipinos were taught to have toward the U.S. beginning from elementary school,

evoked a vicious rage from the Japanese soldiers. Filipinas like Fannie, Lucy, and Josie

displayed to the Japanese their dual sense of place in their Asian-ness on the one hand and their

solidarity with the U.S. on the other.

C. Immigration Through Marriage to a GI

Filipina brides met their husbands in various circumstances. In the rural areas, women

like Fannie interacted with the troops that were encamped in their towns. When I asked Fannie if

374 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” pp. 22-23 375 Ibid. p. 23 376 Scott, Rampage. p. 453

Page 131 she knew where the nearest base was, she replied, “The base? It’s in my yard.”377 Such close

proximity placed the budding relationships that stemmed from these interactions within view of

the brides’ families. Fannie’s father did not approve of her marriage to Federico and he refused

to attend the wedding, despite Federico’s efforts to win over his father-in-law by buying him a

pipe and visiting the family. Fannie married Federico without her father’s consent, a remarkable

act in a culture where the father’s word was law.

Some understanding of the power the father held over the women in their family, is given

by Carlotta, Lucy’s daughter, during her interview. Carlotta lived with her grandparents, the

parents of her deceased father, Lucy’s first husband. When young men came to court Carlotta

and her sister, it was necessary to gain permission from the women’s grandfather:

He’s interviewing all our boyfriends. “So, what’s your name?” “Manny, sir.” “Ok. So, you’re in school?” “Yes sir.” “What are you taking?” “Medicine.” “Oh, that’s good. So, you finish your medicine, and then when you’re done, you come back.” That’s how strict our grandparents was.378

Carlotta lived with her grandparents on Cebu. Lucy left her and her two other children in

the care of her deceased husband’s parents after the war so that she could complete her education

in Manila on the island of Luzon. It was in Manila that she met her husband, Fred, through a

mutual acquaintance. Instead of an encampment in a rural town, Manila is a bustling city

approximately 60 miles from Clark Air Base where he was stationed. When Lucy decided to

marry Fred, she chose not to go to her father-in-law for his blessing as custom would dictate. In fact, she decided not to tell them she was getting married at all. She knew he would refuse

377 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 4 378 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 24

Page 132 permission and felt it best to keep the marriage from him so that she “wouldn’t have to disobey anybody.”379 I surmised from Lucy’s statement that she would have chosen to disobey if she had asked permission and he refused. Avoiding asking permission gave her a way to circumvent disobedience. The fact that her children were in his care may have been another motivating factor. It may have been easier to ask forgiveness and keep in contact with her children, than to ask permission and risk being cut off.

Fannie’s father refused to give his blessing until a neighbor convinced him to allow her to marry, but he did so under protest, refusing to attend the wedding. Fannie’s mother did not speak for or against the marriage during conversations about it. Fannie explained that the wives stayed quiet during such discussions. However, her mother did attend the wedding.

Both Fannie and Lucy married their soldier husbands against the wishes of their authority figures, demonstrating a phenomenon that emerged during the interwar period of the “modern girl.” Disseminated world-wide through movies, stories, and songs, the modern girl challenged the traditional ideals of a woman’s sexual behavior.380 American GI were akin to movie stars, confident in their victory, dashing in their uniforms, and the embodiment of American freedom.

Women were drawn to the GIs as marriage to them held the promise of a life “out from under” what they saw as the oppressive authority their culture bestowed upon the men in their society.

Ironic is the fact that marriage made these women not only dependent upon their husbands, but dependent upon the U.S. government for permission to enter their husbands’ country, and for provisions as they waited for their transport (which was also provided by the

U.S. government) to their new home. Absent from the interviewees’ comments about the procedures for marriage and transport to the U.S. is any questioning of the authority the U.S. had

379 Ibid. p. 15 380 Zeiger, Entangling Alliances. p. 72

Page 133 in approving their marriages. Their only response was to comply with American authority as had

been taught them since their elementary school years. In marrying American GIs, these women

were simultaneously defiant of their cultural constraints and compliant with colonial rules.

It should also be noted here that Fannie went from being under her father’s authority to

one who she described was, “just like my father” because he was so much older. In her self-

negotiation with the idea that Federico might not meet her at the dock in America, she trusted

that the military government would bring her back to the Philippines. “Oh, they send me back.

It’s free!”381 Again, putting herself in the care of the U.S. military.

The writings of some elite Filipinas in the early 20th century can help explain these

contrasting attitudes. The periodical, El Renacimiento, a Philippine publication that was also

produced in English in the U.S. as The Independent, included the writings of Maria Guadalupe

Gutierrez Quintero de Joseph. In her essay, American and Filipino Women, Quintero de Joseph expressed fear of the influence of the American woman on the elite Filipina, stating that, in

America:

[C]hildren take care of themselves and grow up without affection or die most frequently in their tender years, burned, asphyxiated and even poisoned, while the mother goes to the shop, the factory, or the office, or merely impelled by her adventure-seeking character, sallies forth into the street to enjoy, under one pretext or another, the rights which have been conceded to her equally with man.382

Quintero de Joseph felt that fully embracing the culture of the White American woman

threatened the home life of the elite Filipina with their “delicate qualities” as “tender … beings

381 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 16 382 Denise Cruz, Transpacific Femininities: The Making of the Modern Filipina (Durham ; London: Duke University Press, 2012). p. 51

Page 134 of submission.” She believed that Filipinas could balance Western-style independence and their

elite lifestyle as “timid … dreamers.”383

Quintero de Joseph’s contemporary, Sofia de Veyra, concurred. Acknowledging that

education was beneficial to Filipinas, de Veyra, a noted feminist in the Philippines in the early

20th century, argued that Filipinas could apply the best of the cultural practices of east and west

and discard those characteristics of each that would keep them from retaining “the old manners

of their mothers.”384 In addition to the writings of emerging modern femininity in the Philippines

was the victory of the Filipina suffragettes in gaining the right to vote in 1937. Modern girl

feminism and calls to retain the manners of their mothers are the contrasting ideas Filipinas were

grappling with in the first half of the 20th century. Lucy was in college after the war and likely encountered this duality in her studies in Manila. Fannie lived in a rural town and was unable to continue her education, but the ravages of war and the burden of caring for her siblings in times of crisis may have helped her gain some sense of independence amid the traditional culture in which she was raised. On the one hand, these women were compelled to obtain a blessing on

their marriages, on the other hand, they were willing to leave the country against their

authorities’ wishes.

Josie came to the U.S. with her war bride mother, Espectacion, and her mother’s

husband, Pascual. It is unfortunate that I was too late to interview Espectacion. Of all the

women’s stories I collected, hers revealed the most difficult struggles in transitioning to life in

the U.S. After living in California for some time, Pascual was provided military housing at Joint

Base Lewis McCord in the State of Washington. Espectacion was pregnant and left alone there

when Pascual was deployed to Korea. When she gave birth, she had debilitating post-partum

383 Ibid. p. 52 384 Ibid. p. 52

Page 135 complications. Paralyzed and hospitalized for several weeks, Espectacion’s only support was her seventeen-year-old daughter, Josie, who had no experience taking care of newborns alone. Josie did not mention anyone who came to help Espectacion during her recovery. Indeed, as soon as

Espectacion was out of the hospital and still wearing a brace, Espectacion moved her family back to California where, though they may have been Germans married to Filipinos, there was family there who offered more support. Immigration for Espectacion included terrible hardship, at least in the early years of her life in the U.S. Josie says her mother and grandmother were very close and in 1955 Espectacion decided to visit her mother in the Philippines. Josie was attending L.A.

City College and did not wish to go with her on the visit, but her mother insisted. Josie may not have been homesick, but her mother certainly was.

Of the war brides discussed in this thesis, only Espectacion traveled to the U.S. together with her husband. For Lucy, her travel to the U.S. occurred six months after Fred’s assignment in the Philippines ended. They were married just days before he was scheduled to return to the U.S. and it is likely he did not have enough time to complete the paperwork that would have allowed her to travel with him on his return. They married after the amendment allowing Asian brides entry to the U.S. Her wait was due to the time it took to process paperwork that provided her transport. Fred remained enlisted and the couple was separated again immediately after Lucy’s arrival in the U.S. while he returned to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. During that separation, Lucy stayed with her husband’s African-American family in the Jim Crow era South in Tennessee.

Lucy’s only mention of racism towards her husband’s people is during the flight from Chicago where she sat in a segregated section of the plane with Fred. She also mentioned being stared at in the station in Chicago. Lucy believed that the stares stemmed from the same kind of curiosity

Page 136 she would have if she saw someone of a different ethnicity in the Philippines. If only this were

true.

Racism is not absent from the Filipino culture. I’ve heard racist remarks between

Filipinos towards people of African descent, including the use of the term nog-nog. It was recently explained to me that the term stems from the Tagalog word sunog, which means “to

burn” or “fire,” indicating that a person with darker skin is someone who is burned.385 Whether

Filipinos view those of African descent with curiosity or with discrimination, such bigotry pales in comparison to the racist beliefs and behaviors of the South during the 1940s and 1950s.

Lucy’s in-laws kept her from going out with friends or family during her stay with them. When they first met Lucy, they described her as a child. It’s possible they were protecting someone they saw as vulnerable from the systemic racism they lived under. Lucy never explains why they kept her from going out. During her stay with her in-laws, Lucy took to time to learn current issues by listening to the radio and reading the newspapers, a pattern she repeated by taking classes in world affairs while in California and taking classes again in Germany to learn the language.

Fannie and Federico married in October of 1945, two months before the War Brides Act was signed. The Act, initially, did not allow for Asian brides to enter the U.S. Soon after their wedding, Federico returned to the base in Tacloban and just as Federico’s commanding officer warned Fannie when they met with him to request permission to marry, Federico returned to the

U.S. and she was unable to go with him. The amendment to the War Brides Act, which allowed for the entry of Asian women, was added in 1947. Fannie waited more than a year from the time

385 A Filipino folktale explains that when the gods first created humans, they did so by baking them like clay. The first batch was not cooked long enough and their skin came out pale. The second batch was cooked too long and their skin came out too dark. The third batch was perfectly cooked and their skin came out a pretty brown and thus was born the Filipino people.

Page 137 Federico was sent back to the time she was brought to Seattle. One can only imagine the doubts a

young nineteen-year-old woman must have felt, having to wait so long to be reunited with a husband who lived in a faraway country. She did not even fully grasp where the U.S. was at the time. While waiting for her transport, she heard rumors of war brides that were not met by their

husbands in the U.S. It is no wonder she questioned whether or not Federico would meet her at the port.

When I asked Fannie what was the most difficult thing to get used to in the U.S., she said that it was finding housing. Fannie and Federico began their lives together in the U.S. living in housing projects. Indeed, it seems Fannie’s foremost ambition was to improve their socioeconomic status, first by defying her husband’s wish that she stay home with the children instead of working, then by purchasing big-ticket items like a car and a house with her own earnings. Federico was unable to keep Fannie from her goals as she stated she would sign the

mortgage papers whether he went with her or not. Fannie credits her own stubbornness for the

things they owned, “… we don’t have much money then if I didn’t do my way.”386

The Filipina war bride marriages with husbands of the same ethnicity or with husbands

who are of another marginalized group, such as Lucy and her African-American husband,

complicate the assumptions of power relations in marriage migration with American GIs.

Members of the Filipino Regiment, with their history of marginalization and struggles against labor exploitation and racism in the U.S., are not the typical American GIs we picture when we imagine war bride couples. In correspondence with Betty, Fannie’s daughter, I asked her what the husbands of the seven original members of the PWBA were doing before the war:

I know the reason for our fathers coming to the US was for a better life. To complete their education, get a good paying job and eventually marry. With

386 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang, Second Interview.” p. 18

Page 138 discrimination, the depression they were only able to get menial jobs, houseboys, farm laborers, cannery workers until WWII.387

These Filipino husbands brought their wives to a life in the U.S. that was very different from that which the women may have seen in movies or in the pages of magazines. The type of housing each couple obtained depended on the connections and the resources the husband had

(or lacked). For a Filipino laborer in Seattle, the resources were less than that of an officer in the

Army, even if that officer was also a minority. However, the lower socioeconomic status of these brides is in keeping with findings in a demographic study on Asian war brides. In the article, In

Search of Asian War Brides, the authors found that “Asian war brides had the lowest socioeconomic standing among Asian wives.”388 The study also found that Asian war brides were less likely to be in managerial positions and earned on average “56% as much as the foreign-born out-married Asian wives.”389 Despite the lower incomes, poverty rates among

Asian war brides was relatively low. The authors of the study concluded this is because the wives were in traditional marriages with the husband in the role of primary breadwinner.390 The same study also found that war brides’ husbands were usually of a lower socioeconomic status and were more often less educated, had fewer managerial positions in the workplace, and had lower average wages than other husbands in the groups included in the study.391

Fannie is typical of the war brides described in the study in that she and her husband worked in lower wage labor jobs, but she also saw opportunities to improve their circumstances and leave the housing projects. Lucy, on the other hand, is not typical of the Asian war brides in the study. Lucy’s English skills are more advanced than Fannie’s and, though she did not attend

387 “Betty Ragudos Correspondence via Facebook Messenger,” February 15, 2020. 388 Saenz, Hwang, and Aguirre, “In Search of Asian War Brides.” p. 555 389 Ibid. p. 555 390 Ibid. p. 555 391 Ibid. p. 555

Page 139 her commencement ceremony, she did attend college classes in the Philippines, giving her an educational advantage. Lucy used these advantages in gaining employment both in military employment while in Germany, and in Seattle, working for the Internal Revenue Service, preparing her supervisors for court hearings and training others to do the same.

Both Fannie and Lucy were employed after immigrating to the U.S. However, they were not laborers recruited to come to the U.S. to work on the plantations or in the canneries. They did not come to the U.S. to work. Theirs was an immigration based on marriage. Neither were required to work to survive. Though Federico was in a low wage job, his desire was to be the sole provider for the family and for Fannie to stay home with the children. Lucy stated she looked for work because she was restless and needed more than to socialize with the other military wives. Her husband, Fred, earned enough to provide for their needs.

These women did not experience the rejection that the Filipino laborers experienced in the pre-war years. In fact, they experienced acceptance in the workplace. Fannie received support from a friend to gain a skill that proved beneficial in future job prospects. When another friend informed her of an opportunity to work at a major corporation, she was confident in demonstrating her skills and she was hired on at Boeing. She stayed on at Boeing for twenty-five years and moved up in her division, working at the various Boeing sites, and training others in the same skills she had. Lucy also experienced acceptance in the workplace:

It seems like they just take me. Right away I’m Lucy. Wherever I go, anywhere I go, any job I went, they all just really loved me, for some reason … I show them what to do and I teach them how to deal with everything so that they can do it if I tell them to go. I’m not greedy. I’m generous. I like to share.392

This contrast between the work experience of these war brides and the work experience of the recruited laborers can help explain how these war brides see their immigration as a

392 Haynes McCants, “Lucy, July 2019.” p. 27

Page 140 positive experience. They knew that the laborers that had preceded them in immigrating to the

U.S. had experienced hardship, but their own experience was different. Though they could acknowledge, as Fannie did, that the Philippines was “… under the American. We don’t have independence at that time …,”393 for these women, the U.S. was a powerful liberator. They believed that living in the U.S. meant opportunities for a better life and they did not encounter the same opposition in the workplace or deal with circumstances that prevented them from improving their situation. Immigration through marriage became an avenue of integration and acceptance.

Through the PWBA and other Filipino organizations in Seattle, Fannie had a system of support for her transition to living in the U.S. However, Josie and Lucy spent their first years in the U.S. without a Filipino community to connect with. Josie acknowledged there may have been a Filipino community in Los Angeles where she and her husband, Pepe, lived before settling in

Seattle, but it seems she was not connected with them. Lucy’s husband, Fred, was still enlisted after her immigration to the U.S. and his assignments moved them to several locations, including

Germany. Lucy did not connect with other Filipinos in these locations. Moving to Seattle ten years after leaving the Philippines, and meeting the women of the PWBA, gave Lucy her first opportunity to connect with other Filipinos since her immigration. When I asked Lucy how having a Filipino community to connect with was different, she said that the PWBA kept her very busy with the events they organized.

The PWBA brought together a group of women who saw themselves as having two home countries. On the one hand, they were thoroughly Filipina, with a native language, a distinct culture expressed through hospitality, and music and dance, which they shared both within the

393 Sumaoang, “Epifania Sumaoang Interview January 2016.” p. 4

Page 141 Filipino community in Seattle and with the Seattle area at large. They have historical experiences

in common: a colonial upbringing, learning English in elementary school, Japanese occupation

of their native country, liberation by the U.S. forces, marriage to American GIs, and immigration

to the U.S. as war brides.

On the other hand, these women see themselves as Americans. They grew up as colonial

subjects of the U.S. Education in the Philippines was Americanized and the avenue for

benevolent assimilation, a way to train the Filipino people to America’s form of democracy

while ensuring international relations that kept the Philippines bound to the U.S. Even the

preamble to their association vows to “support at all times the Constitution of the United States.”

All of the women of the PWBA, and Espectacion, remained married to their GI husbands

until their deaths. Some, like Lucy, remarried after their soldier husband passed away. Others,

like Fannie, may have had relationships, but did not remarry and remained widows.394

D. Asian War Brides

The available literature on Asian war brides focuses primarily on brides from Japan,

Korea, and Okinawa. War brides arrived to the U.S. from other Asian countries, but the lack of

documentation makes inclusion of their experience for analysis difficult. For this reason, the

comparisons I make here with other Asian brides is narrowed to just these three areas.

Circumstances for brides from Japan, Okinawa, and Korea varied depending on several issues. Japan was an imperial country that brutally occupied several states during the war and

was defeated by the Allies in August, 1945. The U.S. military occupation of Japan began

immediately after the war and officially ended in 1952, but military bases remained in the

394 “Betty Ragudos Correspondence via Facebook Messenger.”

Page 142 country as part of the Treaty of Peace ratified in 1952.395 Korea was a colony of Japan for

decades before World War II and Japan’s defeat meant the end of their colonial relationship.

Immediately after the war ended, the U.S. military established bases in South Korea and recreation zones called “camptowns” were established near the bases. Okinawa was also under

Japanese control for several decades before the war began, and just as in South Korea, U.S. military bases were established on the islands after the end of the war.

War brides from these three countries share an important status in common. They were

Asian women prohibited from entry to the U.S. until laws were enacted that changed their status.

Koreans and Okinawans could enter after the 1947 amendment to the War Brides Act was added in 1947. Even so, the first bride from Korea did not arrive in the U.S. until 1950.396 For Japanese

women, their entry was prohibited until the National Origins Act was passed in 1952.

1. Japan

The announcement by Emperor Hirohito of Japan’s defeat on August 15, 1945 was more

than a demoralizing disappointment for the Japanese. The Japanese people had viewed Hirohito

as a deity and viewed themselves as superior to other races. Their very belief systems were

proven terribly wrong and their identity as a nation was shattered at their defeat in the war.397

Not only were the Japanese defeated, their cities were devastated:

During the last year of the war, Japan’s largest cities suffered from mass bombings: 58 percent of Yokohama, 56 percent of Kobe, 40 percent of Tokyo, and 35 percent of Osaka were destroyed.398

395 “Allied Powers, Japan: Treaty of Peace Signed at San Francisco, September 8, 1951; in Force April 28, 1952 [Texts of the Treaty, the Declarations of Japan, and the Security Treaty between Japan and the United States],” American Journal of International Law (1952): 71–92. 396 Ji-Yeon. Yuh, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America, Nation of newcomers (New York: University Press, 2002). p. 9 397 Ward Crawford, Kaori Hayashi, and Suenaga, Japanese War Brides in America. p. xv 398 Ibid. xv

Page 143 The number of Japanese lives lost is hard to fathom. An estimated 140,000 Japanese died from

the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and tens of thousands more died from the

resulting radiation.399

The war also brought about tremendous cultural changes for many Japanese women.

Prior to the war, Japanese women were expected to be subservient to their husbands and their

husbands’ families. Their role was to be wives and mothers and to care for their husbands’

elderly parents.400 Japan was already at war for several years with China, first in 1931 when they

took over Manchuria, then again in 1937 in the second Sino-Japanese war. As World War II

began and then dragged on, not only were resources dwindling because of the war, but so were

the numbers of men in Japan as they joined the war effort. With the shortage of workers in

traditionally male occupations, the women of Japan were called upon to leave the countryside

and work in factories. Nearly 4 million women migrated to the cities for work where they

“… encountered hard, physical labor, poor treatment, overcrowded living quarters, limited

meals, and thus poor health.”401 Their new role as laborers also brought about a new role as head

of household, sending money to families when their men were away at war or had died as a

result of war.

After the war ended, more than 500,000 American soldiers began to occupy Japan. Many

Japanese women had experienced the devastation of war as well as a newfound independence, and with a severe female-to-male ratio imbalance, marriage prospects for many Japanese women

were bleak.

399 Ibid. p. xvi 400 Ibid. p. xiv 401 Ibid. p. xv

Page 144 According to the Japanese national census in 1947, the number of men between 20 and 29 years old was 5.77 million, while the number of women of the same age group was 6.78 million.402

However, American soldiers were the conquering enemy that had defeated them, not potential

husbands. In fact, propaganda that depicted American soldiers as “devils” that would rape and pillage was widespread. Fear of American soldiers caused young women to shave their heads

and dress as boys. Families hid their young women in their homes. Girls’ schools in Yokohama were closed down. To mitigate some of this fear, the military threatened American soldiers with

the death penalty if found guilty of rape.403 Japanese officials established brothels for the

Americans they believed needed access to sexual services to curb their appetite. Even so, they did not believe that even most prostitutes would choose to offer their services to the Americans:

The Japanese government felt that it had to protect the women by providing organized brothels. The Japanese believed that only low-level geisha, street girls, and prostitutes would become companions to the Americans.404

It was in this environment and national view of American soldiers that GIs and Japanese

women began their relationships and married. Among the millions of women working now in the

cities in close proximity with American GI, some began to see that they were not the devils they

expected. However, for Japanese war brides, marriage to an American did not provide entry to

the U.S. Even after the Amendment in 1947 that allowed Asian war brides to enter the U.S.,

Japanese brides faced stricter requirements. Some procedures were established to give Japanese

brides an opportunity to immigrate to the U.S. with their soldier husbands, but the procedures

were burdensome and included tight timelines that were impossible for most brides to achieve. It

was not until the Nationality Act of 1952 that Japanese war brides were free to enter the U.S.

402 Keiko Tamura, Michi’s Memories the Story of a Japanese War Bride (Canberra, A.C.T: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2001). Quoted in Japanese War Brides, p. xvii 403 Ward Crawford, Kaori Hayashi, and Suenaga, Japanese War Brides in America. p. 245 404 Ibid. p. 246

Page 145 2. Okinawa

For Okinawa, the end of the war came with the only ground battle in any of Japan’s prefectures. Okinawans dubbed the Battle of Okinawa the “typhoon of steel.”405 As the

Americans advanced, the retreating Japanese soldiers hid in caves where civilians had taken

refuge from the fighting all around them. The pursuing Americans aimed its modern weaponry at

those caves, killing Japanese soldiers and Okinawan civilians alike. Elsewhere on the island,

Japanese soldiers displayed the same brutality as seen in the Philippines:

Japanese soldiers were supposed to be defending local residents, but they forced evacuees out of underground cave shelters, claiming they would be in the way of the fighting. Japanese soldiers also stole food from civilians and killed crying babies who, they said, would reveal their positions to the enemy.406

As in Japan, war propaganda taught the Okinawans that American soldiers were “devil

beasts” and whole families that could not escape the arriving US forces committed “group

suicides” rather than endure the violence they feared from the Americans.407 Realizing his troops were overwhelmed, the Japanese commander told them to continue fighting until the very last

man just before committing suicide on June 23, 1945, but American mopping-up operations

continued until the Japanese declared surrender on August 15, 1945. By the end of the battle, nearly one-fourth of the island’s residents were dead – more civilians than soldiers had lost their lives.408

During and after the battle, American soldiers again demonstrated a stark difference in

behavior from the Japanese soldiers: providing medical help to sick or wounded civilians,

bringing food and medical supplies to suffering residents, and helping to rebuild infrastructure.

405 Etsuko Takushi Crissey, Okinawa’s GI Brides: Their Lives in America (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2017). p. 13 406 Ibid. p. 13 407 Ibid. p. 13 408 Ibid. p. 13

Page 146 One resident noted that members of the Japanese Defense Army had ridiculed the Okinawans as

“natives of a backward land,” but also realized that the Army was defeated handily by the

Americans.409 Another resident recalled the Americans giving treats to refugee children before

putting them on the truck to the refugee camp.

Before putting us on the trucks, they passed out chocolate bars … My father said we mustn’t take them because they were poisoned, so none of us reached out our hands. Then a soldier munched on one himself to show us it was safe. We were still nervous, but we ate them anyway. They were delicious!410

Such kind behavior did not go without notable exceptions. Residents in some villages sought to

prohibit soldiers from entering their towns as a means of protecting their women from rape.411

Official numbers of assaults are lacking. However, an organization that sought to obtain compensation for losses from crimes committed by American soldiers was able to compile some data:

Among the traffic accidents, shootings, stabbings, beatings, and rapes, seventy-six women are listed as the victims of rape and other crimes resulting in death or injury. Four died during rapes and another seven, fearing abduction, leapt to their deaths from moving cars or off high embankments. Clearly, these publicly available numbers represented only the tip of the iceberg.412

The U.S. military began building bases on Okinawa immediately, but the island came

under U.S. control officially with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951. Although base

construction and the presence of soldiers during the Korean and Vietnam wars created jobs and a

customer base for local businesses, aggressive takeover of land for the military bases caused

409 Ibid. p. 17 410 Ibid. p. 17 411 Ibid. p. 30 412 Miyazato Etsu, ed., Okinawa onna tachi no sengo (Women in postwar Okinawa; Naha: Hirugi-sha, 1986), 8. Quoted in Okinawa’s GI Brides. p. 30

Page 147 tensions between the Okinawans and the U.S. government. The U.S. continued its military

presence in Okinawa after returning control of the island to Japan in 1972.413

On the war-ravaged island, there were few opportunities for women to earn income and prostitution thrived in the areas surrounding the bases. However, residents made efforts to curb prostitution and proposed designated areas for prostitution to “… preserve safety and stability in the society at large.”414 The largest women’s organization in Okinawa, the Women’s Federation,

staged a protest calling for an end to prostitution.415 Such efforts were finally successful when

prostitution was outlawed in 1972, the year Okinawa was reverted back to Japanese control and

prostitution had already been ruled illegal there.

The first marriage between an Okinawan woman and a GI was annulled by the military in

1947 within one month of the marriage, citing immigration restrictions and the prohibition of

interracial marriage in some states in the U.S.416 The immigration restriction, however, was lifted

in 1947 when the War Brides Act was amended to permit Asian war brides to enter the U.S.

Within one month of the announcement of the amendment to the law, sixty-three marriages with

American GI were reported in Okinawa. Very few of these marriages were between Okinawan

women and white men.

Most of them, fifty-three, were to Japanese-American soldiers. Eight were to white soldiers, one was to a black soldier, and one was between two Japanese Americans.”417

Such marriages were still frowned upon by military leaders and a ban on marriages between GIs and Okinawans was announced in April 1948. Okinawans who married American

413 Crissey, Okinawa’s GI Brides. p. 26 414 Miyazato, Women in postwar Okinawa. Quoted in Okinawa’s GI Brides. p. 32 415 Crissey, Okinawa’s GI Brides. p. 32 416 Ibid. p. 34 417 Ibid. p. 35

Page 148 GI faced heavy fines and a possible jail sentence, but no such threats of punishment were listed in the ban for U.S. soldiers who married Okinawans. Four months later, the ban was lifted. “The marriage ban seems to have been so hastily rescinded because intimate relations between

American military personnel and Okinawan women had become a widespread reality.”418

Okinawa was reverted to Japan in 1972, but the American bases remained. Marriages

between Okinawans and American military have continued since that time. By 2009, the yearly

average number of such marriages was two hundred. These marriages continue to occur despite

ongoing political tensions between the Okinawans and the U.S. military.

3. Korea

Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and was under their rule until the end of World War II

when Japan surrendered in August 1945. Militarized prostitution was established in Korea by the

Japanese Imperial Army before the end of the war. Korean women, some as young as eleven years old, were recruited (or kidnapped) and sent to service Japanese soldiers in Korea or in other countries where the Japanese Army was deployed. After Japan’s defeat, South Korea came under U.S. military control when U.S. troops landed in there in September 1945. The first recreation areas known as camptowns were established as early as December 1945. These

camptowns served American soldiers with alcohol, entertainment, and prostitution. Some of the first women to work in these camptowns were those who had already catered to Japanese

soldiers during their occupation, but devastation from the war made it difficult for a large

number of Koreans to find work and many women ended up in camptowns to “… fill the

soldiers’ desires in the hope of making a living.”419 Soon the militarized system of prostitution

established by the Japanese was replaced by the U.S. military:

418 Ibid. p. 31 419 Ji-Yeon. Yuh, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown. p. 20

Page 149 While Japan, which has no troops stationed overseas, no longer has the opportunity to engage in its version of militarized prostitution, America’s comfort women still exist today in the camptowns outside every U.S. military base in Asia.420

The existence of these camptowns has affected the immigration experience of Korean war brides. Camptown women are viewed as morally compromised. Once a woman has worked in camptowns, their prospects for what they see as a “normal life” as a wife and mother with a

Korean husband are all but eliminated. Those few who manage to marry an American GI and immigrate to the U.S. still carry the stigma of the camptowns to the U.S. because Koreans associate war brides with the camptowns and believe they were camptown workers whether that is true or not.

For Koreans, they were women of questionable character who had married American soldiers because such marriage was their only escape from poverty … For second-generation Korean Americans, they were the women sitting alone, without husbands, during church service and fellowship, the ones they’d ignore because everyone else did. Their presence has barely been acknowledged and their histories have been marginalized.421

4. War Brides and Colonization

While the emergence of war brides in Asia was a result of American hegemony and U.S. military occupation in their countries, the immigration experience for war brides from Japan,

Okinawa, and Korea was also deeply affected by decades of Japanese colonization and Japan’s defeat in World War II. The women in these countries did not experience childhood as subjects of the U.S. While Fannie, Lucy, and Josie were learning English and undergoing American assimilation, under Japanese colonization many Korean and Okinawan war brides learned

Japanese and all were living under an emperor’s rule. Their understanding of the U.S., Western

420 Ibid. p. 18 421 Ibid. p. 3

Page 150 democracy, and American GI were taught to them from an enemy’s viewpoint during the war,

whereas Filipinas experienced benevolent assimilation to acquire an affinity for the U.S.

The Japanese and their colonial subjects had been taught that the Japanese race was superior and their army invincible. Therefore, their defeat caused one Okinawan bride, Ôshiro

Sadako, to question this belief:

Even with US artillery shells screeching overhead, Japan’s Defense Army never seemed to counterattack. The soldiers kept saying it was too early because they had to save ammunition. When she heard later that the Defense Army had been defeated with little resistance, she began to have doubts about what she’d always believed was the nation’s courageous, invincible military.422

Their defeat at the hands of the Americans did not only reveal the lack of Japanese superiority, many women were surprised to discover that the American soldiers were not the “devil beasts” they were portrayed to be in wartime propaganda.

Their confusion resulted from their thorough anti-American indoctrination. Taught that, if they were captured, the Americans would run over the men with tanks and rape and massacre the women, they had resigned themselves to death when US forces first put them in the refugee camps.423

Okinawan war bride interviewees stated that they decided to enter relationships with the

American soldiers because of their gentlemanly behavior:

American soldiers opened doors for women getting into cars or going outside, they carried heavy packages for them, and they pulled out chairs for them to sit down. From the time of their first meeting with American soldiers, women were amazed and deeply impressed by such good manners.424

On the other hand, war brides from Japan, Okinawa, and Korea immigrated to a country

whose people viewed them as the enemy. Historically racist views of Asians in America seemed

422 Crissey, Okinawa’s GI Brides. p. 17 423 Ibid. p. 17 424 Ibid. pp 52-53

Page 151 justified against them in the wake of the war against Japan. An interviewee for the book,

Japanese War Brides in America, spoke about the discrimination she experienced in the U.S.:

As for renting a place, there was a racial discrimination, but there was no racial discrimination as to working. So, I could find a job right away. . . . Well, you know the job I got was a typing job. It wasn’t such important work to begin with—people didn’t mind whoever got this type of job. If I had been trying to get more important work, I may have encountered discrimination.425

Anthropologist, Seena B. Kohl, interviewed war brides who settled in Montana. Among them was one Korean war bride who describes her experience with bigotry in her small rural town:

Well, this is a small community here, so when you go to church, they all look at you, you know, like head to toe. Examine you, you know, to see if she's fit enough to belong in our church and things like that. My husband belongs to this church. He went to church ever since he was young so when I came, I thought everybody going to accept me and give me a nice wedding shower and gifts and all that. Nothing like that! Just his sister and his mom and dad was nice to me I took a lot of criticism, and people would call me, you know, nigger, Jap, Chinaman. And squaw. They are not like that now.426

In describing the experience of Korean war brides, author Ji-Yeon Yuh summarizes the experience for many of the brides from Asia:

As immigrant women of color, as non-native speakers of English, as interculturally and interracially married women, as workers in the lower tiers of the economy, they found themselves consistently faced with a wide variety of demands, indignities, and humiliations inflicted by both society at large and the people closest to them.427

All of the women experienced trauma during and immediately after the war. Their towns

and cities were destroyed. Many of them had lost family members, witnessed violence, and

known hunger. The trauma of immigration and the bigotry of Americans may have seemed less

of an issue after such a horrific period in their lives and may also have trained them to cope with

425 Ward Crawford, Kaori Hayashi, and Suenaga, Japanese War Brides in America. p. 212 426 Seena B. Kohl, “Love, Valor, and Endurance: World War II War Brides Making a Home in Montana.,” Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Autumn 2006. p. 32 427 Ji-Yeon. Yuh, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown. p. 84

Page 152 the difficulties they would encounter as war brides in the U.S. Ji-Yeon Yuh eloquently describes

the resistance strategies military brides employed:

Among military brides, resistance is characterized by an outward deference to the authority of husbands, in-laws, and American culture accompanied by an insistent, backstage privileging of their own desires and opinions and of Korean culture and identity. This strategy is expressed in conversations among the women when they criticize their husbands and children or make jokes about American ways, in subversive opinions they will never change even though their outward behavior is designed to conceal these strong feelings, and in thousands of everyday acts performed in the face of opposition from the people closest to them.428

The literature about war brides from Japan, Korea, and Okinawa include stories of the

discrimination these brides experienced in the U.S., but there is a conspicuous absence of such

stories in Fannie’s, Lucy’s, and Josie’s interviews. Only Lucy reveals such moments, but what

she tells of is discrimination against her African-American husband. With such widespread

racism so many Americans had towards people of color in the mid-20th century, how is it that

these Filipina war brides did not offer stories of discrimination against them?

Filipinas came from a country that was America’s colony, its people were America’s

“little brown brothers,” and had been under U.S. protection. While there is a history of racism against Filipinos in the U.S, especially towards laborers, by the end of World War II, some sentiment towards Filipinos may have changed. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines,

Filipino soldiers suffered alongside American soldiers in the infamous Bataan-Corregidor death march. Filipinos aided American troops in routing the Japanese throughout the islands. Many

Americans viewed Filipinos as brothers-in-arms. Perhaps my interviewees only encountered

Americans whose view of them had changed due to war, but that is unlikely.

428 Ibid. p. 85

Page 153 Fannie, Lucy, and Josie were taught to view Americans in a favorable light. Their positive encounters with American soldiers at the end of the war may have confirmed their opinion. Could it be that they did not recognize bigotry that was directed toward them? Or perhaps my questions during the interviews did not lend itself to helping them talk about

Americans in a negative way. Whatever the reason, my interviewees reveal a positive view of their immigration and their lives in the U.S. This is not only in contrast to the laborers who came before them, but also in contrast to the experience of many of the war brides from Japan,

Okinawa, and Korea.

Page 154 Conclusion

When the American forces landed on the island of Leyte in October 1944, the conditions

they encountered were the most desperate they had ever seen. The people were sick and starving.

Filipinos had lived through danger, starvation, and cruelty under an Asian occupier. Filipinos observed in the Americans a stark difference between the brutality of the Japanese and the way the Americans treated them: with pity and kindness. Japan’s stated goal during World War II was

pan-Asianism, a resistance to Western colonialism and a call to unity within the Asian region

against Western powers. In their efforts to bring about this pan-Asian goal, the Japanese Imperial

Army engaged in oppressive tactics and committed acts of torture against their fellow Asians.

These actions are not excused, but the oppressive history of Western colonialism cannot be denied.

The three women I interviewed were born in colonial Philippines; a country that endured hundreds of years under Spanish rule followed by the United States acting against its own founding principle of “consent of the governed” and subjugating the Philippines to its own will for its own gain. The U.S. waged a ruthless and bloody war against Filipino “insurrectionists” to retain its colony. The Philippine archipelago is rich in natural resources and the American economy benefited from U.S. control over the land. Additionally, the Philippines is in a militarily strategic location and the U.S. established key military bases on its shores and in its interior. The Subic Bay Naval Station, though built first by the Spanish, became the largest U.S.

Navy base outside of the continental U.S. To help the Filipinos prepare for America’s stated goal of self-rule, the U.S. provided public education, but the education was America-centered, its language of instruction was English, native languages were suppressed, and American patriotism was promoted.

Page 155 Filipino immigrants, like my interviewees, were deeply affected by the power of their

colonizer and its prejudice against non-white people. Motivated by their Americanized

education, many Filipino men came to the U.S. to earn a degree in America’s colleges and

universities, armed with English skills and great ambition. However, The Great Depression

interrupted their plans and they were forced to work in low-wage jobs. More Filipinos were recruited and brought to the U.S. These laborers suffered poverty, bigotry, and loneliness

stemming from legal barriers to start families.

The early story of Filipino Seattle is known by its men. It was these Filipinos (from Seattle and

elsewhere on the west coast with similar experiences) that the war brides encountered at the end

of the war: men in their thirties, long without hope of having a family, disillusioned of America’s

greatness, yet motivated to serve in its military to fight for their own people in the Philippines.

Their very marriages to these men were under colonial power. The military exerted control over soldiers’ access to women overseas. It encouraged marriage in countries with white, English- speaking populations and tolerated (or established) prostitution in colonized, or otherwise marginalized populations and people of color. Filipino soldiers were required to obtain permission to marry their Filipina brides and marriage, if permission was granted, did not guarantee the brides’ admission to the United States. American lawmakers had to be pressured to change immigration laws to allow these “girls” to come to America with men who had risked their lives in battle for America. Once in the United States, these women, clear about their identity as stated in their preamble “Knowing full well we are a war bride to GI… ,” (emphasis mine) navigated their transition to American life with admirable strength and unmistakable

Filipina pride, but aware that their immigration to the U.S. was under Public Law 271, a special permission granted to them because of their gendered relationship to an American soldier.

Page 156 The colonial relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines did not end with

Philippine independence on July 4, 1946. Even the date America granted the Philippines its

independence ensured continued ties to its former colony. America continued to demand access

to Philippine land for its own military bases, ostensibly in its fight against communism and

maintain military leverage in Southeast Asia. In the Cold War era, America became a military

superpower, in part because of continued military occupation in the Philippines and other Asian countries. As stated by Ji-Yeon Yuh in her book, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown:

Broadly speaking, a serious consideration of Asian military brides forces a reconsideration of the whole of U.S.-Asia relations and the social consequences that are a part of these relations. Attention should be paid to the unequal nature of U.S. relations with Asian countries as well as to the gendered and racialized ideologies that are part of this relationship and which have greatly impacted the lives of Asian and Asian American women.429

Fannie, Lucy, and Josie see the outcome of their immigration as positive. Questions as to

why that is so need to be further explored. American patriotism would point to this fact and say that it’s because America is the land of the free. Indeed, I find it interesting that members of the

Filipino Regiment chose not to stay in their country of origin with their new brides, but to bring

their wives to the U.S. where they had experienced such hardships. With American victory, was

there not a chance that their homeland would be rebuilt? Was this not an opportunity to remain

with their own culture and leave racist oppression behind?

At the beginning of this thesis, I stated that this research was begun as a personal search

to understand my mother’s place in Filipino-American history. This thesis provided the

background necessary to place the Filipina World War II war bride in a proper historical context

laying the groundwork for further study on Filipina military brides and their immigration

experience. More importantly, it was an opportunity to tell the stories of Filipina war brides, a

429 Ibid. p. 7

Page 157 largely untold story in Filipino-American literature. Further research on Filipina military brides beyond World War II would require gathering oral histories and conducting surveys on Filipinas who married US servicemen until the Philippine bases were closed in 1992. Following the lives of the brides who married men they met at the bases, and the children of these military marriages will help build a larger historical framework for Filipino-American history and provide an enriched context for Filipino-Americans to explore their identity.

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APPENDIX A – EPIFANIA SUMAOANG INTERVIEW

Date: January 27, 2016 Interviewee: Epifania Apolinar Sumaoang Interviewer: Jeannie (Damon) Magdua Location: Seattle, Washington Transcribed by: Jeannie (Damon) Magdua

Start of Video File 1 Jeannie Damon: Ok. This is Jeannie Damon and I’m here in Seattle, Washington on January 27. It’s approximately 1:30 in the afternoon, um, January 27 of 2016, and I’m here interviewing Epifania Apolinar Somaoang and, um, I’m going to ask questions of her about her war bride experience and her life in general.

Epifania Somaoang: Ok

JD: Ok. First, I need to ask you if you could please state your name for me for the recording.

ES: My name is Epifania Apolinar Somaoang.

JD: Ok. Thank you and I just want to make sure, is it ok for me to record you and use your recording for my research at the University of Washington.

ES: Yes. You can do that.

JD: Ok. Thank you. Ok. Alright, so, we’re gonna go through the questions, um and, you know, just answer the best you can. If there are questions you don’t have answers to, just say, “I don’t know.”

ES: Ok

JD: Alright. So, first, please describe to me the town or city you grew up in in the Philippines.

ES: That’s in Palompon, Leyte, Philippines

JD: The island of Leyte. Ok. And what’s the name of the town again?

ES: Palompon. Palompon, Leyte

JD: Ok

ES: Philippines

JD: And about what size was this town?

ES: That’s in the west side of Leyte, the town of Palompon.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 1

JD: Ok

ES: We are … Tacloban is in the north and Ormoc is in the … ah… maybe it’s in the middle, Ormoc, that’s in the same Leyte

JD: Ok

ES: And they got different town in there. (1:50) So, I’m cannot remember how I describe you, though Leyte I know is Tacloban. That’s where Imelda is, where they … and then Ormoc and then you come to west side, Palompon, Leyte. That’s where my hometown is.

JD: Ok. And, um, can you describe to me the house that you grew up in.

ES: Oh. Before the war? Oh my, before the war, it’s alright because we are … we are… at that time, before the war [inaudible] though with Japanese, we are eight kids. Uh huh. And it’s, uh we just, it’s big house, high … we have, I think, eight steps going up. The downstairs, nothing in there, except chickens and pigs. So, it’s ok. It’s only whole house and then one bedroom where my father and mother stay and the baby, but otherwise, as children we sleep in the floor cause we don’t have beds. We just put mat in the floor and it’s time we go sleep, we sleep there and early in the morning, we get up and roll up the mat and put away. That’s it.

JD: And you said there were eight children?430

ES: Yeah.

JD: And where are you in the line-up?

ES: Oh. I’m the oldest.

JD: Oh, you’re the oldest?

ES: Uh huh

JD: Ok.

ES: In the family, and then my sister who is passed away already, my brother. So, that time, we are only three girls, but the other died during the war. She’s a baby. Uh. She’s a baby, guess she got scared or something because we run around for how many years trying to hide when they think the Japanese coming.

JD: That’s very sad. Ok. Um. So, you said that there were seven brothers and sisters and your parents. Uh. What language or dialect did you speak at home?

430 At the time of the war, there were eight children. Fannie’s mother had more children after the war for a total of twelve children. Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 2

ES: Oh. Visaya

JD: Visayan?

ES: Yeah

JD: And which language do you speak at home now?

ES: English

JD: English

ES: Uh huh

JD: Ok (4:38)

ES: Even when I got married with my husband we speak English because he’s Ilocano and I’m Visaya, we don’t understand each other [laugh]

JD: Ok. So, you never learned Tagalog?

ES: No. At that time, no.

JD: Ok, and um, when did you first learn English?

ES: Oh, even we are kids we go to school because we are under the Americans. Philippines is under the American. We go to school, we speak English. If you out of the fence of the school, they give us ticket. And so right if we get out we speak our own language.

JD: So, inside the school grounds you had to speak English all the time.

ES: Yes. Uh huh. Otherwise, somebody tried to hear you talking Visaya, they give you ticket and then when you go to school … the school … the teacher will fine us and they will let us work … uh … clean up the room. Yeah. Then when I was first grade, second grade, you know, we are kids, we still do our work. In the yard of the school, we clean it up in there. Nobody will clean it for you. You know, cut the grass all the time.

JD: Did you have American teachers or Filipino teachers?

ES: What do you mean?

JD: Were they American, the teachers, or were they Filipino?

ES: No. Filipino. Filipino teachers, but they are speak English because they are mostly … them, they, during the, uh, American, they speak English, they go to school, too, before they teach us. Yeah.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 3

JD: Ok. Great. Um, so, when you were learning English, was, do you think that was difficult for you, or was that easy?

ES: Well, it was difficult because we don’t, we, at that time, we speak English when we go to school, but when we go out, we speak Visaya, my, our own language, so, it’s not, it’s better to learn little bit, when we do it, it’s easy [inaudible] learn the easy way when we are in the lower grade, but when they go higher, they could do better.

JD: Ok. Um, are there any particular lessons that you remember from English? For instance, my mom can remember reciting, “milk, milk, I like milk. Thank you mommy.” Do you remember that one?

ES: No. We didn’t, we not have milk so much in there, but you know what they teach us? Uh, we’re first grade, we teach us count, counting, and then the food like food, banana, apple or something like [inaudible] there is not much apple there, but orange, those kind of fruit. And, they teach us how to work on the animal, like pig, chicken, like that. I remember that, but I was not so smart when I was first grade. I don’t, because my parents uh didn’t speak English either. It’s just maybe say yes or no because they didn’t go too much in school. You know, in (8:54) .. in those time, when I was growing, even my parents, they said I don’t have to go to school because when I get married, the husband support us, but they believed that, but we still go to school. I still go to school. I just, I didn’t go too much in grade, but they still go to school.

JD: Ok.

ES: Like my brother, sister, my sister sit next to me. I don’t know how much she speak English, but we do speak English in school, but not at home. Not at home. We don’t do it, because my father my mother don’t speak too much English, you know. They, I guess, I don’t know how old are they when they get married, of course they don’t go to school anymore. That’s how it goes. So, we speak Visaya. I don’t expect to be here in the States [laugh]. But during the war, I learned lots of things, too, because the Americans came there and we mingled with them. I think there was seventeen. I speak English with them when they ask me, “How did you learn how to speak English?” Well, I said, “We got school here.” And we are under the American. We don’t have independence at that time.

JD: Right.

ES: I could say yes or no. [laugh] (10:43)

JD: Right.

ES: Yeah

JD: Ok, um, so, let’s see. So, if you were in Leyte, um, how far was it to the closest military base. Do you know?

ES: The base?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 4

JD: Yeah

ES: It’s in my yard.

JD: The military base was in your yard?

ES: Yeah. They were there, because there were batallion came in. America [inaudible] force, uh, the Japanese were our town, Leyte.

End of Video File 1

Start of Video File 2

ES: Leyte area. They go Tacloban, Ormoc, Bongabonga, Palompon. They are the one they force us to come back to town, otherwise you are in the mountain, but when the American arrive, I remember that we are in the mountain hiding from the Japanese. When the Japa .. uh, when the American arrive we are high ... we climb, we walk to the mountain and then we could see the water with ship where my father go fishing, the big boat will come in, you know, and then the barges come in and then we jumping, jumping. We were not thinking of the Japanese next door with the [inaudible] ah in the forest, we just, we could see, we could see to the, from the mountain, you the all the way to the ocean

JD: And you saw American ships?

ES: Uh huh American ships. They are the one who kept on bombing the town. Their planes. And they told us to get out of there, but we didn’t. We just jump. When the bomb come, [inaudible] we start running. [laugh]. Yeah my father and mother “come on let’s go let’s go someplace [inaudible]” because they know where the Japanese is so they drop oh the leaflet drop down.

JD: They dropped leaflets first?

ES: Uh huh. When American arrive, when they put, the American drop leaflet they tell us to move that place because they are start bombing because we are high the Japanese below. See? So, we didn’t listen to that. I read, but my mother father didn’t listen. So, because we did know that Japanese below us, you know. So, when the bomb come in, American airplane dropping the bomb, we start running away. I remember. Oh boy. I kept my brother my side. I kept my bundle in this side and, you know what, we didn’t think of getting hurt. We just get away, but Japanese, you know they went to the mountain forest, the trees where they hiding there, too, because they don’t have any supply anymore. They were cut off.

JD: Right.

ES: It was not easy during the war. (2:58)

JD: I know. Ok. Um. Are there any people who worked for or were involved with the U.S. military somehow?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 5

ES: Oh yeah, but they were killed.

JD: They were killed?

ES: My uncle. My uncle. They were in Manila, too, not in Leyte.

JD: Ok

ES: My, my brother. Hit and run they call it. Hit and run. They just go there night time and then they just [inaudible] because they don’t have any, any ah supply, no bullet, no gun during that time when Japanese was still in Leyte.

JD: The Filipinos didn’t have any weapons. Is that what you mean? (3:45)

ES: Uh huh. No more.

JD: Ok

ES: No. They hide themselves because if they know that they are serviceman, they will kill you. Uh huh. They will kill you.

JD: So your brother was killed by the Japanese?

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. But we don’t tell them. I thought my brother is still small so [inaudible], but my uncle, the one –

JD: And your –

ES: And my grandpa, two grandpa, you know they try to be, uh, protect, they did that to help, but they were more like spy from, for the Japanese, so they know where they are, but they were all, they kill them both, two uncle, ah, grandpa, we call them grandpa. They are brothers of my grandpa, you know, my mother’s father, the brother who is killed.

JD: They were killed helping the Americans spy on the Japanese?

ES: The Japanese

JD: Ok

ES: But they didn’t tell them that they are spy. They just, we call it tu … tu…. tor … tudlok

JD: Tudlok?

ES: Tudluk. They just say [pointing] “that one, that one”

JD: Oh. Does that mean point then?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 6

ES: Uh huh. Yeah.

JD: Ok.

ES: That’s what happen.

JD: Ok. So, how old were you, well what year were you born?

ES: 27, 1927 July

JD: Ok. So you were about 17 when the war started?

ES: Uh huh.

JD: Ok (5:41)

ES: Before that we were already hi .. running. We heard about Japanese is coming. They are in Manila already or something. Because they could have, they have the boat.

JD: Right. So, the Japanese were occupying Leyte. Leyte first?

ES: No. Manila first.

JD: Manila first.

ES: And then they come to Leyte, you know because different island. Philippines they got different island. You know that.

JD: Ok. Ok. So, um, you were a teenager when this all started. How old were you when you met your husband?

ES: Almost eighteen.

JD: Ok

ES: Not quite. Almost. They were this, outside our town, and then, you know, the shower for the shower, they put that shower [pause] where my mother’s house is and the shower just about twenty five yards away from there and then the water, you know, they, they fence it. They put the, it’s not even, uh, we call it now, good place for them, everybody could see the American taking shower in there. Yeah. They do. (7:09)

JD: Ok

ES: Uh huh. And then my father said, “Get out there! Get out there!” Uh huh, but then they have the shower in there, they come to my mother’s house and we talk to them. They are surprised my sister and I speak English to them. Yeah.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 7

JD: And then, was your husband, was he a white man or was he Filipino?

ES: Filipino

JD: Filipino. And was he in the U.S. military?

ES: They, they were in the, first the American and then the 77 division and then the Filipino regiment.

JD: Ok

ES: and they are by group, but the first one come, lots of them died, you know, the American. I know a lot of … because our house is just close to the shower, naturally, they come take shower, they come say hello to us and then the next day I heard that he’s, they died, you know, it was shot, you know, they are fighting. Yeah. I said, “oh my gosh.” You know, it’s kind of hard [inaudible] they are older, but they are kinda nice anyway. Yeah. (8:31) They treat us people nice, you know. We don’t have nothing to eat, they give us some ration.

JD: Oh, they did.

ES: Uh huh

JD: Ok

ES: But not, not the Japanese. When you are cooking, they are the one who eat the food. I remember, you know, my mother cooking rice because we don’t have much food at that time and then two Japanese came, you know, they patrol, and my mother cooking rice. That’s for us, was for us. You know who ate that? The Japanese. Because they are cut out of the supply. They cannot, they cut their ship cannot go through anymore because the American lock the place already, you know. It’s not easy at that time for us we are growing.

JD: Right. So, when the Japanese were coming, you guys were in the mountains. Is that correct?

ES: No. We are in the mountains. We ran. I was even separated from my father, parents, because I went to my uncle’s house, place, that’s six kilometers from town because we tried to get some food. I help my mom because she got small babies. We go to my uncle because they got farm, we go get some corn, banana, you know, we got sweet potato because they plant that in the mountain. It’s kind of hard because you go to the mountain and then level in the dirt the plant the rice, um no, the corn and the banana, different fruit. Uh huh. We get, but I was separated by myself, but the rest of my brother and my father they were together that I’m, it’s about one kilometer from town to my place, where my mother’s house is. I was separated, but I thought because the Japanese come, coming, the night time they are sleeping, what they plan to take when the Japanese come, they were not able to take it. They just save their lives, you know. It’s uh, they ran to the, they try to hide, but I was not with them.

JD: How long were you separated?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 8

End of Video File 2

Start of Video File 3

ES: I was separated because I was, I supposed to come home the following day, but the Japanese came night time. Yeah.

JD: So, how long were you separated?

ES: Maybe a week, but I hear, somebody told me that they are ok.

JD: So, you did have some information about them. That’s good.

ES: Because mostly in our town they relatives. I know everybody. Yeah.

JD: So, you went to the mountains. Did you ever have to come back to the town?

ES: No, we, meet in the mountains, we go to [inaudible] we tried to hide it because the Japanese still there, you know, and the American forcing them to the mountain, so we are going to the Rizal town and we go to the water. We walk even it’s deep water, we walk, try to hide from them. We block between the Japanese and the American. That’s what my father and mother told us. We hide and we got small hut, you know, actually we sleep together.

JD: Up in the mountains in a small hut.

ES: Uh huh.

JD: This is the way it was for a few years and then you saw the American ships coming and you were celebrating. So, you got to go back to your town after that?

ES: Yeah. We go back, but we go to the ocean. We pass the, you know, because you say the water on high tide, low tide, that’s when we walk. We didn’t walk in the mountain no more. We go around, round there until where it’s our town.

JD: Ok. Is it an easier way? (2:05)

ES: No

JD: No?

ES: Sometimes I don’t know what to think. My grandkids they have their own things. They won’t listen. Even when I try to talk to Betty. Sometimes they are all busy with their own thing, they go to school, you know. But when I see some of my family, we talk about it, you know. Yeah, right now, I’m the only one left among the war brides.

JD: I know

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 9

ES: Some of them, they are gone, cause the young kids, like Betty, they are born here, so they don’t know anything about it. Yeah.

JD: Ok. So, the Americans showed up and they were taking showers where you could all see.

ES: No. The American arrived. They were still coming in with the, in the barge, and then we are going to the, as I said we go around to the mountain and then we go to the ocean and go back to – we are happy! We are jumping! Especially they give us candy. [laugh] Oh yeah because they make it, they, they then close to the ocean and the ocean is close to my house, to my mother’s house. We could just walk, you know. And, uh, they have there to the uh [inaudible]. We, our house it was surrounded until the American bombed it. The American bombed it because the Japanese, some of them they stayed there. Our house was bombed. We don’t have house when we come back. My father built a little hut for us to stay.

JD: When you came back.

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. But lots of American already. Uh, the beach, that uh, we know, full of tent [inaudible], even downtown. (4:32)

JD: Ok. So, um, the Americans were coming kind of in waves. A lot of them were dying, and then you met your husband.

ES: Oh, uh, the American first, and then the seventy seven division. We met those guys yet. They take over the uh, the seventy seven division small company now because the first American come, they forward. They go forward and the seventy-seven division take over. And then after that, the Filipino regiment, they call it Filipino regiment, take over and they are the one at the time. Uh, it take about a month before the American left. They were in Ormoc already, some in Tacloban, some in uh, you know.

JD: Ok and your husband was in the Filipino regiment.

ES: He’s Filipino, you know.

JD: Yes. And what is his name?

ES: Federico Sumaoang. Federico Nool Sumaoang.

JD: Ok. So, what year did you meet him? (5:51)

ES: Oh dear. Uh. We were married forty, forty-five. Well, late forty-four.

JD: Nineteen-Forty-Four

ES: But, it, the, we don’t have Japanese anymore, but they go to the mountain and, and uh, look for the Japanese because they still kill. They are still killing there. So, it’s forty-four, forty-four, forty-five.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 10

JD: Ok

ES: When I meet him, but I didn’t think of getting married. I was only a little bit over seventeen, close to, not eighteen yet. See? So, one thing more, their tent is between my town, my, my, my, my barrio and town, and they were have their, they have their tent right there across the [pause] cemetery. So, you know how we go and we go there because, you know, they ask us to do some washing, clothes, their clothes, and lots of us do the job because they pay us pair one pants and shirt one peso, and that’s big money for us to give our parents, and my sister and I do that. Uh huh. Yeah.

JD: Ok

ES: And sometimes they give us more, you know, maybe two dollars more, uh dollar, peso more, and we’re happy. We are happy. You know how we do it, we wash, we starch and iron. Do that. You don’t wash only. You starch the shirt and pants and then we’ll iron, too, and they are happy because it’s nice and neat for them to wear, and lots of them, when they know we are doing it, lots of them asked if we could do some washing for them. And if, it’s good, too, because the water, it’s close to the house, my [inaudible]. We have, uh, beside shower that the American people, serviceman, we have our own area to wash the clothes. Uh huh. We do some work for my parents. I really help my parents a lot of things. Uh huh. I remember that. And, uh, when we got the money and we give it to them and they can buy rice or fish. We, not the meat, because just once, maybe once a month, because we used to have lots of chicken and pig, we could have meat once, at least once a week, but during that time, we don’t have chicken, we don’t have pig. My grandmother’s caribou, you know the caribou, they have plenty. I help them bring some meat, but we don’t, they don’t have, when we come back to town, no more. All gone. (9:30)

JD: Why were they all gone?

ES: Uh huh

JD: Why?

ES: The Japanese take care of themselves. They can’t eat because they don’t have food themselves, too.

JD: Ok. So, you thought the American soldiers were really good people.

ES: More than really good people. Yeah. They give us some food. They didn’t take the food away from us. They give us food. Canned goods, like that, you know and besides that the Filipino are in charge of the kitchen, they sneak out some food for us. It was nice. We were not, when the American, white American came, we are safe than the Japanese that time. We are, we are forced to go downtown when Japanese was occupy the town and we bow even we see there, visit my auntie, my uncle. We have to pass the road. We cannot pass someplace else.

JD: So you had to bow when you saw a Japanese soldier.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 11

ES: Yeah, for the guard and you bow before you go through. Yeah. Hambao. [laugh]

JD: Ok. Alright. So, let’s talk about your husband. You met him there.

ES: Well, I meet my husband twice because, first, they will send to [inaudible] the first time they come, they were there, ok? And then

End of Video File 3

Start of Video File 4

ES: [inaudible] that’s where the Japanese stay, they hide. They just like big tree, just like here, big tree in the mountain, and I didn’t think of that that he will come back, that his company will come back and then when I went to the house, I saw him and then she says “Hi Fannie” and then I turn around. “Oh, hi Sergeant!” Sergeant is a [inaudible]. I call them, we call them sergeant. “Hi Sergeant. Oh, you come back.” He said, “Oh, yeah they send us again [inaudible]” he said. Ok. And then he said, “Fannie, could you do something for me?” I said, “What?” He said, “Could you wash my clothes?” [laughs]. Because I used to wash the clothes because they pay us. It’s not gratis [laughs]

JD: Right

ES: We pay us we’re happy to do the job because there is no work in our town no more. There is hardly anything, no fishing that time. It’s hard, and then he said, “Ok.” He said, “I’ll bring it to your place, to your house, to your mom’s house.” “Ok.” And then we buy some soap, he give me some soap to wash and then he come there. So, I didn’t think of that the second time, the second time I saw him. And then we, they, invite us to go to the camp and then we eat in there. They bring us canteen, you know, their plate, and put coffee or tea. We go to their tent with my girlfriend and then we eat with them. Hmm we eat and it’s good to eat. They got good food. Oh you know when you are kid that time, you know eat anything they have. You want to eat it. So, they give us some food and then we bring some for my mom. And then, sometimes they ask me, “Do you know how to make this rice and sugar?” I said, “Oh you are talking about suman.” “Oh, I don’t know.” It’s good. “Oh, I make some.” She said, “You make some. I pay you.” [laugh] (2:28) Oh they pay us.

JD: Ok

ES: Because, you know, you buy the sticky rice expensive and they hardly have those things no more. Yes, because they cannot find that rice in that time. Yes. So, they pay us. Sometimes they can give us five dollars, uh dollars, pesos. And, who will eat it? Me! My sister, my brother. She just want to taste it, you know when they are kids. So, that’s what they do. Uh huh.

JD: Ok and your husband asked you to do these things, too?

ES: Yeah. She did.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 12

JD: Ok. So, um, did he talk to your parents?

ES: Oh [laugh] [inaudible] funny. Before she used to when we are used to [inaudible] come, he used to say, “Let’s get married.” I said, “Huh? What married?” I said, “Yeah. I’m still kid.” And he’s old.

JD: Oh. How much older?

ES: Twenty years.

JD: Ok

ES: Uh huh. I said, “No.” And then what happened, they were transferred to Ormoc, another town more like city, even you call it there, like city, it’s Ormoc, another place. And then, during weekend they have convoy all the servicemen because some of them are married already in our town, so they come, and then one day one day when he was come, come back, they were already in Ormoc, and then they ride with the convoy, and then he stop in my, our place, you know, because they always pass, my, our house is there, he’s crossing. He’s in the crossing. So, as he ask me, “Hi Fannie!” I said, because I’m always there close, close by, so I, “Oh, hi sergeant!” and so then [laugh] then he said, “Oh, could I see, see you?” I said, “Ok.” Can I get my water?

JD: Ok

{break}

ES: And there were lots of them. There were lots of them, and then, anyway, he get out of the convoy while the convoy went downtown because lots of them got married that town and then she ask me, “You wanna go dinner with me?” I said, “Sure! Why not?” I was not scared. [laugh]. Yeah. He’s just like my father. [laugh] He’s just like my father.

JD: Because he’s older?

ES: Yeah. So, we went to eat in there and she, he order good food [laugh]. It’s kind of funny to think of it. Yeah, we went to the restaurant because they, some people, open a restaurant already because lots of serviceman was there. So, we got chicken, chicken, fried chicken, you know, so she said, we did this, nothing to see in downtown because all holes, the church is broken, most post office was damaged, no, nothing in there. So, can’t go back. And then she said, “I was wondering, where are you gonna sleep?” And then she said, “Oh, I don’t know.” I said, “You could sleep there in little hut. We sleep down here.” Because that little place that my father built, it’s bamboo. One down there and up down there. “You could sleep there.” And then my sister and I sleep there because my brother he sleep with my grandpa’s house, you know, and I said and my mother was sleep there with us, father, I said, and he said, “Ok.” So, there’s no problem with that. I didn’t think of anything. Yeah. So, anyway, the next day they are supposed to go back to Ormoc because that’s where they are stationed, but first he hand me a letter. I was scared. You know where I hide it? You know the roof of the nipa? I hide it there so no my sister will cannot see it and my parents.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 13

JD: What was it he handed you?

ES: His letter

JD: Oh a letter!

ES: Yeah. Letter. He hand me a letter so it’s for me. So, when I got, I hide it. When I go home, I put it on the roof. I hide it there. And then my sister, my sister is naughty, next to me, oh boy, she’s naughty, and she’s, when I, when I read it, I see to it’s just me I’m reading. So, anyway, I read, he asked me if we could get married. I said, “get married?” So I [inaudible] “No thank you.” I’m too young to get married. I don’t even know how to cook yet. I cook rice only. So, I send it to my friend because they leave late so she’s the one who hand it to him, and then

{break}

ES: and then what they did, he send back to, he come back again, but she was not eat with them because he was on guard, sergeant on guard.

JD: Ok

ES: Uh huh. So, he give letter to my, his friend, and my friend, too. “Fannie, I give letter for you from Sergeant Sumaoang.” I said, “Oh?” I said. I said … so, I did get it and, you know, the same thing, he was asking me, I don’t know, four letter before I said, four letter he said I meet you in Ormoc, you know, another town. So, my friend, they are going to that place. They are three sisters, and then I go with them, so we are four. You know what? We walk. How many kilometers

JD: To Ormoc?

ES: Uh huh

JD: Oh wow.

ES: Oh. How many kilometers? I don’t, I think, hundred. Because from Tac … from my town to … maybe one hundred kilometer. More. Uh huh. We walk. There’s no transportation. We cannot ride with the, the uh, jeep or truck with the army. They don’t allow. There’s no transportation. So, we are go there. We are four. We bring our suman and rice, you know, it take time, but we make it in one day. And then, and then he, my girlfriend got a place, his friend there got a little house, you know, and we stay there, and then, during that evening, they meet us. They have the, the three, three girls they got their boyfriend, uh huh, my friend. I don’t have any boyfriend.

End of Video File 4

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 14

Start of Video File 5

ES: And then my friend, we call him friend, friend come with them because they came from a wedding. Somebody got married in Ormoc. So, they came, and then, I was in the kitchen. The kitchen is, you know, I don’t know if you know, you have the [inaudible], it’s not like here. You have the kindling and then the pot in the top. You have to watch the rice, the rice boil. I was alone there because the girls attending their own, their boyfriend. So, I was alone and it was supper time, and I saw somebody behind me. He say, “Hi Fannie.” And say, “Oh. Hi Sergeant. How are you?” [laugh] Oh, it’s kind of funny. I said, “Oh. What are you doing?” I said, “I’m cooking rice.” Yeah. Right. In small clay pot. Do you know the clay pot?

JD: I’ve’ seen those

ES: That’s what we all, because four of us have to eat, you know. With song. No fish, no rice, uh, no fish, no meat. Just a little rice with salt, and then it’s not cooked yet, it’s boiling. He said, “What are you doing?” “Oh, I’m watching the rice. I’m cooking.” And then she stay with me, you know. And then very soon she ask me again. You know, they don’t believe what I wrote them. I told no thank you. No. And then I said, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m still too young to get married.” And then my girlfriend came to me, came to the kitchen, one of my friend. She said, “Hi Sergeant.” She talk to him sergeant, too. And then she, I don’t know what they are talking. They were talking away from me. I guess they tell them if they will talk to Fannie if she will go on and marry me [laugh]. She said, oh and then she go away, and then she come there again, almost time for them to go back to the camp. And then I said, “Oh I don’t think so Sergeant.” [inaudible]. (2:30) And then before they go, before they left, she asked me again, and then, you know, I said, “Ok!” [laugh] Ok. And then she was happy. She was, she was there going, they were going home already to the camp to get the jeep, they took the jeep, and then, and then I just say, I wave. I walk with them and then I wave. They were maybe twenty-five, um, yards from where we at the house, and then when she come back [inaudible] “Oh, what happened Sergeant?” and then sabi ko “Oh, she just kissed me!” [laugh] He just went. I said ah! Wow! I didn’t say nothing. Yeah. That happened that way.

JD: Ok. And did you marry in the Philippines then?

ES: Oh yeah. We get married, uh, and then she wrote me letter he’s coming back that week, coming to Palompon, and I go to the church. She write in the number, I don’t know. You know what I destroy the letter? I don’t [inaudible]. She said that we go to church. She write it there what he have to do, to go post office, something like that. “Oh, I just go alone.” I don’t know how to get married. Yeah. And then, and then uh, so we went, because he just have Saturday, Sunday he will go back again

JD: Do you want some more water?

ES: Yeah. Because Sunday when he go back again, you know, to Ormoc, you know, and then we was able, I don’t know what they was doing. I just walk, go with them all the time, and then, I just signed my name. “Sign it there, sign it there.” What is that for? “Oh, you just need to show that you want to get married with me.” We sign at the priest. And then we have to go to post

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 15 office, we sign again for the paper (5:11). So, I don’t know, I sign up [inaudible]. I don’t know what happen. Really, I don’t know what going on that time, because I never attend a wedding. Uh huh. If only there is a wedding, all I want to go is eat. Uh huh. Yeah. So, I don’t know that I’m getting married. And then they said, they give me some money, they said, you buy rice. You buy pig for our wedding. So, I got that money. I got thirty pesos. I got the one pig. Big one. And then one cavan of rice, that’s a hundred pounds. That’s what, for our wedding. So, the next week nag por [inaudible] they were in Tacloban already. They are not Ormoc. They are Tacloban again. And then she said I’ll be coming back there certain day and then we are gonna get married. She, nag, what you call that, bulan, one month. One month. He stay there in [inaudible] and then we get married. He stay in the house, no, the hut. It’s not house [laugh]. And then, uh, what they did, I just go with him, what he’s doing [laugh]. And then we go, I remember, before Sunday we go and married, but we go confession, confession. You confess in the church, and then, of course I go first. I go there and there was only one couple there get married the next day, Sunday. He is my cousin. I did not know that she is getting married, because they are downtown, we are barrio, not too far from each other, you know. So, she confess, and then she, after I go, I did, she went there, she said, “That priest, he’s not shame of me. He asked me if I’m married. Why should I marry you if I’m married already?” I said, “Oh, he want to be sure.” [laugh]. Ay ay ay. Yeah. She was upset. Want to get out of the confession area in the church. Of course the church don’t have any roof, just side. So, that’s what happened, and then the next day, I got my dress, oh no they rent because there’s nothing to buy in there in those days. I rent my cousin’s Filipina white dress, and then I got white shoes (8:28), which I bought it for two pesos. Yeah. That’s what I wear. And then my parents, because it’s Sunday, at night time they were killing the pig and they take a [inaudible] for cooking the rice, and then, that’s it. We go to church. My father does not even go to church with me. I, I asked my, my godfather to stand for me. My godfather. Uh huh. Because he knows me because I always go there and ask money, one centavo. One centavo. He was nice. He give me one centavo.

JD: One centavo.

ES: Uh huh.

JD: Ok. Um. So, you were married in the Philippines, and your parents, did your mom come to the wedding?

ES: The wedding? Oh yeah.

JD: Your mom came to the wedding, but your dad did not, just your godfather.

ES: Yeah. My cousin, my brother, my auntie, my uncle. They were there.

JD: Ok, and how long did you stay in the Philippines after you got married.

ES: Oh. Almost two years. Two and a half

JD: Ok. So, he was stationed in the Philippines there for two and a half years?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 16

ES: No. They was back here already! (9:48)

JD: Ok

ES: They left me there

JD: He left you there in the Philippines.

ES: Uh huh. And then some people, some young kids, your age, they even, because we are not there, no more serviceman in Palompon, no more serviceman in Ormoc, they are all in Tacloban, few of them, and he, he was one of the, I guess point, he was in back here, States.

JD: He was where?

ES: Yeah. He got points during the war, I guess they have by points?

JD: Ok

ES: He was sent back here first, and uh, when I heard that before that he’s coming back, I went to Tacloban and she is gone. We didn’t see each other.

JD: Ok. So, how did he get you to the States?

ES: Oh. She apply for me.

JD: Ok

ES: Because they allow the serviceman, American serviceman, they could, those who are, who are married could apply for their bride. So, they send me application to show that I’m married to him, that they have to have somebody to notarize that he’s really married, you know, and it takes two years, almost two years and a half, because I didn’t come

End of Video File 5

Start of Video File 6

ES: here, uh, see, forty-seven, forty-seven when I come. I take the boat.

JD: You took a military ship?

ES: Uh huh. Ship. I stay in Manila for three months because they give us check-up, you know check-up us if we were TB or something else, you know, before we could come here. They did that in Tacloban and then they stop the ship in Tacloban, so we have to go to Manila, and then in Manila, they have to check us again [inaudible] check-up

JD: Ok

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 17

ES: and uh we, we have to go to the Red Cross check-up again, not [inaudible] just you and I will check me up. No, we have to go the American Red Cross.

JD: Ok. Did you also have, um, so you were in Manila for three months you said?

ES: Uh uh (1:09)

JD: Did you also have lessons, like you had to, um, learn how to be an American wife?

ES: No

JD: No? Ok.

ES: No.

JD: Ok.

ES: Because mostly my uncle, my auntie, they live, they stay in Manila, so I stay with my auntie.

JD: I see. Because, um, the reason I ask is because there was a program where Americans were teaching Filipinos kind of the culture of America before they went to America. So, you didn’t have that?

ES: Oh, I have that, but they did that two days before we take the ship.

JD: Ok. So, you did have to take a class

ES: Uh huh.

JD: Ok

ES: No. They didn’t take us a test, they just explain it there

JD: Right

ES: The American Cross or whatever, they explain it there, you know, because the first wave Filipino, uh war bride, they don’t have the money, they didn’t notify the husband they were coming already. They were stranded, that’s what I hear, in San Diego, I guess, but me, when I have that, we come direct to Seattle because there was no place to dock the ship in San Diego.

JD: Oh. Ok

ES: I came direct to Seattle.

JD: Oh. Ok. I thought you arrived in San Diego, but it was Seattle.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 18

ES: No. No. We were supposed to be there, but they change, and then my husband don’t even know that I’m arrive in here.

JD: He was in San Diego.

ES: No.

JD: He was here.

ES: Because the, his friend, Larry, told him you don’t have to go there because they will take care of her. Yeah, they take care of her she said. So, they, he listen. He didn’t go. Good thing he didn’t go because I dock here in Seattle. Oh, we are seventy, seventy-six, including the kids.

JD: Seventy-six war brides? (3:25)

ES: No, including the kids because some of them war bride got kids already, one of each. Uh uh. So, and then, they go by the alphabet, and Sumaoang is in the bottom the alphabet. I was crying already! “My husband didn’t meet me!” I cry. I said, “Hmm. I don’t care. They send me back.” [laugh] “They send me back.” And then one of the nurses said, “Oh no. That’s ok. We’ll take care of you.” She said. Yeah, cause my husband, I send him telegram, but did not receive it.

JD: He did not receive the telegram?

ES: [shakes head] When we are in the boat already. When we are three days, I guess, before we dock in Seattle, because we supposed to, and when I write there, San Diego, but we are the, they told us that we are not docking San Diego, we go Seattle. So, naturally, I have to send him another telegram, but they don’t receive it. He didn’t receive it, but you know how he knows that I’m in Seattle?

JD: How?

ES: My picture was in the paper [laugh]

JD: Oh my. Really?

ES: My picture. It’s so funny, but somebody, somebody took picture, I said, oh could I have a copy?

JD: That’s my wife.

ES: He was working. He was working because he’s a bus boy. He’s working for, you know, restaurant in hotel. He showed my picture: “Fred Sumaoang’s wife.” And then she quit! You know uh [inaudible], his friend though, he got car. He don’t have a car. “Could you take us to the piers? He knows where they put the pier, what boat, the this. And I was the last, we are the last few of us only left in there. So, I was crying. “I don’t care. I go home.” I heard before that some of them, they were not claimed. The first wave of the war bride. They did not claim. They were

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 19 detained. That’s in San Diego. They were detained in immigration. See? But I hear that already in Manila before we dock, and then my Auntie Rosa, that’s my auntie, she said, “See? Nobody claim you. What happen with you there?” “Oh, they could send me back. It’s free!” [laugh] I told my auntie, “It’s free.” I said, “They could send me back.” But when I was here and he didn’t, oh boy maybe I was one of them they didn’t claim. [laugh] (6:43)

JD: But he showed up and you got off –

ES: No. He didn’t show up! No. They come there, but they cannot get in the pier because they don’t have pass.

JD: Oh. How did you get off the boat?

ES: Oh the nurses, they take us to Fort Lawton. We take the bus. We get out the boat, go ride the bus and take us to Fort Lawton. No. Oh Fort Lawton, yeah, you know, that side of the – it’s not there no more.

JD: Fort Lawton? (7:26)

ES: Uh uh. Fort Lawton. You think you heard that?

JD: I think I have. Ok. So, they took you to the fort.

ES: They took – I was sitting down there, because we are quite a few girls that was not meet, but I was met alright, but he was not able to get to the boat. So, it’s spring. I said, “What kind of tree is that? They don’t have any leaves?” [laugh] Ignorant. He didn’t explain it to me when he write. He just think he was lonesome, I want to see you soon, like that. I said, “Gee.” You know I was by the door, window of the bus, the bus of the army, not the civilian bus, army, army bus. I said, “Gee.” I said to myself, “These tree here don’t have any leaves.” [laugh]. Because I don’t know! That is spring! Still spring. March 27 I arrive here.

JD: March 27, 1947. Ok

ES: So, I was like that just looking. I didn’t talk to the girls there. I just look at them. “Gee.” Every time I saw a tree what no leaves, maybe it’s dead tree.

JD: Maybe it’s dead? Ok. Alright, so, um, when you were leaving the Philippines, you were, you know, coming here to be with your husband, how did your family react to all of that? (9:22)

ES: Oh my family, my mother, father, they were in Leyte. My auntie and my uncle, they are the one brought me to the pier we are supposed to go, but they just say wave. I said, uh and said, “Be careful. You write if he don’t meet you.” I said, “They will send me back.”

JD: Ok

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 20

ES: Yeah. My auntie Rosa, my uncle, they were there with me in there, and then when they call my name, “Bye bye” I didn’t even hug. I just go to there, run to the ship.

JD: Were you excited to come to the States?

ES: No. Not really. You know, when you think of it, it’s too far

JD: It’s very far.

ES: Yeah. You know, it’s far. Cannot, cannot, uh, figure that out. I didn’t think like this. No. I don’t think. All I think is if my husband didn’t meet me, they send me home. Yeah. That’s all though.

JD: Ok. (10:34). And what did you think the U.S. was gonna be like before you got here? What were you expecting?

ES: Before? When I arrive? Well, I didn’t think anything. The only thing I know is that [laugh] [inaudible]. Yeah. I didn’t think of that. Maybe my mind is just look like it’s still a kid, you know, because my parents and even, even I was married already, I didn’t think about sex. I know I sleep with my husband, but what for? [laugh]

End of Video File 6

Start of Video File 7

JD: Alright. So, you got off the boat, you took an army bus to the fort, and how long were you there?

ES: No. Because they were following the bus because –

JD: They were following the bus? Your husband was?

ES: They don’t know that I was in that bus, but one of the guard, the army guard tell them that nobody in there now. They are all in the bus to Fort Lewis, ah Lawton, not Lewis, Lawton. So, what they did, this Toso, the driver, he gots car, follow that bus, and then, we get out there, they cannot get in the, the Fort Lawton, too, because it’s the, the guard will not let them, let them in. So, what they did, they is not the one in charge, they said, “Oh. You just live in Seattle. So, we’ll just send you to your place, to the house of Genevieve Castellano.” That’s the address that they give me. “The taxi will drive you there and maybe your husband will be there.” But, oh no [inaudible] they ride it the taxi, they were two, two. One was drop someplace else, because I didn’t pay attention, and then when we have that steep hill, going down, I said “Oh no. We fall down.”

JD: These are the hills in Seattle? In the city of Seattle?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 21

ES: Uh huh. You know where uh Denny Way is? Denny Way and then go down, is that steep hill to my Castellano’s house? And then the driver said, because the other girl was drop already someplace, I said, I get out of the taxi already, I got my little bag of clothes because he tell me, he told me not to bring too much things. You know, don’t bring it any mat [laugh]. You know how we sleep in back home. We use mat. Don’t bring any mat. So, I follow that, what he told me (2:37). I look at that, nobody around there. So, the taxi man said, “Could I help you, ma’am?” “Oh, yes.” Could you find out if my husband is there?” [laugh] Oh yeah. “My husband is there.” Ok. She went up I stay in taxi cab. He went there. He said, “Oh. Your mom is there.” I said, “My mom?” Because they have the – ah, the Mrs. Castellano was inside with her daughter. “Your mom is there.” “Mom? How can it be mom? My mom is in Philippines.” In my mind. I didn’t tell him. So, I climb. “Could you help me going there?” You know because I don’t know if it’s the right place, you know. So, the driver knock the door. And then is Mary Castellano, the daughter, open the door. “Mom! She is here!” How do they know that I’m coming? So, they told them to let me in and I said thank you to the, um, taxi driver, you know. I don’t miss that I say thank you. And then, you know back home, when you go the house, to leave your shoes behind.

JD: Right

ES: So I said in my mind [inaudible] shall I take off my shoes? I said myself, you know, but I said, hmmm, bahala – I said in Visaya, bahala – I bring my shoes with me. So, and then she was sewing there. Oh, she said, “Oh don’t worry. Your husband will be coming here soon. They are coming here with his friend.” So, I sit down. I keep quiet. I didn’t say nothing [laugh]. Well, I don’t know, you know, I’m not, you know I was quiet before. I’m not talkative. I’m not the talkative. I was quiet. They ask me question, I answer. If I don’t know to answer, if I don’t know what they are [inaudible], I said no, I don’t know. So, that’s all I do. I quiet. Even before when I was here already (5:28) I hardly talk to them, you know I go to Mrs. Pamental’s house there in, ah, eleven avenue. That’s their place Toso live. I just sit down there, don’t say nothing. I go in the back yard. I play with their daughter, Bobbi Pamental, because it’s small baby and I’m used to it because my brother, you know, they are small kids. I’m the one always, my mother was tell me, “Take care of the baby.” You know. Oh. I have to take care of them. Otherwise, there be whipping [laugh]. Yeah, and when we arrive there, we didn’t stay there long. My husband have apartment already, it’s in the attic. Two rooms. Kitchen, dining room, and then bedroom. That’s all.

JD: Ok

ES: Yeah. Because we don’t have much that time

End of Video File 7

Start of Video File 8

JD: Ok. So, we’re gonna start now from you being in Seattle, so let’s talk about the War Brides Association.

ES: Ok

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 22

JD: Ok. So, how did that get started?

ES: Oh. Mr. Mariano Angelie is one of the wife, is war bride, too, they said, what we did, because we don’t know nobody yet, she said, “Why don’t you, why don’t we have a Filipino War Brides in Seattle?” And then, we agree, and our husband, too, agree, and we are only seven then, seven girls, that started the War Brides, and then, what we do, we, you know when, we raise funds, we have, like little dinner, we charge them. We go someplace that we could get some money. It’s not much. And then, that’s how we, uh, get our funds, you know, and then like the serviceman, they, the new serviceman from the Philippines, in the boat, they come here, and then we treat them with our money in there, you know, and then very soon they heard about more the War Bride here in Seattle, but because we don’t know about other, Los Angeles or whatever, they don’t have War Bride. So, they ask, they ask us every meeting if some of them they could join, and then, because we are only seven, because the husband just advisor, not War Bride. So, they ask us if they could join, I said, so we said, we don’t have meeting because they said, oh this girl, she’s a War Bride, she wanna join us, you know So, we have to vote yes because we want to know more people, War Bride from the Philippines, and said ok. That’s how we did and how we make the War Bride bigger. We reach to twenty-five people, members. Uh huh. And we have benefit dance. We charge, oh I don’t know how much we charge for. Fifty cents in the door. Uh huh. And we meet, uh, that [inaudible] Hall on Yesler. That’s where we always have the dance in there (3:22) and the old timer here, they are all single, they want to come and dance with us. Uh huh. Oh, of course, our husbands are there, too. So, we have a little money and what we do, was one time, I said, we deposit it. We have the President, Vice President and Treasurer, we sign the book to withdraw the paper, uh, the money, if we have to spend. So, that’s how we raise up, and then we get bigger and bigger (4:08). We have a dance. When we hear that we have a benefit dance, they come, “When? When? When?” And then we are popular. We really do. Uh huh. Yeah. We did that. When we have picnic, we go to Seward Park because we call that Pinoy Hill and then we go there and we invite those people, too, because they spend money for us. So then the door, we invite them when we have picnic. That’s how we did it. And then, even, uh, in California, one of my friend, she said, “Can I join with you guys?” And then we said, we have to bring up to the meeting first, and they said yeah, but they said how can you join you gonna do nothing. You are in California. I told them. So, but she said, I could help by mailings, you know, something like that.

JD: So you had members in California?

ES: No.

JD: Ok

ES: No. She just want to help.

JD: I see

ES: Uh huh. Yeah, but mostly, here in Seattle and, uh, Auburn, you know, there was few of them, married to white man. And then, when we have somebody sick, in the members or family, we have, we don’t have much money, but we donated twenty-five dollars, like maybe flowers, or

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 23 if they want money, we give them money, we have to select whether they wanted money or they wanted flower. That’s what we do, you know. Yeah, if somebody died in the family, we, we give them fifty dollars, because we don’t have much money yet. Uh uh. (6:21) Yeah. That’s how we do it. More like we are helping each other. Uh huh. Yeah.

JD: So, it was a support system for the other war brides?

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah. And then somebody arrive from the Philippines, we treat them. We give them, uh, more like a picnic, you know, some certain house, in the back yard, not somewhere else. That’s what we do. We accomplished lots of things, the war brides. We donated money to Red Cross. There is a typhoon in the Philippines, we send them money to buy rice, you know, something like that. I don’t know if Josepha mentioned the last time, I guess we went there, we have the slide in Ormoc.

JD: Oh, a landslide in Ormoc?

ES: Uh huh. And then we give the, my girlfriend, because they went home, we give five hundred dollars to buy rice and distribute to those who are, who don’t have money to buy no food

JD: Right

ES: We did a lot of things, but the only thing is, one of the kids, like Betty, they got the, no they don’t have small children, they are taking over, supposed to be, and Betty’s even the President, but they cannot even have a meeting because she is busy with their own activities, too, watching the kids, you know. Uh huh. So, it’s kinda like slow down now, too.

JD: But it was active for how long do you think? Twenty years? (8:40)

ES: Oh more than that. Uh, we start, uh, my husband died thirty five, thirty five years, and the War Brides still strong. Their husband, our husbands still strong because they always help us, like we are doing something, they help us. You know, like, move some things there and we always have the Finnish Hall, you know, or Washington Hall, put away some of the chairs because we are supposed to put away. Uh huh. They help us, the man, uh huh, and table, put away. Even the, you know the Luther King Way, it’s supposed to be Rainier Vista Housing Project, we used to have the Christmas party for the children and you have to put tables and chairs and put away. That’s our husbands help us put those things. They are heavy, too, you know, because we have complete husband yet that time, but later on our husbands pass away, too, you know, and they get sick, you know, but, it’s kinda, it slow down, fundraising slow down, you know. You know, what we accomplish during the consulate, we have, uh, what we call it now. I forget. Filipino Fiesta, used to be, not the one in Seward Park, we have it there in Southcenter, Seattle Center, we put our booth in there, you know. We decorate it Filipino style, and we have, have our booth, nice one, because we got the plaque.

JD: Oh, you got a plaque?

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 24

ES: Uh huh, but I don’t know the one the President died already. I don’t know where it is. Maybe they just destroyed it. She was sick for a long time, you know. They didn’t turn it to the next people that, you know, like the Vice President, because she went to Las Vegas, she went to Cali

End of Video File 8

Start of Video File 9

ES: – uh San Francisco and we don’t have contact with her, and she sold her house she have in Seattle, you know. So, all the things, we don’t know, but, myself, if anything that’s small note, I keep it, I put it in the, uh, box, you know, and you know what happened? They robbed my house, they destroyed it. You ask Betty. All gone. All gone those things. But I think Josefa got some.

JD: She does. Yeah, she showed me a few things

ES: Because, but during my time, as a treasurer, and I was secretary also, too, a little bit here and there. I keep it. I keep it until, because I put in box and put in the corner, but Betty said it’s all scattered. So, I don’t have it. Maybe Josefa got it because she is – I don’t know, our secretary. I don’t have anything. Linda [inaudible] – She didn’t keep her things. She just make a note and put away someplace and no more. I used to, they even ask me, “You mean you keep that again?” I said, “Why not?” You know? Someday we go back with it, but we didn’t have a chance to go back with it, you know. (1:45) And we did a lot of things that, uh, we, we dance folk dance. Well, we don’t have to worry about the folk dance. The one that don’t know how – we go different places. They invite us to –

JD: To perform?

ES: Perform. Yeah (2:04). Uh huh. We go Bremerton. We go Fort Lewis. We go churches. You know. We go, you know, Seattle Center, we did that. I sing, too. [laughs] When the consulate have a show, the consulate, Filipino Consulate, we dance. Yeah. They always ask us, and then, we have Chinatown, the one that used to run the paper, they want us to have a show in the theater, we did that. I usually do. [laughs] Yeah. We have to use – we make our costumes, Filipina dress. We use the style, we all the same, you know, different – uh, during [inaudible] we dance over there, because they, we are well known then at that time, well known, until they have the FYA, different thing, but we go different places. We took our cars, maybe we are two or three cars, to go to that place, including our husbands, they have to go with us. Yeah. We do that. We, oh- when did we go there, what time, but right I can’t even remember the performance. Yeah. We went Tacoma. Yeah. They invite us, you know the Filipino group in Tacoma? Because they don’t have yet their own folk dance, they invite us. We used to uh at least two dances to do that. For me, I act as a boy sometimes. I act as a woman, you know. Yeah. We do that. They, they love to see us. I don’t know why. Uh huh. Yeah. But Betty was still small. She is fun with her own kids, you know, her own group, but we did that before. Yeah. I don’t know how many times we dance is Southcenter. When there was a big occasion, I sing there, we dance. We performed a lot. Yeah. In the States and lots of people, too, watching. Yeah. I guess they are, uh, excited with our uniform, you know, costume, because we got the – I used to have pants sometimes. I use Filipina dress, I said Mestiza dress, different we – we use different thing. One

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 25 time we use all white. We make it. We make it. I sew it. I sew. I sew a lot. Even my Filipina dresses, I sew them. I still have them.

JD: Do you still have your dresses?

ES: Uh huh.

JD: I’d love to see those.

ES: Except the sequins. I don’t sew sequins. I bought that.

JD: Right.

ES: I still have it (6:04) I even send it to the Philippines. I got the girlfriend came here and he went back to the East, and then she open a restaurant. They call us. They wanna borrow our, Corrine and I, they wanna borrow our Filipina dress, at least four. So, two for Corrine and two for me. We send that. It’s alright they use it, but I was disappointed when come back and stink. I think kili-kili, you know. I get rid with it. I cannot use that no more. It’s green, too, and I design it green and white this way. I, I make my own design, color. Maria Clara. I still have my Maria Clara in there. I still have my Filipina dress, they got black, black and what else, it’s in the drawer. I put it there. I didn’t get rid– except the one that my cousin in L.A., they visit me and then she said, she– she said, “Mana, could I have this?” “What?” “This one!” The white one. “Ok.” “How about this one here, the red one?” I said, “You want everything now?” “No, because nobody is making this one there.” “Ok. I’m gonna– we are not doing anything anyway, except few things.” Besides that, I’m getting fat [laughs]. I told her, besides- she is small. She is small. She wanna get my shoes. Yeah. She’s from L.A. Yeah. So, it’s fine that way

JD: Alright. So you set up the War Brides Association to support each other. (8:18)

ES: Uh huh. To meet each other because it’s kinda lonesome, too. Usually, Saturday or Sunday, we meet my house, the next week we go to their house. You know, we go different places.

JD: Ok. So, what would you say was the most difficult part about getting used to living here in the U.S.? (8:42)

ES: Well, for me, well, the one that’s bad for me, well, I should not say bad because I came from the Philippines we got hard time. We, the first place where I was stay was two rooms apartment and then we, they, they sell that building, so we have to go to, my husband apply, where to, you know the housing, then we go to the housing projects in Delridge Way, and then we, they have two bedrooms, but the stove is charcoal. Hot! It’s alright for winter, but for summer, and we have to order the charcoal, and then they demolished that, too, we come here to Rainier Vista, much better because we got it the stove. Uh huh.

JD: And, um, so, it was having to find a place to live, the kind of heat, because it’s cold here. Those are the things that were difficult to get used to.

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 26

ES: Yeah, well, the difficult for me the first time is to go shopping [laughs]. Yeah

JD: That was difficult?

ES: Uh huh. Because I don’t know the money. What I used to do if I go there, here’s the truth, you think I’m ignorant, but I told them to get what they want for that price. I just show them my money because I don’t know. My husband don’t tell me anything. Yeah. That’s the truth.

JD: So money exchange was difficult

ES: No. When you buy, when you buy some food in the grocery, ok? They’re the one how much. So, I just show them the money, how much it cost. That’s what I do. And then one time, one time it’s my husband’s birthday. He like beer.

End of Video File 9

Start of Video File 10

ES: And then, I went to buy beer. Ok? The six pack, and then I show them I want to buy this, that’s in Delridge Way. She said, “Ma’am, you cannot buy this. You are underage.” And I’m twenty-one already, but they think I’m underage. I cannot buy beer. They didn’t let me buy the beer. Yeah. And I don’t have, I don’t have, uh, what’s call that, I.D. They didn’t let me, they didn’t let me. I told my husband, you, I cannot get you some beer. He loves beer. You don’t have nothing to drink for your birthday. [laughs] And then the poor guy said, “That’s ok. That’s ok.” You know.

JD: Ok. So, you came here as a war bride, and you, um, you had the support of other war brides and the other Filipinos in the community. Um, today, when people come from the Philippines, how do you think it’s different? (1:22)

ES: They are lucky

JD: They’re lucky now?

ES: They are lucky when they come here because some of the family is here already, some of their relatives, they come here. They come here as student, you know, they could just call and tell that they have family here, so it’s easy for them, but sometimes somebody, to show off, they come here, they, they think it’s rich in here. You know, they tell us, “Oh, I got, we have servant there. One will cook. One will wash. One will clean the house.” And then my, Loreta Pimental, uh, it’s not Pimental now, he just living here. I was there I said, “What are you doing here anyway when you are better off there?” You know? Why? Why do you have to show off that they have everything there? And there it’s, it’s hard. So, why did they come here? For me, it’s alright because we are poor. We are big family. [inaudible] We are ten children, plus my mother, father, we are twelve. They call it hand to mouth. Uh huh. But these people show off. There was one couple, one family arrive here. I won’t say their last name. The parents, “Oh. I have hand- made suit. In here, it’s made from the factory.” I said, “Well, if you got hand-made suit, you

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 27 should stay there. You are better off than here.” You know. My gosh. That’s the one I don’t like, some of our people, but lately, of course, I don’t go no place no more. I didn’t hear those comments no more. You know. Some of them come, they ask help. That’s what I want, you know, like in the community, because I was a council there for twenty years, even I was not council, I help without pay. If they need help, the President will help to start with, you know, that’s what, where to live, for housing, you know, that’s supposed to be that way, but don’t show off that you are better, you have big house in the Philippines, you know, that’s no good, (4:36) but I cannot say that, to myself in here, but somebody want to find out what grade am I, how many degrees I got, because I talk back to them. They ask why did he, you know, my girlfriends ask me, uh these people ask me what degree do I have. I said, “Why did he ask me?” Because I will tell them I just say, I just say yes or no, but why did they ask somebody else? Why didn’t they ask me, you know? Tell them to ask me. I don’t have to tell you. You know. That’s why I said, one time, this was, we work together in the Eddie Bauer before I work in Boeing, show off, she got too many degree, degrees here, degrees here, and she take American people, too. “Fannie,” we just say [inaudible], “Why is she working in this power [inaudible] for if she got degree? Why didn’t he go get some place that white collar work there?” You know, even in the Boeing when we are, when we work there, I work there, we apply ourselves, you know. I didn’t tell them what degree I have, what schooling I get, I tell them I just say yes or no. I told them, but my supervisor will not say that to me [laughs]. That’s why the supervisor like me there, give me work all the time, overtime.

JD: Ok, um, so I don’t know if you have heard, the U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to rebuild military bases in the Philippines.

ES: I hear that, too, but I don’t know for sure

JD: Yeah, um, so that, the agreement happened in 2015, they started rebuilding some bases, um, and so what, let’s see, um, how do you feel about that? What do you think about the military being back in the Philippines? (7:09)

ES: Well, I like it because, if they do that, maybe they could control these wild people there, you know this, we have one here [laughs] because they could give these people there a job, too, you know.

JD: So you think it would help the economy.

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. I like that.

JD: Ok.

ES: I heard about that, but I don’t know, but not much because I’m just cooped up here, you know. So, I don’t, I, I, I go for it. (7:39)

JD: Ok

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 28

ES: I don’t know if somebody else don’t like it, but they should not think for themselves alone. They should think of the people that don’t have a job. We don’t have much job here still. People here don’t have a job, like my, well, of course my grandson was hurt, was got an accident, but he is not working right now, and my other grandson, he’s just fixing cars, so they cannot get a nice job. I told them to apply city, but, she is, she is forty years old now, but anyway, I go for that. Why not?

JD: Ok

ES: Uh huh. I go for that. If they want me sign to yes. I will say yes.

JD: Alright

ES: Uh huh. Yeah.

JD: Do you think Duterte will make that a problem?

ES: I don’t know. I think sometimes with my, my friend. Sometimes they call me and tell me some, the stories, like this like that, but sometimes I don’t agree with the [inaudible]. You know. I said, “If you don’t know about it, read your paper.” Yeah, I won’t argue with them. Read your paper what they do. What happened for the few years because they said, talking about Obama. I said, “You know, you don’t know what happen with Obama. What help did he give to the United States?” I said, “If he didn’t do any good, he was should not be elected second time.” You know. Uh huh. Yeah. I told him because her husband is white. Uh, I don’t know your husband.

JD: It’s ok

ES: Because he’s more like he’s prejudiced, his husband. I don’t say it, but we observe. (9:57) He’s prejudiced, and of course the wife agree with her, I said, I told, I told her the only thing I saw him because we talk on the phone sometimes, you know, talking about Trump and Obama and the rest of the President. I said you read your paper if you have, look at your book because she have like that, read it what’s he done. Don’t just say he don’t do nothing. She said he don’t do nothing? I said how can he, if he didn’t do nothing why is it that the people elected for second time? That’s all I say to her. I don’t say, I don’t argue, cause the husband is hollering in there they don’t do nothing, Obama. I said to, oh I push her [inaudible]. “Linda, tell your husband to read the paper.” Oh, you know I just tell them. I don’t argue, you know even if sometimes, the son-in-law, oh not son-in-law, they argue that they don’t do nothing. I said

End of Video File 10

Start of Video File 11

ES: “You are not reading the paper. You are just looking at the one that you like to see.” I said. Uh, yeah, the sports.

JD: Oh. Ok

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 29

ES: You have to read the paper, but of course, I cannot read the paper here no more. [laughs] Yeah I don’t argue with them. I said, I told them, if you have paper, read. If you look at the TV, what he done, look at it, not only basketball, football and baseball. Because he football, the husband, that’s all he do. He don’t’ help out the wife, and she complain. I said, well, cause he’s spoiled because they are rich in the East, I guess. They got servants. I said, “You know, in here, when you are married, you have to help the wife and help the husband.” I told him, “Not because you are rich.” No way. Uh no. So, I just told, you know, I said, just like when my husband died, after three years, I got boyfriend, ok we sleep, we live, live, we did, we were good, but when he’s drunk, he’s prejudiced, too. Uh huh. I said, “Why? Why do you ask me then to be with you if you don’t like here? I’m Filipina. I’m from the Philippines.” Oh, uh, especially when he’s drunk. Well, I don’t know if he’s still alive because long time we didn’t, we didn’t see, because he drunk too much, you know, and then after we, I get out from him, he was begging me, begging me to come back. I said, “No thank you. You can keep you or not.” Because he told their wife, uh, my daughter, that I’m trying to sell his house. I said how could I sell his house? It’s not under my name? That’s all I told the daughter. I told Leslie, I didn’t say nothing about selling the house. She is the one told me to sell my house. Yeah. It’s true, that’s true. Told me to sell my house.

JD: Ok, um, well, those are all the questions I have for you.

ES: Ok

JD: Yeah. Thank you

ES: I talk too much

JD: No. You talk good. I like it.

END OF INTERVIEW

Fannie Sumaoang January 2016 Transcript – 30

APPENDIX B – EPIFANIA SUMAOANG SECOND INTERVIEW

Date: July 26, 2019 Interviewee: Epifania Apolinar Sumaoang Interviewer: Jeannie Magdua Location: Seattle, Washington Transcribed by: Jeannie Magdua

START OF VIDEO FILE 1 Jeannie Magdua: So, my name is Jeannie Magdua. Today is July 26. It’s approximately 10:15 or so in the morning and we are in Seattle, Washington. I am here interviewing Epifania Apolinar Sumaoang. And, so, Auntie Fannie, can you tell me, is it ok if I use your words and your image in my research at the University of Hawaiʻi.

Epifania Sumaoang: Ok

JM: Yes?

ES: Yes.

JM: Ok. Thank you. Alright. And I am also here with Betty Ragudos. She’s off camera and is it ok if I use your words in my research at the University of Hawaiʻi?

Betty Ragudos: Absolutely.

JM: Yay. Thank you. Alright. So, I interviewed you about three years ago.

ES: I don’t remember.

JM: Yeah. I know. I’m sorry.

ES: That’s ok.

JM: So, I have been studying your interview that I did and I have some follow-up questions that I want to do with you. So, you don’t have to remember everything you said in the video last time.

ES: No.

JM: But I just want to get some things clearer from the last time, if that is ok. I have some pictures now and some lists, but I want to know, you said that there were seven original war brides with the war brides association.

ES: It was before.

JM: Right. So, can you remember their names?

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 1

ES: What the name? Puring Sabado.

BR: Yes. Auntie Puring Sabado. And what was her real name?

ES: Purificacion

BR: Purificacion

JM: Ok

ES: And then

BR: And I have a picture of her as well.

JM: Wonderful

BR: And Auntie Flora Divina.

ES: Yeah. But she moved to Wapato. And then Josephine Caliente.

BR: There were seven.

ES: Coring Zapata

BR: Auntie Ying

ES: Ying. Yeah.

BR: And Corales

ES: Toning Corales

BR: Now, were these originals? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Here we go.

JM: Ok. Yeah. I’ll take a picture of that.

BR: Lucille Torres

ES: Torres. Yeah.

BR: That’s the original.

ES: Yeah. Uh huh.

JM: Ok. So, we’re looking at a photograph. A black and white photograph with the seven original war brides and getting their names.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 2

ES: Our organization.

BR: From 1949. No. Yeah. From 1949. June 1949. That’s when it started.

JM: Ok. So, do you know what has happened to their families, since … any idea where they …

ES: Some of them passed away, I think.

BR: Yeah. The mothers have passed away.

ES: Coring. Cadiente.

JM: Are their families still in Seattle?

BR: Some of them are. The second generation kids, my age, the daughters, the original ones that remain from 1949, all the daughters are still together.

ES: They take over.

BR: Yeah, but there’s some that have moved away and haven’t had any contact with.

ES: Divina

BR: Yeah. Teddy is still alive, but they’re not originals.

ES: They’re not?

BR: Oh no. Flora Divina and Teddy.

ES: Flora Divina! She’s original.

BR: Her son here in Seattle

JM: Oh ok.

ES: Where they were living before they move to Wapato. Cadiente was President.

BR: I don’t know where she is anymore.

ES: I don’t know where the kids. I don’t have any idea. They are only two, one girl one boy. Cadiente. I don’t have any contact with them.

BR: But the daughters, the four that remained from ’49 until their deaths, mom is the only original left, but the daughters and we are still in contact, but we’ve been together … one was born in ’73 and there are three of them that are two years older than me. Over seventy years

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 3

we’ve been … uh … we still stay in contact and we get together and we still support the war brides.

JM: That’s wonderful. Ok. There was a hall on Yesler where you would have dances. Do you remember the name of that hall on Yesler?

BR: There were two that were very close to each other. There was Finnish Hall and Washington Hall.

ES: Oh yeah. Dances. We raise money. They are two floors.

BR: The dances were held upstairs.

ES: We could have dances downstairs.

BR: They refurbished the Washington Hall. It’s a historical site now and it’s beautiful. We’re having … FANHS is having an event there in October. So, it’s, I mean, it’s remained the same, but they just refurbished it and brought it up to code and it’s really cool cause we walk in there and it just brings back a lot of memories. It had a balcony and a stage where the old … I remember this as a kid cause mom used to take us there for Christmas parties and dances and then when I got older we had to participate and run for Community Queen and all that stuff.

ES: Yeah. I was queen of Filipino community. [motions to picture on the dresser]

BR: Back in the day. Oh that picture there. That’s my dad and her.

JM: Ok. That’s good. Thank you very much for that. You said that, in the last interview, you said that you welcomed servicemen on the boat to Seattle.

ES: Yeah.

JM: Were these Filipino servicemen or all of the servicemen?

ES: Mostly American. I didn’t see any. Because they … Filipino stay in Philippines, but when we come here, mostly majority of them servicemen.

JM: Ok. And what did you do to welcome them?

ES: We have some dinner. Everybody will have so many, maybe two or three, they tour them around because they are not here. You know.

BR: Mom are you talking about in the Philippines or are you talking about the States.

ES: Here.

BR: How did you greet them?

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 4

ES: We meet them. Because they came here at …

BR: Yeah, but you came after Daddy. Daddy was already here. So, how could you greet American soldiers when you went directly to Auntie Bibing’s house. You didn’t know your way around? JM: Was it the war bride’s association that greeted the soldiers?

ES: Afterwards.

BR: But they weren’t even … cause she came here in 1947, so the War Bride’s Association didn’t start until 1949.

ES: No, I’m talking about the Philippine servicemen that they come around here. I’m not talking about the American. There was. Yeah. Filipino.

BR: But how far after you came here. I mean, when you first came here you didn’t know anybody or didn’t know where to go

ES: No. Afterwards.

BR: After the War Brides were …

ES: Organized.

JM: So, the War Brides members would greet the servicemen that came to Seattle?

ES: Uh huh. We took them, we have dinner, we plan to our house, or somebody’s house, and then, yeah, we did that. We go to Josephine Cadiete’s house and we bring some food and treat them. The American, they Filipino servicemen, because they come here.

BR: The Filipino or American?

ES: No. Filipino.

JM: The Filipino servicemen?

ES: Uh huh. Because they come here, too.

BR: Well, you were talking about the American ….

ES: The American? You’re talking about …

JM: Both. So, my question is was it Filipino servicemen or was it American servicemen?

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 5

ES: The one that came from Philippines: Filipino. Because they don’t come here before. Your daddy was here already, but we are treating the Filipino servicemen.

JM: So, the new Filipinos to the United States and you would greet …

ES: Yeah, give them lunch or dinner and then we [inaudible] to stay

JM: So you showed them Seattle.

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. And then, when they stay here two or three days … stay Josephine. I have two of the guides, but I forgot the name.

BR: Yeah, but this was well after World War II.

ES: Yeah. That’s what I’m talking.

BR: Yeah, but after World War II, you know, Daddy was already here, you were here

ES: Yeah. I know. The Filipino servicemen, they come here, too

JM: The new servicemen.

ES: The new ones.

BR: Were these ones from the Korean war?

ES: No. they are …

BR: Or were these the guerillas?

ES: Guerillas. Guerillas from the Philippines

BR: That migrated to the United States. The ones that served in the Philippine Army probably and migrated to the United States.

JM: That’s interesting. Ok. So, they somehow connected with the Filipinos here and you knew they were coming so you would

ES: Yeah.

BR: But that was like Uncle Pinante. Although he served in the Philippines in the U.S. Army, then …

ES: yeah. They come here.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 6

BR: It was well after World War II. They came in the 60s when they brought their families over. And that’s when our mom got involved in welcoming the newcomers, the new immigrants to the …

ES: Because they don’t know, you know. We bring them to the Southcenter [struggles to remember the name of the location]

JM: Seattle Center?

ES: Seattle Center.

BR: But that was not until the 60s.

JM: Right. Cause the Space Needle was built in ’65, no, ‘62

BR: When the World’s Fair was there.

ES: like the Consulate, from the Philippines, we treat them. Because our organization, War Bride, they are well-known.

JM: Right. So, any new Filipinos that came to Seattle, not just servicemen, but all of the Filipino immigrants

ES: Yeah. Like the Consulate, whatever, the popular name in the Philippines, they come here for vacation, you know. They come here we treat them.

JM: So, the War Brides Association greeted them

ES: Cause the new one, they’re more like active when we meet them, you know. Mmmhmm. That time. That’s quite a while now.

JM: Alright. I didn’t get to the date of your wedding.

ES: Oh. What’s the time?

BR: October 14. I have their marriage license right here.

ES: I don’t even know that I got married.

BR: She was only seventeen when she got married. So, it was October 14. Right after the War, I think.

ES: Just after the war, when the Filipino American take over the American. The Filipino that stay here, they went in to help the Philippine … uh … Army and they show them how to do it. Of course, at the time, I was still … green. [laughs]. Yeah. I don’t know nothing, but we treat them. Because our house, my mother’s house, it’s close to the water pump, you know, and they have a

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 7

shower in there. They take a bath there, then after they take a bath, they come to my mother’s house. And I was a kid, we go around [laughs]. Before I come here.

JM: Did your husband have to request permission to marry you. Do you remember?

ES: Go to my mom. To my daddy.

JM: To you family? Yes, he had to ask for your family’s blessing. Did he have to ask his commanding officer?

ES: I guess so because I went to the camp.

JM: You had to go to the camp.

ES: And with him.

JM: With him. END OF VIDEO FILE ONE

START OF VIDEO FILE TWO ES: And then, with his company, his general, we go to the tent, then he said, “Are you sure marry her? [inaudible] a baby!” Huh? [laughs] Have a baby?

BR: Seventeen. I can’t even imagine.

JM: I can’t either. Wow. Ok. So, he did have to ask his commanding officer.

ES: No. He didn’t ask because, you see, my family, cannot speak good English. So, he talked to my uncle, Serio, to ask my parents. See, my husband, well he’s not my husband yet, my boyfriend talked to my uncle to tell my, to ask my father and mother that he is going to marry me. That’s how they do it

BR: But after you got grandma and grandpa’s blessing, when you went to the camp, did daddy have to request from his commanding officer if he could marry you?

ES: Oh yeah. Because he have to sign. We go to the camp, oh what was that, not tent, oh what you call

BR: The camp. In Palompon. Cause they were stationed there. My mom used to wash dad’s uniforms and clothes

JM: And iron them really well

ES: I iron at night. Clean.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 8

BR: Mom was telling me a story the other day, that my dad, you know, he gave her dad a pipe, cause he smoked.

ES: [laughs] He was so happy.

BR: bribing your dad, so he’d like him, so he gave a pipe to him.

JM: Whatever it takes. So, his commanding officer had to sign a paper that it’s ok to marry you.

ES: Oh yeah. Yeah.

JM: I ask that question because I went to Washington, DC last week and I was looking at the archives and some of the archives was requests for permission to marry. So, there were formal papers, a whole file for each soldier that requested permission to marry. So, I wanted … I did not find hers. I was looking.

BR: She didn’t find your papers.

ES: But they ask if they could bring me here.

BR: To marry.

ES: To marry, but after that if he could bring me here. My father, you know him, Filipino custom, “You have to stay here and build your house here!”

JM: Oh. He didn’t want you to go to the United States.

ES: He don’t want me to go there. And you know who convince him? My neighbor because you know house in the Philippines, one there, one there, one there … So, said, “No. She’s married. You cannot stop her now.” Yeah. Because my father would not let me come here, you know.

BR: And mom was the oldest. You know how it is with the oldest.

JM: The first child. So, you said that he did not come to your wedding.

ES: No.

JM: Why didn’t he come to your wedding?

ES: Because he don’t want me to marry him because I’m still young. Yeah. That’s how Filipino is, but my Auntie and my neighbor convince him.

BR: How about your mom?

ES: My mother will not say nothing. You know, in the Philippines those days, my mother, the wife just listen when they have conversation.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 9

BR: She didn’t have any input?

ES: [shakes her head no]

JM: But she came to your wedding

ES: Oh yeah. But my father, no.

JM: So, did your mom think it was ok for you to marry?

ES: Well, he didn’t say nothing, but you know my Auntie, oh she’s a teacher, told him that you better marry her because you don’t have nothing to do with it no more. She will go to States. Cause my Uncle Serio … is he alive?

BR: No, mom.

ES: I don’t remember no more. He will be interpreting with my mother and father. Cause my father and mother could just speak a little English, you know. And then they spoke in Visaya and then my parents will talk to him and he talk to my husband. That’s how it goes at that time. And I don’t know how to speak good English either. Only little bit [laughs]. It’s true. I’m not kidding.

JM: But your husband did not speak Visayan.

ES: No.

JM: So, you spoke English with your husband.

ES: Yeah. Cause he’s Ilocano.

JM: Right.

BR: And that’s the way it was with all the members, in the War Brides initially. Visayan wives …

ES: Ilocano husbands.

BR: All of them, the original four, and after the fact there would be interracial marriages as well. But yeah, in the beginning, the men were all Ilocanos, the wives were all Visayan.

ES: Uh huh. They did.

BR: That’s because they were stationed in

ES: Leyte

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 10

BR: … the central Philippines

JM: Ok. And were they, so they were all members of the Filipino Regiment?

BR: The first four.

JM: Ok. So, your husband came to the United States first.

ES: He was here before, before the war.

JM: But after you got married, he had to come to the United States.

ES: Because before we get married, the commander officer, we were in the tent, you cannot go with your husband when he’s moving out, you know, go someplace else, and he’s sailing to the United States, no, you cannot. Do you agree … the commander said, “Do you agree to that?” Sure. Why? I stay with my mom. My parents. You know.

JM: So, you got married in October of 1945. So, you got married before the War Brides Act. The War Brides Act was in December of 1945, so the transport wasn’t available to you until after that.

ES: Can you imagine that? I’m free to come here. We are free. We didn’t pay because they ask

BR: Well these are soldiers that defended the United States, so they had to give them the privilege, even though they took away a lot of their …

JM: The benefits

BR: The benefits, right. At least dad was a naturalized citizen, you know, cause he was here in the 20s.

ES: It’s good, too, because I got money, fifty pesos.

JM: Why did you get fifty pesos?

ES: Because I’m married to serviceman.

BR: Yeah. They got money. A little bit of income from … while they were waiting around.

ES: I guess they get half of his salary in service and give it to me.

JM: So, that was a military benefit.

ES: Yeah.

JM: Not the Red Cross.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 11

ES: No. No no. From his salary. I just get three months only because he get out from the service. He come here ahead of me and then he get out of service. He didn’t want to go in the service no more. He said too much work.

BR: He got his wife. He was happy.

JM: Right. Ok. So, your husband was staying … first, he was in Palompon, and then he got sent, what, to Ormoc?

ES: No no no. The Regiment, the whole Regiment, land in Palompon, and part of them to Ormoc, part of them to Tacloban, and part of them, Samar, the Filipino Regiment. The Army divided because the Japanese was still there.

JM: Right. So, how much time did you spend together, husband and wife, in Palompon?

ES: No, the first time he come to Palompon, the … what do you call that … they move out, to no more servicemen in Palompon. They go to Dulag, I mean, another barrio, but he come back. He comeo back again, the platoon to Palompon because the boat could get in our place because they got a … what you call …

BR: A port

ES: Yeah, and they stay there for a while. That’s the time he asked my parents to … my uncle, told him to ask my parents that he will marry me. He didn’t ask me direct, but we go out and eat downtown.

BR: Yes. They’d go out to Sunday breakfast and he’d take her to eat hotcakes. When they were in Palompon. They’d go to the camp and then they’d

ES: Because the camp is in our place, across the cemetery.

BR: Before you got married, but she was asking after you got married, how long were you together and were able to stay together before daddy had to come to the States?

ES: Oh, we got married. We stayed two weeks in the Palompon and then he was transferred to Ormoc and then from Ormoc, Tacloban. So, the … what the word? Captain? They come to Palompon with the truck, all the brides go to Ormoc, and then they move out again we go to Tacloban.

BR: So, they followed them.

ES: We followed them and the … our husband see to it that he got place for us outside of the camp, we rent a place. We got four. Four war bride in one camp and then when they come there, they say (pointing), “You sit down there, you sit down there, you sit …” [laughs]

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 12

BR: You didn’t have much time to consummate your marriage, did you?

ES: No. This is true, because they are grouping all the time, they are moving.

BR: They finally landed up in Manila. After dad left, mom had to stay in Manila for months before she got to go on the ship.

ES: But I’m receiving fifty pesos already. Money [holds up her hand]. Because they have to support us, their wives, you know. So, the money that they get from him come direct to me. And you know what? What I did? I give to my mom. Because that’s how, if I living with them, living with them house.

JM: So, you didn’t get to be husband and wife for very long and he had to go. So, let’s see. Federico applied for your transport to the United States. Do you remember like paperwork or interviews before you got on the ship, to come to the United States? Do you remember what you had to do?

ES: Oh, I don’t know. I wrote that thing there, but I don’t know what happened.

BR: Interview, mom, did somebody talk to you before you got on the ship to come here? Did anybody before your transportation to the United States?

ES: Oh no because he got his paper sent to the company

BR: So, just paperwork? Nobody talked to you about it? They just said …

ES: They will tell you only, when I was in Manila, your husband want you to go to the United States. I said, “That’s too far.” [laughs] “Where is United States?” I talked to my Auntie. Auntie Rosa. I said, “Is that ok?” “Oh, yeah. Your husband is there already. You better go follow him.”

BR: She had no idea

ES: I don’t have any idea. I don’t know United States.

BR: Being the oldest of twelve brothers and sisters and then the war and then she couldn’t go to school after the fourth grade.

ES: I didn’t go much in schooling. I could say yes or no. But you know what? I got my paper for the company that we are married.

BR: All your paperwork was prepared.

ES: All I could say yes. I go.

JM: So, you didn’t know where the United States was?

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 13

ES: No way. I didn’t hear. Where is the place? Before we come to … we are seventy-five.

JM: Seventy-five war brides? On the ship?

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. With the kids.

JM: Oh. Including the children

ES: They are only three kids. Two years old and one year old. I don’t have any yet.

BR: Yeah. Just Coring, Purificacion Sabado, mom and her, they were both war brides in the organization, but Auntie had her daughter, Jamie, in the Philippines. So, mom was part babysitter for Jamie.

JM: They came on the same ship?

ES: David C. Shank. What’s that called?

BR: I couldn’t understand her and it sounded like “sunk.” I said, “Oh, that didn’t sound good.” Sunk on a ship.

JM: That’s not good. Yeah. I found your ship list with your name on it

ES: Oh, is it? END OF VIDEO FILE TWO

START OF VIDEO FILE THREE BR: She sent it to me. I was going through all of it and I found and I found a name of another one of the war brides. Marina. Auntie Marina.

ES: Oh yeah. Marina Gerosaga.

Br: And her daughter. I didn’t know Betty Jane was born in the Philippines.

ES: Oh, in the Philippines!!

BR: And her name was on the manifest as well.

JM: That’s exciting! Oh, that’s great!

BR: And Betty Jane, she’s moved. I think she’s in Denver. I gotta try to get a hold of her and send her that.

ES: Lots of them they have children, but me I’m single.

BR: You were so young.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 14

JM: you were married, but you didn’t have a baby. You were by yourself.

ES: Good thing though, the boat, I meet somebody, Mary’s boyfriend, he is working in the boat, so I was ok.

BR: Your auntie

ES: My auntie Mary, he was working in that boat, so I was safe.

BR: Yeah. He was taking care of her. She’s got a relative …

ES: He bring my food into the room and then they found out, “No more that food in there. You go to the dining room.” Because, I don’t go out. I stay in the room, on that bunk, what they call it? Because we are four in this one room. Two bunks up and down, but we are up, because they want the one they got kids, so they got below.

BR: so they were bunk beds in your cabin. There were four wives, plus a child, whoever had a child.

ES: It is kinda hard for us to come here.

JM: Why was it hard?

ES: Because we don’t know where we are going!

BR: Mom never even traveled in the Philippines.

JM: You stayed in Palompon your whole life, so Manila was the first travel you did.

ES: No. Tacloban.

JM: On the other island, just across the …

ES: No. It is not.

BR: Leyte is the island, but Ormoc Palompon, Tacloban…

ES: I didn’t even go to Ormoc. My parents too strict. But my sister can go anywhere! But not me.

JM: Cause you were the oldest.

ES: I’m the oldest. Watch my mama’s babies. [laughs] It’s true

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 15

JM: Ok. When you think about World War II and when you think about immigrating to the United States, how does that make you feel?

ES: Well, the only thing I could think, where is United States? Am I safe over there? You know. Because I never travel. The only … I travel when they told us the first time they took us to Tacloban, to take the boat from Tacloban and they change the order. You have to take the boat to Manila to the United States. I said, “Oh boy. I don’t have money. I give it to my mother.” Because I don’t know, those days, we don’t keep money, the kids, to parents. We give it to parents, the one who take care of us. So, I don’t have money. What I did, I go back to Palompon. I ask my money from my mother at that time. I need money to go to Manila. That’s the way it goes. But I’m glad that I met some of the war brides in the boat already … the one that got kids. I don’t feel very lonesome because I play with them.

BR: Were you excited or were you afraid or …

ES: I was worried where I’m going! Where am … where is Manila? You know. Because I never travel. Some of them they say they travel already, but me, no. My parents is very strict on me. I cook. I wash the dishes. You know. I’m the one to take care of them because my mother, we got how many?

BR: Twelve

ES: I’m the oldest. Eight years old I start cooking. But I did it very good.

JM: I believe you. Ok. So, imagine you didn’t marry a U.S. soldier and you stayed in the Philippines. How is your life different?

ES: Like after I got married?

JM: Just imagine you didn’t marry Federico. How do you think your life would be different in the Philippines.

ES: Oh. I’ll work in the farm. My auntie’s farm planting rice. Really. You know back home, when you’re kid you learn how to take care of yourself. When you are six years old, you know how to wash dishes, cook dinner and then when you are big enough, go to your auntie, you help them plant rice.

BR: But if you hadn’t married daddy.

ES: I’m dead now.

BR: Yeah. I mean, it’s the same. It would be the same because, even now with the relatives that are still alive there and she’s lost quite a few of her siblings, but the life is hard, and they’re always asking support and my mom, my grandma. You know. My mom was probably sending money to my mom. I mean, if she wasn’t here she couldn’t help them. And if she wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be here. My brothers wouldn’t be here. And my mom was able to, she … for not

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 16 having the education in the Philippines, this woman, you know, she went up, she was a woman before her time cause she took advantage of every opportunity of work. She didn’t even tell my dad that she got her first job. Remember? She had a friend here that worked at Sportcaster, sewing, and she told my mom, “Do you want to work?” And my mom said of course, but my dad wanted her to stay home and take care of the kids.

ES: My husband said, “I can support you. You stay home.”

BR: Yeah, but mom was, she was bullheaded.

ES: You know what I do? When my husband goes to work, take the bus, cause we don’t have car. He take the bus, because we are close to the bus line. He take the bus. I take the next bus. [laughs]

BR: She went to her job

ES: He was, he don’t know that I’m working

BR: He was the one, you know how, when they were sewing at Sportcaster, which later became Eddie Bauer, but anyway, they cut the materials and mom would be the cleanup woman and she’d clean and clean. She’d get on the bus. She’d be all dirty and one day my dad got off early and they were on the same bus.

ES: I sit down in front of the bus. I don’t know that they was in the back. Because I been doing that for a month. You know I got money I don’t know what to do

BR: She’d beat my dad home and get cleaned up and our neighbor took care of me and my brother by that time when she got her job but he didn’t know but she got caught. You know, it catches up with you. And what did daddy tell you on the bus?

ES: How could you … you are dirty?

BR: You’re so dirty. Because she was covered with, you know

ES: Because you know factory is got dust.

BR: Cleaning and assembling all the boxes and materials and then one of the Filipino women, Bobby Pastores, and she was a war bride. That, on her lunch time, “I’m gonna teach you how to sew.” On the machines. So, on her lunch time, mom was practicing.

ES: Break time. And then when I know how to sew, they talk to the boss, “Fannie could sew now. They don’t have to clean the floor.”

BR: So, she did that and went up from there. And she brought material home and made us coats and jackets. I had so many homemade dresses. You know?

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 17

ES: Well, why not? It cost too much to buy it ready made. I could sew. I cut them.

BR: She worked at Eddie Bauer, and then after Eddie Bauer, another one of her friends worked at Boeing, told my mom, she went to Boeing and spent twenty-five years there and the last job she had, mom was one of the only sewers … she went from sewing the upholstery for the airplanes to doing aerospace doing the installation for the space craft.

ES: I make money in Boeing. Cause if I know how to do it, why not show it to them? Cause if you just wait for somebody to talk to you … blah. Don’t do any good. I cut all the time. When they give me good clearance for my paper and I be the one to teach the new one in Renton Avenue and then I go Everett and then come to Plant Two and then back to Kent.

BR: And you went and worked in Everett, too.

ES: Uh huh. I work in Everett.

BR: you know, she shared her wealth, with her knowledge and other Filipinos came in, got them jobs as well, you know, what they need to bring them in.

ES: That’s why they said, “Fannie, where did you learn?” [points to her head] Use your head! You learn how.

BR: you have to be open. And then when she had the money, she’d save it up. My dad didn’t want a car. He was very frugal. Mom bought our first car. Cash. She didn’t want to live in the projects anymore.

ES: It’s only $3,000.

BR: She said, we’re buying a house.

ES: My husband said, “No. We’ll stay here in housing projects.” “Oh. We sign that house there the one …” “Oh no. It’s too much.” I told him, “If you don’t come with me, I sign it myself.”

BR: Well, you know, daddy lived through the Depression, you know, and it was really really hard. He was tight. Ilocano tight.

ES: Yeah. If I’m not stubborn, we don’t have much money then if I didn’t do my way.

BR: And a lot of the women, they’re strong, you know. The Filipino women. A lot of the war brides did the same thing and they shared amongst themselves, you know, jobs and …

ES: When somebody got better job, we want to get a better job, too, we follow, and then, when I go Boeing, ah! Come on!

JM: So, you supported each other with jobs and information

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 18

ES: We have to find a way that we could go up, you know

BR: The opportunities, they got the opportunities and they go for it

ES: That’s what we do, but now I’m retired

BR: A long time, she’s been retired since 1962

ES: Yeah. I hide money. My mother and father don’t know anything. I hide money.

BR: But you sent money home, too.

ES: Yeah. I send my money to my mother, you, because they have hard time in Philippines

BR: So, that’s really, that’s the difference. It would have been the same in the Philippines and when she took me there, and I was already thirty-five years old. It was after my dad passed away, three years after my dad passed away, and I visited for the first time, nothing changed. There was no electricity. There was no, you know, plumbing. Oh my God, the bathrooms were a hole in the ground, and the cockroaches were on the ground.

ES: [laughs] she was scared!

BR: I was scared.

ES: I said, “They will not bite you.”

BR: And then now, when you see little ants or a little spider, mom is going, “Kill it! Kill it!” In here! But the cockroaches, you know, their bodies are so big over there. I was screaming. “You have to come to the bathroom with me! I’m scared!” [laughs] But yeah, and the last time we were there, in Palompon, there were still, my cousins were still living in nipa huts, even her youngest sister.

ES: but my house, I built, when they were still alive, I built house for them.

BR: Yeah, but it was a small house

ES: It’s small, but nice.

BR: Yeah. That’s where we stayed, but, the bathroom facilities, oh my God. And you had to pump your own water.

ES: But not now though. Nice now. The last time I went, but of course, my mother father died already.

BR: Her mom died 98 right? She was ninety-eight years old.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 19

ES: But my brother’s house, they are nice now. They are … they learn to improve themselves, you know, but the one that cannot afford, they are the same, you know.

BR: The ones who didn’t seek out work from the ships

ES: Because my brother work on the ship, better

BR: Rafael lost his arms, so he got a good pension, so he built a house in Palompon

ES: Even now, when I went home, cause the children married somebody outside of Palompon, so they built their house nice. Yeah. They are improving.

BR: It’s just Manila that’s really, you the sections of it … whoo! The rich rich rich and the poor poor poor. END OF VIDEO FILE THREE

START OF VIDEO FILE FOUR BR: Have you been there?

JM: Not yet.

BR: My goodness. It’s quite a shock.

JM: I plan to go to Samar.

ES: Samar?

JM: Yeah. That’s where my mom is from.

BR: That’s where Auntie Turing was from. Marlen’s mom was from Samar.

ES: But Samar pa Leyte, little bangka can goes, you know.

JM: Yeah. Now there’s a bridge.

BR: yeah, to Cebu also, on the ferry.

ES: but it’s a half hour … ah … day

BR: Yeah. Half day on the

ES: But you could see the land. By Palompon across.

BR: I love the Visayas, compared to the northern part. I haven’t been down to the south ever, but … everybody always say oh don’t go to Mindanao because of the Muslims.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 20

JM: I have professors from Mindanao and they say the dangerous parts are really just very small. It’s a giant island. So, almost all of the island is safe, but there are just really small places that …

BR: you stay away from.

JM: Yeah.

ES: Leyte is improved, because a lot of the war brides, they built houses in there.

BR: And some of them go back there, when it’s winter here they go to the Philippines and it’s summer, it’s nicer, it’s cooler, but warm and May to June, that’s the worst time to go to the Philippines, but if they go October, November, December, it’s summer like here, a little bit more humid.

ES: Yeah. It’s improving Leyte, but I don’t know Cebu.

BR: Cebu is beautiful, too. We went there. Remember?

ES: But you don’t go on the outside, you just in the city. You know, city is different than outside, just like ba Leyte. Downtown it’s ok, where we live, but in the outskirts they are still living in the huts, nipa hut. You know. Just like here. So, those people that come here and the husband work hard, they’d rather stay in the Philippines, they got beautiful house. Oh my God.

BR: Yeah, well the cost of living is not as high.

ES: They got social security here and they go there. They got a beautiful house. That’s why they asked me to settle down in Leyte, Palompon. I said, oh no. I got too many brothers there and they [holds out her hand] “we don’t have nothing to cook.” It’s true, you know.

BR: Yeah. They lean on her to support and all that stuff.

ES: You cannot support. I got too many brother, of course my sister, my … next to me, but some of my brother, it’s kinda hard, you know. Especially those they think life is just alright. They don’t go to school. Oh boy! The kids! When I went home, that’s how I feel. Because, you know, back home, you pay for the schooling. You pay. From first grade up. Good in here, you don’t pay for …

BR: Public school Private school you pay.

ES: Oh yeah. I know. It’s kinda hard. When I go to school, my mother, she save little money here. She bake bibingka, you know, cake, and sell it so I could continue my schooling, but the war stopped me. You know I didn’t go to school much. That’s all I could speak English. That’s why they said, when I come here, said, “How did you learn how to speak English?” “I go to school.” “Here?” I said, “No. Philippines.” Because when my husband work in the hotel, I meet him there with her [pointing to Betty], we pass to the kitchen and we sit down there.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 21

BR: Go down the alley and you go to the kitchen and see all the workers there. Daddy was a busboy at the … it’s called the …

ES: Gowman Hotel

BR: Gowman Hotel. It became the Stewart Hotel. He was a busboy, you know. Very menial job, still, he supported the family. And then with his military, you know, a job opened up at the federal building and dad was a custodian there until he died. He got cancer and I blame it on asbestos, probably.

ES: You know, before, too, even you are the Filipino here educated, they cannot get the job.

BR: Yeah, the professionals that come over, all the standards of teaching and all that, they plummet, once you get here. They say, oh you’re not qualified. You don’t have this this and this, and they can’t get, you know, the doctor jobs or whatever, they have to start at the bottom of the totem pole.

JM: So, when you go back to Leyte, last time you went back to Leyte, you felt like everything was different.

ES: Yes. Different. Well, I didn’t do too much going around because I have only the short time. I try to spend time with my family, you know. My mother was still alive, then my brother.

BR: The ones who still live in Palomopon. She’s got a couple of them in Mindanao. In Davao.

ES: Mostly there now. They are in Davao. They are not Palompon.

BR: That’s where all of the jobs are.

ES: And some of them they work in the ship. So, they got good job and the wife take care of the kids at home. Just like here, too.

BR: Unlike here. The wives have to work.

JM: Ok. So, the young Filipinos here, the young Filipinos in the Philippines, do you feel like they know about World War II and the Filipino experience

ES: Well, it depends how the parents tell them, you know, but for me, I was still twelve, thirteen years old. I know about the war because we run around with my brother here [points to side], my bundle here [points to head], we run to the mountain even it’s muddy or whatever. See. I cut myself here.

BR: Yeah, she’s got a big cut from running and, what was that a nail or something?

ES: No, not nail. It’s a grass got thorn and it hit me right here and it got infected because I don’t take care of. We don’t know how to take care of it. Infected. Boy, I could hardly walk. But, you

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 22

know what? I think of the Philippines during war, I think we are very lucky because my mother, brother, father, we are alive, but my other sister, you know, the whole family was killed by Japanese. Bayonet. They kill even the baby. They kill it. Because somebody was able to escape. He was not killed. So, they told them who was killed in that family. Because we are on the other side, the western side of Leyte. The family. Lots of them killed by Japanese. They are mean. Even the baby. What can the baby do? But if they kill the parents, they cannot take care of the baby. Nobody. Because it’s not like the American they take care of the kids, but the Japanese, baby, they will just kill. Because I remember my Auntie, cousin, Lourdes, you know the sister of Mark [to Betty] the whole family. Only one of the sister was slip because she is in the other side with us, but the whole family was killed. They bayonet them. To think of it, it’s too bad because we are closer in there. You know the whole barrio in our area, we are all related: Omega, Apolinar, mga all the last name, they are all related. So, we know each other.

JM: So, the families helped each other.

ES: One cup of rice, make it porridge so they can have, the kids, because during the war, oh boy, we don’t have much to eat.

JM: But the families helped each other. You would run to the houses.

ES: Especially the babies. The one that … I take care of my brother and sister. I’m cooking the lugaw, porridge, and when it’s cooked, we feed them. You know. Never mind me. I eat guava, fruit, I’m fine. Yeah. We don’t have much to eat during the war.

JM: Do you think that the young Filipinos understand that?

ES: Well, the young Filipino, I don’t know if they teach them, but if the parents tell them how hard it is, they will know, but if they will just close their eyes, their brain about the war, World War II, they won’t know.

BR: Even for me, you know, I couldn’t conceive, I just knew there was a war, but I didn’t know the ravages of it, you know, until the war brides, you know when you get older, then we look … and my dad never hardly talked about the war. He got wounded and he carried the bullet in his leg until he died, but mom got, she got a little pension from that. Daddy hardly ever talked about that. Through the war brides, you know, we got, here’s Uncle Mariano, the one who created the war brides. This is a short history, here, of how it came about. Yeah. We made books for all the … me and Evie put the books together.

ES: You know what, during the war, because the Japanese come stay in Palompon, we have to come down to town, because otherwise, if you stay in the mountains, they cannot see us, they will kill everybody, even babies, so everybody come downtown. I remember that.

BR: Even when the Japanese were there?

ES: Yeah.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 23

BR: Was this after the war?

ES: Before, during the war.

BR: Yeah, but if you came down from the mountain, wouldn’t they kill you?

ES: Because we hide. They want the Japanese that they will come down to work with them?

BR: I’d be scared.

ES: But it’s better to come down than they hunt you in there because they hunt you, they see you, they will kill you right there. But if you come down, it’s ok.

BR: So, you had to cater to their needs?

ES: Yes. It’s true.

BR: I guess that’s what war is about.

ES: They are kinda mean, the Japanese. But when I hear the American is coming, oh we are so happy. We are in the mountain, high and then we could see the ocean and the big ship are coming. We are jumping and here the plane, American plane, dropping bomb in there. I said, “We supposed to get out from the place.” I know that because I was there. They drop leaflet get out there because we are bombing the place. We are stubborn because we are safe in the high mountain, but they start bombing we run to Rizal, go to the water. Oh my God. And, here I’m carrying my brother and my bundle. Well, if there is only camera those days, I have something to show, but we do not. You know we walk close to the big street. We walk in the plane area, so the Japanese cannot see me. Can you imagine how many brothers I got? They are following me. They have a mud. Because we don’t walk in the road. We go to the muddy area because the Japanese will not go there. Yeah. Oh, I could just imagine now, you know. But there’s not camera those days.

BR: Yes there were, you know, the news people. They have footage of the war and World War II, just not for individuals. END OF VIDEO FILE FOUR

START OF VIDEO FILE FIVE ES: Even the one have camera before the war, they cannot carry it.

BR: Leave it behind. You just carry your essentials.

ES: All you do is carry kids and then the food, the important things because even we have little food, it’s good enough for us, you share, you know.

BR: And the rice goes a long way

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 24

ES: Yeah. I don’t forget that. I was the oldest in the family and sometimes my mother is pregnant.

JM: She had twelve children. Ok. That’s all of the questions that I have. Do you want to say anything else about your immigration to the United States, your experience?

ES: Oh, coming here. Ok. I was married already with my husband. They write me that when your paper arrive, be sure to fill it up and get it notarized and the only thing I know to notarize it, my uncle. He filled up the paper, notarized it and I have to send it to him, here in the United States and then he will be the one to apply for me and then when I got the paper from him, I go to my uncle, “What shall I do with this?” Because I don’t know what’s going on? He said, “Oh, your husband wants you to go to the United States.” Go to the United States? [laughs] Well, you go to the American Embassy and show them your paper and they will help you right there. It’s true they help me. And then they approve. Was in Tacloban, Leyte, but they cut it off the immigration there. You have to go to Manila to continue. So, I did. Well, it’s alright to Manila because my Auntie Rosa was there, you know, working in there. So, they help me where to go and then if I know the place already I go myself and the American is the one take care of us. “Oh, your paper is complete. All you do is ask your husband …” They send you money. Two hundred dollars because some of them, you don’t have money when arrive here, the husband didn’t meet them because some of them they are someplace else, you know. They don’t have money to buy food. So, they have to go to … Red Cross to get food. For me, I was lucky because I was in the second group the war brides to come here and they told us already that you have to have some money because in case your husband is not right there, you could buy some food for yourself. So, I wrote your daddy, “I need two hundred dollars before I could come there.” So, they send me right … to the Red Cross. They didn’t send it direct me. To the Red Cross. I was in Manila.

JM: So, the money got sent to the Red Cross and you got the money from the Red Cross?

BR: When you landed here?

ES: Uh huh. Yeah. So, I was good. I was alright, but I didn’t spend wildly the money, like some of them they blew it out, but me, oh no. I just get the money because we take the ship coming here and supposed to be one month, but seventeen days only cause we got the big ship.

BR: Seventeen days. I thought it was a month. But they were diverted from San Francisco. They were supposed to land in San Francisco because they changed the route she ended up in Seattle and there was kind of a mix-up because my dad wasn’t able to meet mom in Seattle. He couldn’t enter.

JM: I remember that story. I tell it a lot. I tell it to my military dad. He finds it very funny. Ok. I really think that’s it.

BR: Ok. Do you want to take a picture of these.

JM: I do. Maraming salamat po.

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 25

ES: Walang anuman. Tagalog. That’s ok. I don’t much Tagalog either. When I come here I don’t know how to speak Tagalog.

BR: I just get a few words from Visayan, Ilocano, Tagalog. I took a Tagalog class once, nobody to practice with.

JM: It’s a very difficult language to learn.

BR: So, I pick up words through a lifetime and I put them together, they’re all mixed up and I just get laughed at. I said forget it.

END OF INTERVIEW

Fannie Sumaoang July 2019 Transcript – Page 26

APPENDIX C – LUCY HAYNES MCCANTS INTERVIEW

Date: July 24, 2019 Interviewee: Luciana Haynes McCants Interviewer: Jeannie Magdua Location: Seattle, Washington Transcribed by: Jeannie Magdua

Start of Video File 1

Jeannie Magdua: So my name is Jeannie Magdua. I’m a student at the University of Hawai’i in the Asian Studies program. I’m doing a research on Filipina War Brides, and today is July 24. We’re in Seattle, Washington and I am recording Lucy Haynes McCants

Lucy McCants: Lucy McCants. Yeah.

JM: Ok. So, what I need to know is, is it ok with you if I use your image and your words in my research?

LM: Ok.

JM: That is ok with you?

LM: Yeah.

JM: Ok. Good. And so if you could please restate your name for me. What is your name?

LM: Luciana Haynes McCants. Because I was … when I came here I was Haynes and I was married twice.

JM: Ok. Great. So, I’m going to start with some questions. If you don’t remember, that’s ok. If you, you know, if you remember other things that I don’t ask about, you can tell me those, too.

LM: Ok.

JM: So, I know you have some things prepared that you want to, um, say, and so we will just go as …

LM: I’m just trying in terms to in terms of years where I lived when I left the Philippines and when I arrived here.

JM: Ok.

LM: When I stayed in Chattanooga, when I stayed in Fort Bliss, and then my husband went to Korea, and I stayed in California [inaudible] instead of going to Chattanooga. And then I stayed

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 1 in California and then when he came back from Korea, I, we moved here, he was assigned in Washington, Fort Lawton. We stayed there for, well say, a couple of years. Couple, three years. And then, they are, we were shipped to, we went to Europe and we stayed in Europe for four years, from fifty-four to fifty-eight. We enjoyed that thoroughly. And then he came back here and then we [inaudible] in the military while I continued to work in the government. I had a job. I find little jobs here before I went to Europe, but when we got to Europe, I went into the civil service, and so I worked for the government, too. So, from there, we moved here to Washington, I continued working and I worked for the attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service, District Counsel, and stayed there for twenty years until I retired, and I retired from the government, so I also had a pension there.

JM: What year did you retire?

LM: I was the secretary there for the District Counsel, and uh, and then, I had the [inaudible] award from my work with the Treasury Department see cause I [inaudible] Treasury and then when I retired from the government, I went into travel business cause everybody didn’t want me to quit [inaudible] and my job was so nice. It was so easy for me. Because they were all lawyers you know, all professional and I was their Wonder Woman really. I took care of all of them, their secretaries, I was the, more or less, administrator. So, I was, I was happy in my job. And I went into the travel industry. I traveled a lot. I did cruises and tours.

JM: You did what? Cruises and tours?

LM: Yeah.

JM: Ok.

LM: So, I went into the Orient, Southeast Asia, so I had the tours, for seven years I went to, from here, I went to Bangkok, to Singapore, and Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Hong Kong, you know. And then, I did that seven times because everybody loved the tour. But anyways, I continued until I was, oh, about, almost, I’m ninety-nine now, so eighty-nine or ninety, and I didn’t want to work anymore, but Lester still continues with his son, my husband.

JM: And that is your current husband?

LM: Yeah.

JM: Ok.

LM: Still … [inaudible], not much, but he loves to go on cruises all the time, so we still have to go, so we just, cause he loves the … all the nice ships, but I said I don’t want to fly anymore. I don’t want to fly over ten hours anymore, so that’s limiting. So, here is where we stay. We’ve been here for ten years. We moved from, well I had a home in Bellevue when I was married my first husband, I had a home in Bellevue, and when he died in 1999, 1997, when I continued to do travel, and then Lester was a friend of his. He was helping me around, so then in about two years we went to the Philippines. Everybody was questioning this relationship.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 2

Carlotta Luna: So, they got married.

LM: So then we got married over there.

JM: Ok.

LM: So, we got married. So, I’m McCants, so we came back here, and he had oh, um, three, two apartments, here in Seattle, which is about three blocks from here. They’re right down there, and uh, so we moved from my house to here in 2006. And, that’s a long time we stay here, but I sold my house to my daughter, to Lucy and her son so that we can keep it in place but still in the family, so I can go there anytime I need to sleep there, stay there [inaudible] we’re all … that’s the Filipino way, you know. That’s not great sometimes. [laughs]

JM: Let’s pause the video while they do this. END OF VIDEO FILE 1

START OF VIDEO FILE 2 JM: Ok. And what is your name:

Lucille Ramos: My name is Lucille Ramos

JM: Lucile Ramos? Ok.

LR: I’m Lucy’s daughter.

JM: You’re Lucy’s daughter. Ok. Are you the first daughter?

LR: No. I’m the youngest daughter.

JM: You’re the youngest daughter. Ok.

CL: I’m Carlotta Luna and I am mom’s oldest daughter. We got three kids and three grandkids. They are beautiful.

JM: I bet they are. Ok. We’re gonna go back to Tita Lucy. Alright. So, I’m going to ask you some questions that I’ve prepared and just answer the best you can. Ok. So, can you describe to me the town that you grew up in in the Philippines.

LM: Oh. I grew up in a place called Balamban. It was in the western side of Cebu. This is Cebu (holding hands up). We are on the western side. Samar is on this side and I’m on the other side. I was born in a place called Balamban. (spell: B A L A M B A N)

JM: Thank you.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 3 LM: And, um, when I was, oh in that house that I grew up, my father had built this house, it was supported by coral. Half of it was in the sea, the other was in land. When it’s high tide, we go jump out our window so go swimming in the ocean [inaudible]. I move from that place, from Balamban, when I was in the fifth grade [inaudible] until I finished school and I went to Silliman University, a Presbyterian university in Dumaguete in other island, but after war … no … during the war because I had my, I married my boyfriend, my childhood boyfriend, he was their father (pointing to daughters at the table).

CL: Which we never, I never saw, because I was too young when he died

LM: Yeah. He was in the military when the Japanese were there. We married because of the war. He need to go to the military and I was running around all over the place with my family. And so, he uh …

CL: Never remember him. I never remember

LM: … before, let’s see, maybe after four years, four years, I think, um, my youngest son was still in my … and he was drowned, with uh, he was on a mission on Bantayan Island to go to Cebu City, and the ship was, the boat …

CL: … capsized

LM: … collapsed, I guess. They never found him, but they found a survivor.

CL: He wasn’t a good swimmer? He doesn’t know how to swim? Does he swim? My dad? That’s why I, I don’t swim. We can’t swim. She’s a very good swimmer …

LM: Yeah, I swim a lot, when I was a young girl, but anyway

JM: What was his name.

LM: Carlos. My husband? Carlos

CL: So, I’m the junior, Carlotta. Lucille is mom’s junior, Lucille.

JM: I see. And your son’s name?

LM: Carlos.

CL: Carlos.

JM: Ok. Carlos. Named after his father. Ok. And what year was it that he died?

LM: In 1944. He died in 1944. Because Carlotto, my youngest son was not born yet and he was … I think he was … in February or something [inaudible] on a sailboat. And so that was strange.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 4 I had sort of, I don’t know, a premonition or somebody and I thought that he was coming. He was there. He came [inaudible]. But anyway …

[pause for arrival of food]

JM: How old were you when you married your first husband? (7:01)

LM: I must be 18, 19. I was born in 1920

JM: And you married in …

LM: Huh?

JM: And what year did you marry?

LM: In October

JM: In 1940?

LM: In 1939. Before the war… before the Japanese started. I try to … a little bit more about the date.

LM: Anyway, during the war, I stay with my in-laws, they had, we had sugar plantation in Bogo

JM: In where?

CL: In Bogo. B O G O

JM: Thank you.

LM: The southern part.

JM: The southern part of Cebu?

CL: No. Northern part.

JM: Of Cebu?

CL: Northern part.

LM: Close to Leyte and Samar.

JM: Close to Leyte and Samar?

LM: You can go maybe by boat.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 5 LR: Close to Polompon. You know Polompon?

JM: I know where that is (9:06). So, it’s close?

LM: [inaudible] if you see the map, you know.

JM: Ok. So, I just want to make sure I have it straight. So, you grew up in Balamban?

LM: Hmm?

JM: You grew up in Balamban.

LM: Yes.

JM: And your dad had built your house. Half of it was in the water. Ok. Um. You went to school and … so, what language did you speak at home? When you were growing up. What language did you speak?

CL: Visayan

LM: Visayan

JM: Ok. And, um, did you learn English in school?

LM: Yes. In first grade.

JM: In first grade.

LM: So, by the time you’re in second grade you have to speak English. Because in my school, you must speak English anywhere on the ground because if you didn’t, if somebody caught you not speaking English, you have to wear a dunce, not the cap, like a little

JM: like a lei?

LM: Like a necklace. It says “speak English.”

JM: Ok.

LM: That’s how we, we really learn. I don’t know how quickly we learn, but by the third grade, second grade, they taught us in English. (10:42)

JM: Do you remember any of your lessons? Like, I know there were some songs.

LM: [holds up her hands and sings] – I have two hands, the left and the right, hold them up high, clean and bright [humming]. Oh, you know that.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 6 JM: My mom used to sing it to me when I was a little girl.

CL: How you learn that?

JM: My mom used to sing it to me. Yes.

LM: And then, outside our house is a fisherman thing. Every day, he go out fishing, and uh, when they come back, we go out and we buy the fresh fish, right there where we come back. When I was two or three years old. It’s very clear in my mind. When they line their net [inaudible] when they would take care of their nets, we would dance. There was a little sister. Not my little sister. She was a daughter from my father’s … [nods her head]

JM: Other woman.

LM: Yes. She lived with us, and so, we go out there in front of the, of the fisherman, we would sing the song from the [inaudible singing] we just made it up from the words as we hear it from the movie those songs and we dance and they give us money.

JM: The sailors gave you money?

LM: Yeah. A penny or something.

JM: How old were you?

LM: Maybe two or three. Three years old maybe. I think. And uh, she was about my age. We were just two months apart. She was born November. I was born in January.

JM: Ok. So, are there other childhood memories from the town?

CL: [asks about the sister]

LM: Bibing? My other sister in the Philippines. We have never contacted each other.

JM: Ok. So, um, when did you learn Tagalog?

LM: In Manila. Everybody speak different dialect and we learn a few words. I learned a little bit when I went to Manila after the war. And these kids were already [inaudible]. I went to continue my studies. Cause I was there first year in … when war broke

JM: So, you finished college after the war?

LM: Sort of finished, but I didn’t graduate because I got married. The day that my [inaudible] I had to go back to [inaudible]. We got married the day that I’m supposed to have my graduation. So, I forgot about that and got married [inaudible]. I had to go to another province from Manila where I was going to school. We had to go to Pampanga. END OF VIDEO FILE 2

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 7

START OF VIDEO FILE 3 LM: … town and where the Clark Air Force Base was. That’s where we were married.

JM: You married at Clark Air Force Base?

LM: Clark. Yeah, Clark.

JM: Ok.

LM: We married at Clark Air Force Base and the person at that time was, yeah the person at that time died, too, same day. We were married April 15, 1948. Who was that? I don’t know

[side conversation with the daughters]

JM: Ok. So you were married first to Carlos, well first to Carlos and he died in 1944.

LM: Oh you mean my first husband.

JM: Your first husband. When he died, did you stay in Balamban with your children?

LM: Yeah, I stayed with my … we stayed in Bogo. That’s where they (pointing to her daughters) they are. They have a hacienda, a sugar plantation, so they have a big place there and they have a house downtown. And so, we stayed there at that house for a while and then the Japanese started coming, coming around so we had to go, we decided to go move somewhere because they come with their bayonets.

JM: Right. So, talk about that a little bit more, about the Japanese coming. Um, do you remember when that was?

LM: First we stayed in that house.

LR: What year?

LM: It was, uh, 44 then. It started 1940? 41?

JM: So, after Pearl Harbor? Do you remember that?

LM: Mmhmm. (nodding in agreement)

JM: So, after Pearl Harbor they came to the Philippines.

LM: Pear Harbor was

JM: December 41

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 8 LM: It was before that

JM: It was before that? So, did they come to your town?

LM: Yeah, some of, you know, what they was, not every time, twice they came, but the first time they came, they were looking for guns. First they ask “where are the men?” [shrugging] “There are no men here.” They were all in the military you know. They join the [inaudible]. So, that’s ok. He look for bullets, guns, those things, you know. And the Japanese had Filipino people with them, to help them, you know, interpreting, and so fortunately, this man he came with these Japanese people because there was one time they came I was pregnant and he said, “Where’s the man? Where’s your husband?” “Well, he go in the military [inaudible] and this time, this man, the Filipino person with the Japanese, found a diary that I had that said what we were doing and where our friends were. They were little things that you, I don’t know, they may be of some help you know. So, but anyway, we got [inaudible] and then they go away. You see he help me. He withheld all the information that they found in my whatever, in my home, and he didn’t tell the Japanese. He just, he just [inaudible]. So that was very nice. Another time they came when we were playing mahjong. We were playing mahjong you know?

JM: Who was playing mahjong?

LM: Yeah, I do. They do. We play mahjong. Do you?

JM: Oh yeah.

CL: You do?

LM: Oh we should play mahjong someday.

CL: You play for money?

JM: Oh no. [laughter] So, a Filipino was helping the Japanese and he found your diary? But then he hid it from the Japanese soldiers, so he didn’t show it to them. Ok. And you said you played mahjong. You played mahjong with this man?

LM: The time they came we were playing mahjong

JM: Oh. Ok.

CL: We have a lot of vices, you know? Filipinos, we play mahjong, we are good singers, good dancers, good eaters, and good cook.

JM: That’s all true. No, I agree. Ok. So,

LM: In that time he came, we decided we would pack up and go cause they come from town and go to our place right away. So, we decided to go away, you know. To go far away from …

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 9 JM: where did you go?

LM: We go somewhere, next barrio and town and find a place to stay. People were right, they will help us. They will help us. I don’t care how small a space they had. They will help. They were nice neighbors.

CL: They said that during the Japanese occupation, it was fun. That’s what my Auntie said because we are running from one place to the other, hide

LM: in a way. Young people always make things more pleasant wherever they go [inaudible]

JM: So, Tita Josie and Tita Fannie, they lived on Leyte and they described running into the mountains to hide.

LM: Yeah. Well, it’s really more like we were going to the mountains, in that side. We can see the boats, the Japanese boats and then we can see the fight (pointing to the air). Oh we like to see the dog fight. And we see the one that when they are bombing the ships. And there were Japanese people that were … go to the shore and they hide someplace.

CL: So, how old were we during that time, two or three?

LM: You were just one. You were just one in 1940. [inaudible] a town, a barrio, a fiesta or something you know, bring their wares, you know, to sell, their little products, so we go and she (pointing to daughter Carlota) will be on the shoulder, and I will be carrying this one (pointing to daughter Lucy) and we go and go to the market.

JM: So, at the end of the war, your husband was already gone and the end of the war came, do you remember the end of the war? What was that like for you?

LM: We were happy. (9:24) And then after the war, in 44, I make plans to go back to school. Very difficult because I had these kids, you know, but they were cared for. My, my in-laws, they really, they don’t want these kids to be taken away somewhere. They were always in their care. And at that time they help take care of them.

JM: So, they took care of your children when you went to school?

LM: I went back to school in Manila, to Far Eastern

JM: Oh, Far Eastern University. So, you did not know your husband yet at the end of the war.

LM: I didn’t see him until 1946. I was in Manila. I’m almost finished. I was going to school. I had some Filipino friends from Cebu. They were living there, working some place, a restaurant or something like that. So, I stayed with them and work, wherever I can find work and I found a job at a restaurant (11:24). I didn’t do much.

CL: It was probably difficult for her because our dad died, with the three children by herself.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 10

LM: So, any, I just continue, and then one Friday, oh, I had a friend. How did I meet her? Is it school? Oh, somebody in my school. You know the black family, but this lady’s name was Virginia and she asked me to come and play mahjong. I didn’t have any money, so I said, “to play.” And she said, “Oh, just come.” So, she and her brother were entertainers in a club. I didn’t go to the club, but sometimes, I go with them, that’s all my, my entertainment. And working over there at the Chinese restaurant as a waitress. I didn’t wash dishes, but I carried a lot of dishes. Then, I finally met Fred in person through my black friends. He came there. We’re playing Mahjong (14:01) with them and he was there and he was introduced to me. I didn’t think anything. He was a friend of that family.

JM: So your friend introduced Lester to you.

LM: Fred. Fred was his name.

JM: Fred. I’m sorry.

LM: This one, my husband now is Lester.

JM: Ok.

LM: So, he started asking me to go out with him, but I didn’t, but Virginia, the family, I forget the family name, but anyway, they were in the musical entertaining thing. They just said, “Oh, come on, just come and watch.” And they were singing and they were doing the music, Virginia and her sister, and the two of them would sing, you know. I guess at that time, they were entertainment, they were trained [inaudible] cause there weren’t too many black people in Philippines, but they were entertainers. A lot of entertainment parties. Well, anyway, that’s how I met my, my Fred, my late husband. So, this was ’46, and now and then I’d go, but then he END OF VIDEO FILE 3

START OF VIDEO FILE 4 LM: he didn’t forget. He said in his mind, that was the one. It was gonna be me. He concentrated. So, he tried to invite me to his place, the military place for Thanksgiving. He said, “I will come to Manila and pick you up.” And so he was, he was, captured, held up, by [inaudible]. You know, the little Filipino, um

LR: Bandits

LM: Bandits. They took the car away from his and his driver and he and his driver had to go in the cornfield and that’s where they were hiding, they are running to, because they took the car and those things and whatever he had and then I thought [inaudible] on that day he was supposed to come and pick me up, you know, they were on the way to come over to Manila to pick me up, but they never showed up. I said, oh, that’s ok. Maybe that’s the thing, you know. He didn’t really care then. So, I ignore. I didn’t want to be bothered with him and Virginia would call me to play mahjong or something. I said no, I don’t really want to be with them. So, finally there was this gal. She was a stenographer in Manila who was a friend of the Reynolds, that’s the

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 11 family name, but she was a white gal, but she worked too, so, at the, at Pampanga, but she was a court reporter, and she brought his letter. She said that she wanted to see me. I said, “I don’t know her.” But she finally came and met me, and she said, she told me that she had a letter to give to me. I said, “From whom?” So, it was from Fred, but I didn’t want to be bothered with him. So, I said, “That’s ok. I don’t want his letter.” But they said [inaudible] I read in the newspaper about these people that were held up on the way from Pampanga to the city, to Manila, and, but they spelled the name was HAINES. So, that’s Haines, but my name, cause I know it’s HAYNES. So, I said, “I don’t think that’s the same one.” So, finally, the girl that brought the one letter, that I said to return the letter, I didn’t want to talk to him. She said, “Lucy, you have to read this because he had an accident.” And she told me about the holdup, that they were held up. So, I said, “Oh.” So, we become friends again, because he nearly died because he said he nearly died, they got the guns and everything, you know, and that’s why they run to the cornfield, and so that was the story, and then 1946, 47, 48, so by then, you know, 1948, he decided, “Would you like to go with me to …” We were little closer friends now. “… go to the Chief?” You know, the head of the military in Manila. The chief of, he was the, um, but he was a colonel and he wanted me to go with him and ask him about something about maybe getting married. I said, “What?” He said, “Well, we’ll just ask.” Because, at that time, it was difficult for, to get married with a soldier, with an officer, because the lady that, the judge, in Manila, really did not want the girls to marry soldiers. (5:40)

JM: Ok. Talk about that some more. So, there was a woman officer, or was she working for the Philippine government?

LM: The judge?

JM: the judge was part of the Philippine government?

LM: Yeah, the judge was a Filipino judge. Wait. Wait a minute because I want to go back. Fred asked me to go to the Chief of Chapman. It was the headquarters. END OF VIDEO FILE 4

START OF VIDEO FILE 5 LM: The Chief of Champan asked all kinds of questions. Where are you from? Where I was born. Does your family agree about marriage with [inaudible] or something, especially with black or something? And I said, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know. They sort of look at me like I say yes or something. I didn’t say I don’t know, when I couldn’t, I was forced to say something. I just say I don’t know. I said, well [inaudible] he was looking for if we would be a good couple. So, he said, “You can go and get your license at the justice of the peace downtown. She is very strict. She doesn’t want anybody, any gals to get married, you know, to anybody.” So, we went down there and I said, “I’m not doing anything today.” I don’t know, he suggest something. I said, “No. I’m not ready.” So, we went to the judge. We go first to the judge. And we went there. She was very, sort of stern looking you know. Fred went and sat down. He talked with her very cordial. If you met my, my Fred, you will be impressed, too. But anyway, that judge was so impressed with him. She just turned real nice. (2:42) So, she arranged to help him, sort of, you know. So, I didn’t have time to think really. That was just the same day that he asked

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 12 me to go Chief of Chaplain to ask about something and then we end up getting married, getting a license. But anyway

JM: So, you went to the Chief of Chaplains that morning and then the same day you went to the Filipino judge and that day you got your license?

LM: And the Filipino judge, she was a, you know, pay your two dollars somewhere and sit, but she talked to Fred for a long time, and she said, I mean to me in our language, she said, “He’s a reliable person and you’re lucky.” But he was a first lieutenant only you know (3:58) but he was a, a good person. He was older than me, much older, but, almost ten years older, about nine I think, nine, but anyway, I thought he should at least be married or something and I said, that’s why I was kind of [inaudible] but no he wasn’t married at all, had not been married, not divorced. At that time, you know where Morehouse is. He went to Morehouse College in the South.

JM: In Tennessee

LM: So, he was, he was a nice person. And we were married and it was almost our fiftieth wedding anniversary he died. I mean the next year will be our fiftieth.

JM: Ok. He was a nice man.

LM: 1997 he died.

LR: We came here in 1968

JM: You came to the United States in 1968?

LR: Yeah, and stayed with then for, for a while. He was very nice.

CL: And gentleman

LR: Gentleman. When he go out he say, that’s my daughter. Very nice.

JM: Ok. So, you got married. Which year was that? What year did you get married?

LM: 1948

JM: Ok. So, when was his tour of duty in the Philippines done? When did he have to leave the Philippines? (6:07)

LM: In April. That’s because his ship was leaving early April.

JM: In 1948?

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 13 LM: Uh huh. So what he did, he tried to arrange everything, very, she was in a hurry because he did not fly. He had to go by ship, too, so anyway, he arranged everything, all the papers any [inaudible] information or anything, and this is the lady, the person that you contact, the name and the address, and telephone number. So, after that, I waited.

JM: So, he came to the United States first. [interruption] So, he had to leave the Philippines in 1948.

LM: Yeah

JM: He came back to the States without you.

LM: Oh yeah. And I came back by myself. I came by ship, too.

JM: So, he arranged military transport for you.

LM: Yeah

JM: He made that request. Ok. And when did you come to the United States?

LM: In April. We were married in April and I came here, I left the Philippines in October. So, I was came in November of ’48.

JM: And you landed in San Francisco?

LM: Mmhmm

JM: And do you remember the name of the ship?

LM: General Hase. General H A S E. The name of the General

JM: Ok. I’ll look for that. So, you didn’t bring your daughter with you.

LM: No! I couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me bring them.

JM: Who would not let you?

LM: My father-in-law

CL: Very strict. So, when his son died in the war, my grandfather took care of the children. So, my mother, when she married in 1948, when she came, I was seven. She was six, and my younger brother was five, but my grandparents were the ones that raised us.

JM: And they would not let you leave with your mother? Ok. Thank you. Ok. So, you came to the United States in November 1948. You were here, you arrived on military transport. You

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 14 landed in San Francisco. What about your family in the Philippines? So, your parents, were they still alive?

LM: Yeah. They were still alive. They were my only family. You know my other family after the war, we didn’t know where they evacuated on my side, you know. They were in the southern part of Cebu and we were in the northern part of Cebu. It was somewhat difficult, but they were evacuating. I was evacuated with my kids, you see, with my other family, with my husband’s family. I had contact with my other family, the [inaudible] my brother after the war, after I got married. As a matter of fact, after I got married, I didn’t tell anybody, I was afraid they would say no, so I

CL: You didn’t tell anybody what?

LM: That I was going to get married. When I decided that, ok, ok with Fred, you know, yeah I was afraid to tell anyone. I know the [inaudible] will say no. What he said, we have to obey, so it’s better for me not to tell them so I wouldn’t have to disobey anybody.

JM: So, you would need your father-in-law’s permission?

LM: Yes

JM: And not your own parents?

LM: But my own parents were, they were in another place I didn’t see them. I think my father was in Bohol and my mother was with my

CL: So, how long did you stay here in the States before you went back? So, you stay here how many years?

LM: Eleven

CL: Eleven. So, we never recognize her because we had never seen mom because she was away, so we were kind of ashamed, you know, to face her because we don’t know how to react after ten years.

JM: So, how old were you when she came back to visit? Do you remember?

LR: She was in high school already.

CL: You came here in ’48, right? So, you went back in ’59. Ten years after. So, I was in my high school. I was graduating. So, we were so excited when my cousin say like, “My mom is coming.” “Oh, really?” I say. We don’t know how to react, whether we get excited or we’re scared, or we’re just, you know, so we went to the airport, and then the plane landed, and then the passengers went down, so we wanted to hide [laughs]. And she said, “Where’s mom?” The last passenger that she came with a lot of suitcases. “Oh, mom is pretty!” You know? [laughs].

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 15 LR: We went to hide in the bathroom.

CL: We were hiding, you know, and we were just crying, and so, when she came, and we stayed that day [inaudible] and she was sitting with us and hugging us, looking at us and [crying sounds], and then we were just like [makes shy expression].

JM: So, your first thought, when you saw your mother was “she is pretty”?

LR: Yeah. She is!

CL: Yeah.

JM: Ok. That’s sweet. So, thank you. That’s a part of the story I don’t usually get. So, I appreciate that very much. Um, ok, so he came to the United States. He went to Tennessee when he came back and then he arranged for transport for you?

LM: No he wasn’t, when he came back, he was in another, another fort, you know, another military place. It was Fort Bliss, Texas, but his parents lived in Tennessee. So, that when he picked me up from San Francisco, we went directly to his parents’ in Tennessee and that’s where I stayed for about three months because we didn’t have any quarters. We have to wait for quarters, for place to stay in El Paso, in Texas. In El Paso, that’s right, and then, but anyway, I learned, when I was in Tennessee, I learned everything. I learned to cook food, you know, southern food, I learned to clean house. I have to do the kitchen and the beds and everything, just learned the American way (14:55) you know. When I was in the Philippines, I didn’t do anything.

JM: So, who taught you those things?

LM: My mother-in-law.

JM: What is her name?

LM: Edna

JM: Edna Haynes?

LM: Yeah. Haynes.

CL: Edna and John?

LM: Yeah. John. The father. You know, it’s so funny, when we are on the way from San Francisco, we stop in Chicago. We were on the, I don’t know anything. When we were at the station, everybody start coming, they looking at me, so, I said, “Well, if we were in the Philippines, everybody probably would curious to looking at the same when they are there.” So, I just said, “Well.” And I smiled and then I waved, so that was ok! So, it was ok. I was ok. From that time

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 16 END OF VIDEO FILE 5

START OF VIDEO FILE 6 LM: I said, well, they’re people just like us and they are friendly and so I have no no no nothing in here [points to heart], no fear, no what you call. So, when we went to Chattanooga from Chicago, we had to go on the plane, and so we were together, but we went on a single gate, we were on separate plane or, coach, or something, we were sitting together with the black people, and I said, that’s what I said, I don’t care where he sits. Where he goes, that’s where I go. Yeah, I had no problem at all. So, it was a short flight. So, when we got to Chattanooga, there were three people from his family: the father, the mother, and the sister. And I said, “My God, they’re all big people!” They’re all tall, big. And I’m just little and they look at me so pitifully. I said, they said they didn’t know that [inaudible] married a child. [laughs] They thought I was a child and then from then on, they called me baby. That was my name.

JM: You were “baby” to his family?

LM: Yes Baby or Sugar. Sugar or Baby.

JM: Ok. I want to go back just a little bit. Because I was looking at, I went to Washington, DC last week and I was looking at some files. They were requests for permission to marry. So, soldiers were making requests to their Chaplains to marry these Filipinas, but the Filipinos had to have letters of permission from their parents. You did not get those.

LM: No. I did not. I did not tell anybody because I know they’ll say no and you don’t disobey, you know.

JM: Right. So, did you get permission from the judge?

LM: Yeah. The judge, Lopez was the last name.

JM: Lopez was the last name. I’m going to look for that.

LM: She was a mean judge.

JM: Was she? Ok.

LM: According to everybody.

JM: Well, I’m impressed that it was a female.

LM: Yeah. A female judge.

JM: That’s impressive.

LM: She was very, very watchful, to make sure that the girls went to the right person or something, I guess.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 17

JM: Good for her. And your husband was in the Clark Air Force Base?

LM: Yeah.

JM: So, he came in 1948. You came in 1948. First, went through Chicago and then to Chattanooga. You waited there for three months because you needed quarters. They weren’t ready, and then you went to El Paso.

LM: Yeah. And while I was in Chattanooga, I was able to visit in Washington, DC and Baltimore because my sister-in-law worked in Baltimore and my other friend from the Philippines, you know, a military that knew us and so invited me to Washington, DC for a dance, an important event. So, I visited those before I went to El Paso.

JM: Very nice. I was just there last week. Yeah. It was very nice. Ok. So, in Chattanooga, were you the only Filipina?

LM: Yeah, the only. The very only. I was curious. I really, and then I, I read the papers, and I listened to the radio, and I didn’t watch too much people. My in-laws did not allow me to just go. I mean, they watch me, they just really watch me like a kid, you know, and so I did not have much social life in Chattanooga. Fred had cousins who wanted to take me out, you know, to have fun, but my in-laws were no, they didn’t allow her to take me somewhere. So, I went to church. I went to the grocery store, and I went to church and, you know, I went to a Baptist church and they were all doing everything. They sing. It was very different from the church I was born in, something, but it was, and they [inaudible] and one time I went there and we were all dressed, you know, my first hat. I never wore a hat. I had a picture of my first hat and gloves and everything. I was just, everybody was dressed up to go to church and then somebody screamed, you know, and I was really [inaudible] or something and my mother-in-law [hugging herself], “She was just happy.” I said, “Happy?” I thought she was going out of her mind or something cause she screamed and she just, she was just, happy.

JM: So, you grew up Catholic?

LM: I grow up Catholic, but I went to Stillman and I said, “Oh, there’s another way of praying that’s really closer to my heart.” You know? The Catholic memorize everything, by praying, we pray, like the rosary, but there, over there I went to Seneman (sp?). they were Presbyterian. So, I can pray for myself, you know, and there’s no confession, and it was just different and it felt really alive like I’m, I’m communicating with my God, you know, directly. That’s it. I had a hard time, cause my mother was a Catholic. They were all Catholic. Explaining this to them, to my parents, to become a Presbyterian, would be a long, long time, a hard time. So, I went home on vacation. I have to tell them because I know I want to join the church, I said, somehow, my father was the one who really was [inaudible] that was more open minded (8:30) and uh, in the end my mother crying. I know. I know. I know I feel it deeply in my heart to the Catholic. Even now, I genuflect when I have to pray. You know, it’s there. So, when I went back, my father now, when they say something, that’s the law. He said we all go to heaven, you know. “If you’re

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 18 sincere with your prayers with God, then He will accept you.” So, my mother couldn’t say anything, so I joined the church. I became a Protestant.

JM: But Presbyterian is very different from Baptist.

LM: Oh, yes!

JM: So, you had a different experience in the South, in a Southern Baptist Church.

LM: And they sang a long time. You have the long Sunday because they would talk one after another, you know. One priest after another and they say, you know, long prayers. (10:01) So, anyway, I survived that. It was,

JM: So, then you went to El Paso after

LM: Yeah. I get there and we have to wait still. We still did not have the, I had to stay in a, it was a house, I mean, an Inn, where we are waiting, those who are waiting for their quarters, but there’s nobody, there’s only one, we are the only one really ended up with one, one big quarters, one big house. It was a three bedroom, big hall, big kitchen, big living room, and big dining room. It was big. There were three officers that stayed there before, but somebody take care of there, I guess. So, but anyway, that’s the house they gave us. We finally got a house. So, whenever anybody wanted to entertain and they come to the base, they come over to our house. We had everything, you know, and we had a big yard, big mulberry tree. (12:20) And, you know, by the highway.

JM: Were there other Filipinos there on the base?

LM: No.

JM: Again, you were the only Filipino?

LM: There were, uh, there were Mexicans, help, you know, so I was ok. And then I started working on the PX and somebody said oh no no, it’s ok. All they had to show me was how to do the cash register. You know, how to get the money [inaudible]. So, that small PX that I stayed, every day looked over my sales. They said, “How come it’s always even? Not a cent, you know, less or more? You’re exact.” You know. I said, I just, you know. I just do it, did it what I’m supposed to do. And so, they treat me good over there. So, they said, “We’ll move you to the big PX.” To the main PX, you know. So, at the small PX, I know the count for all the product they have. I don’t have to look and worry about what [audible], but over there, I just went to every place I could take care of it. And I just love everybody, you know, I’m not, I’m very pleasant to everyone. I’m happy and so they’re happy, too, when they see me happy you know. So, they get letters about me and how I help them. The only thing working in a place like that, you have to stand up. There’s not place to sit down and then I look forward to the break, you know, at 9:00 for thirty minutes or something break for coffee. I didn’t drink coffee before, and I just go, oh, it’s so good to sit down someplace, but I stayed there. I worked there the whole time that I was there. (15:04)

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 19

JM: How long was that?

LM: Oh, I was there from 1949, 50 and then 51 Fred has orders to go to Korea. Now we had to be separated again. He said, no you’re not going to the South. You’re not going back to Chattanooga. You’re going to stay in California. In California, we had a friend. They were all three of them had H and they were together when they were being shipped somewhere. They were almost together. When the wife of one of the friends, he was in San Pablo, California, said I could stay with her. So, she had nice house END OF VIDEO FILE 6

START OF VIDEO FILE 7 LM: Also, I was learning to drive. I was driving every day. I had a new Chevrolet. He taught me to drive, but oh, I was not interested because he had to open the engine and say this and that and I said, “Oh, I have to learn that? No. No.” I just want to learn to drive. I said you go ahead, but I know how to stop and brake and all that. So, I gave up. When he went to Korea, that’s when I started really learning to drive. I went to, I was doing something. I went to a business, uh, school, where they had typing, shorthand, all this um business school things. I said I might go there. It was a junior college. I said I can do some. So, they had a, oh that everything, all that business thing that you learn. They also had other, you know, like, other subjects. I went to a, what you call this thing? I go to, it’s a meeting that we discuss world affairs. World affairs. Oo. I go to world affairs. I was enrolled. I attended those everywhere I go. I learned about the world, what’s going on, cause I kept up with, you know, local happenings. So, I really was, I just stayed kind of in tune, you know. Tried to learn something more. And I tried to, oh, teach in California. Said they will have, they said you have to take these two courses. It was very plain, little courses, to teach. But then, one of my girlfriends was telling me about the school in California, the way they do things (3:01). I said, “Discipline is very difficult.” You cannot spank the children, cause you’ll end up in jail, and they will talk back to you. Yeah, in Philippines you can spank them, in the Philippines, if you want to sometimes. I said, “No. That’s not for me. I may be not able to do that.” But I could probably still, I also could relate, maybe, with kids, you know, but I said no, I’m not ready yet. So, I just took all this, uh, business courses, then I was in the court reporter thing, and then that’s when Fred came back from Korea, 18 months, and I had to write every day, just like a diary, every day what I was doing. I send it to him. He received letter from me every week, and letters to me too from him, but that was our communication. So, he was so happy cause he knew what I was doing every day [laughs]. And I saved all the money that he send me. When he got back we bought a house in Berkeley. And he was so happy. He said, “Gee whiz. You really took care of things.” I didn’t. I go to the commissary and I adopted a family, an Australian family, a boy and girl. I took them out, when I learned to drive, I took them everywhere on weekends. That’s something for me to do. I felt good doing that for them.

JM: Ok. So, you were staying with a friend while you were doing this, while he was in Korea?

LM: A friend whose husband was also in the military.

JM: Ok. That was going to be my next question.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 20 LM: It was a long time my husband’s in Korea.

JM: Ok. So, the woman you stayed with, was she white or Filipino?

LM: No. She was, um, black.

JM: Black? Ok. And what town was that?

LM: That was in 1950, 50, 51, let’s see, 51, 52.

JM: Was that in Berkeley or LA?

LM: No. I stayed in San Pablo.

LM: Yeah, but I live around there and I drive and I knew, finally, I just drove everywhere, and you know, the way they drive in California. Yeah. My husband, he came back from Korea, he was afraid. He couldn’t drive, so I had to drive for a while, and they were all scared. Because my in-laws came over to California (6:01) and they finally ended up here in Washington.

JM: So, was there a Filipino community in San Pablo?

LM: Yeah. I guess there was, but I hadn’t been in any Filipino community at all anywhere since, only here, I got a Filipino community, and everywhere else I, all those years, no. I thought I forget my dialect. Only now that they’re here [points to daughters] I can speak fluent my dialect.

JM: Your Visayan dialect.

LM: Yeah.

JM: When did you move to Seattle? What year was that?

LM: Oh, we moved to Seattle after, let’s see, we were 1954, 58, after 1958 we came back here cause from El Paso, he went to Korea, when he came back, Seattle, he was assigned to Europe, so I went with him, oh not with him, but later on. So, he was in Heidelberg, the, the headquarters of the military, the army, in uh, in Europe, in Heidelberg. So, I stayed in Heidelberg for four years, 44 to 48.

JM: Did you learn German?

LM: Oh yeah. I spoke German. When I got there, the first thing, I had this little Berlitz book. I learned those little, guten tag. Finally, I said I’m going to learn this thing while I’m here and the University of Heidelberg is right there. So, I went to a summer course. The university was open. So, I talked German there for that summer, learned some conversational, and then we had some students, German students who were interested in learning English also. We go out for our break. We have learn in German and they tell us how to say it in German, but anyway, by the time I finished there, I was able to get along in Germany, and I, you know, I, every day, from where we

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 21 live, we were in the encampment. So, we go to the university, we have to go on the tram, you know the train, the little thing, and I supposed to go to the old folks [bows] “good morning.” It was my only word first. Then, I increased my vocabulary, so I speak a little bit more. So, by the time I finished the course, oh they were loving me [laughs]. They loved me, they even brought me flowers, you know. I said I got the wrong idea of these Germans. They are not bad. You know you got the wrong attitude in the brain and you get to see, oh they’re friendly people. And so, they’re very nice (9:43). And so, I have a good time wherever I live. So, then later on, whenever I belong to all these women’s clubs in the base and I attend all these meetings, went on all the tours and trips, pretty soon I said, listen I got to do something more than this. So, I thought I’d go, I try to go to work, so I applied to work, work again, find job. So, I did, but whenever I had a vacation and Fred was on duty, I bought a little… but when you buy the car there, you don’t buy like that car [pointing outside]. No. You have to wait. They will build it when you buy. You give your money and everything and then they build the car and they give it to you later on when they build it, finished. I have to wait. I can’t have the car right away.

JM: Where was this?

LM: In Germany. From 54 to 58.

JM: So, you learned to drive in Germany?

LM: Oh, I drove in Germany like crazy because there was no speed limit on the Audubon. You go fast as you can and when you’re near the base, you slow down to fifty miles and fifty miles is crawling. Generally, on the Audubon, everybody they’ll go as fast as they can, where ninety miles is ok, with my little Karmann Ghia. It was a little sports car [inaudible]. I drove all over Europe (11:48). We go to France and we go to Amsterdam, you know, for the tulips, we go to Zurich. And on weekends we go to Munich, Busch Gardens and stuff like that. The officers’ clubs were very nice. You can hardly spend ten dollars you got dinner and entertainment, music for dancing. I enjoyed being in the military and work. I worked there. I found a job. I worked, it was for, for a colonel, but there was a civilian temporary counterpart for this major who was hired me, cause he had a problem. Nobody like him. Nobody could work with him. So, I said why did you give me to him. So, anyway, I work with him. I know he was, he throw the phone away when he didn’t get the number. I said, but every day, I said good morning to her, to him and I try to, when he makes his telephone call, I said let me call the number for you, I know, cause I memorize all the numbers he could possibly call and I know it, but I told him, I said I’ll call them for you, just wait. You see we had military attaches, we were connected to all the military attaches in Europe. So, I also made friends from different countries. So, when we go to different countries, we got place to stay somewhere for five dollars. (13:51) A hotel. It was entertainment.

JM: So, at some point, he got assigned to Fort Lawton. Correct?

LM: Fort Lawton? Oh, he came back. When he came to Fort Lawton, he was from Korea. From Korea he was assigned to Fort Lawton and then we stayed, oh before we went to Europe.

JM: Oh that was before you went to Europe.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 22

LM: Yeah. Korea. Next assignment was Fort Lawton and we went back here to Washington and he went to Fort Lawton. Fort Lawton’s a park now, but anyway, [inaudible] down there, Sand Point. That was another nice club there. So we went to all these clubs every Saturday. I really enjoyed it, really, but he retired. Yeah he retired when he came back here from Europe and we went to Fort Lewis. So, after 21, 22, 22 years, he retired. So, I retired shortly after that. I retired when I was 62 and I did not have a social security, but I had retirement from the office of personnel management. I have retirement. It will be until I die I have a retirement, you know. So, I was covered, but when he died, my first husband, he left something for me. He said make sure that I had something END OF VIDEO FILE 7

START OF VIDEO FILE 8 LM: supplements, you know, then I got the [inaudible] the supplements from him. I got the social security, and he also worked for after he retired, he went back to Office of Personnel Management, he was a long time in there. So, he had a retirement from there and from the military and his social security. I got those plus my pension. So, I’m really ok by myself, you know, but he was a major, you know, in the military, but now I’m married to this colonel, this oh, lieutenant colonel. He was [inaudible] more than me cause he also worked for the government back after he retired. He worked with HUD. He was in housing management.

JM: Ok. So, when you came to Seattle, somehow you got connected with the War Brides Association. So, how did you connect with these ladies?

LM: Then that’s the first time I learned about, oh, there was a movie star that came here from the Philippines, Natty Ruby, and she married an American [inaudible] and these kids were going to hula, Hawaiian dancing. I was learning to do hula in early, it was about in the 60s and, let’s see. When did I join? I think it was around the 60s I joined the Philippine war brides and we, we tried to make money. We were always doing making money, and actually, we have more money now in the treasury. I don’t know because it’s, it might, I think it’s in the city or some kind. Last time I know it was twelve thousand dollars and that was many, many years ago. So, it should be more than that because we didn’t, we just spend it for little things, so I don’t know. I hope we give it to some charity, or just leave it. I don’t know, but we’re dying off. They’ all, I don’t know who, I’m the oldest person, I think. Ninety-nine and a half.

JM: And a half? [laughs]

LM: Yeah, cause it’s already July.

JM: Yeah. So, in Seattle you had a Filipino community. You had the War Brides Association.

LM: Yes.

JM: How was that different for you? (3:29)

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 23 LM: I was so busy with them. Everybody has a ticket to sell to you for a weekend thing, a dance, a, you know, ballroom dance, and all that, and we go and have picnics and we go things for children things, and we go to casinos. I arranged casino trips for that, for us, most of the time. And then, there were many activities. And the consulate was pretty busy here. They were here, not in San Francisco. They’re in San Francisco anymore, but they were busy. We participated in most of the holidays they have and they come to our meetings. Mrs. Soledad used to come to our meetings, and uh, it was fun.

JM: It was fun?

LM: But we’re old now. We don’t meet anymore. Once in a great while. We meet, what, Christmas?

LR: No. We had one time that dinner

LM: At the casino.

LR: Casino, yes.

LR: That was a Christmas thing. They retire. They had us children, be in the War Brides.

LM: Yeah. All our children will become the War Bride members.

JM: So, now you take care of the Association?

LR: Yeah. Betty is the President and I’m the Vice President. They said, “Do something!” I said, “I don’t even know. I just joined this. You know?” they elected me as a Vice-President. I was not even there. I was surprised, but it’s ok. Whatever they want, we help though. Every meeting they have, we have to go, the younger ones.

JM: So, what do you think your, um, your purpose is for the War Brides?

LR: We just have to continue what our parents are doing. Every time our kids are graduating high school or elementary, we have to give them incentive. Give them some money in order to do walk through, birthday or something like that. It was a community thing, too. It was a part of the community.

JM: So, I’m gonna go backwards in time a little bit. So, do you give scholarships?

LR: Yeah. We give scholarships.

JM: So, the scholarships stay within the families of the war brides?

LR: Yes.

JM: Ok. That’s good. That makes sense.

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 24

LR: We have to help the Filipino community. So,

JM: So, are there still events? Because I remember Tita Fannie talking about events that the whole Filipino community would come to. Do you still have those?

LR: Well, it’s very

JM: Cause that’s big, right? That’s a big thing to do.

LR: Yeah cause we’re getting older, too, you know. We’re old. Cause our kids, they don’t do it anymore. They have different things that they want to do. So, they are so busy. So, I don’t know. We don’t even have meetings anymore.

LM: Yeah. Cause Betty is taking care of her mother. Then, also, she doesn’t have a regular job anymore. She has a daycare taking care of children, you know, what they’re doing, but anyway, she told me that she just took her mom to Las Vegas a few days ago or something. I said why don’t we all go to Las Vegas, you know, us old folks, just take us with you because we got some money in the treasury why don’t we just go, go someplace and we will have fun. We all love to gamble, so.

JM: Ok. I want to ask you to compare. So, think back before you came to the United States. What was your last day like in the Philippines? The day that you came to the United States, what was that like? Can you describe that?

LM: Oh, it was nothing. I was, uh, when I was trying to work, when I was in Manila, because I didn’t go back to Cebu. That would be hard flying over there, to flying back. It’s a lot of money and I have to, and I was so sad, and I said if I have to leave a lot of people, you think, oh then we’ll all be crying, you know, naturally. Yeah. I’m sad and I think about all of them, you know, but I also think about coming, you know, what’s going to be in the future.

LR: Were you happy or were you sad? Cause she left the three of us over there.

LM: [laughs] Yeah. I was really sad. Well, I’m not … I’m sad in a way that we are not together. We don’t have a closeness, but in a way, it would have been difficult for me to leave, [inaudible] small kids now. All I know is that, is that they are loved and they are doing good things and that’s a, what do you call, a blessing

CL: Consolation

LM: So, just have to think of the future now. What I really wanted to do to begin with when I went to Manila, is I want to be a foreign, you know …

JM: Foreign services?

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 25 LM: Yeah. Foreign services, and oh see the world, but I’ve seen the world now, or just about, our travel, we’ve been everywhere.

JM: So, what did you expect for the United States?

LM: Oh, I expect more because, that everything, but it’s chaotic now. It’s chaos right now. It’s not like it was before. When I came, I thought that this was the best country in the world, you know. They have lots of opportunities, and lots of love and, you know, and everything, and I was lucky that I came, but then…

LR: Was it kind of hard to adjust?

LM: Oh, I learned, what I learned was invaluable because it turned my life this way. When I have, it separate, you cannot separate from your culture. (12:07) Impossible. That’s my problem, my husband, he doesn’t understand, the way we do, the way we relate to each other. I said that’s hard. I understand, too, because the way he treats his family is different from the way we do. Now he’s got a daughter and a granddaughter. Now, he cannot stand the granddaughter. I said how can you feel that way. He said I don’t have anything with her, but she wants to be a doctor. She’s been trying to be a doctor for the longest time, but they don’t do… but he’s in the military. That’s another thing. He wants to be in control, you know.

JM: This is Fred or Lester? Lester? Ok.

LM: So, I just, we’re together. He still, I think he still cares for me. He takes care of me now. I don’t have any caregiver, you know. He helps me. And so, at our age, I should have one. Everybody here has one, seems like, caregiver, somebody to help the dress themselves, or whatever. I said we should do our own thing

JM: Ok. So, what was the most difficult thing to get used to in the U.S.?

LM: Well, let’s see

CL: She just blended, just go with the flow. She doesn’t have any, she just adapted right away.

JM: Is that true? Did you adapt to the United States easily?

LM: Yeah, well, it seems like I, well, I don’t have an enemy, you know. It seems like they just take me. Right away I’m Lucy. Wherever I go, anywhere I go, any job I went, they all just really loved me, for some reason, but I didn’t have any animosity. I’m not jealous. When I was working over there at the administrator, secretary, you know, where my job, I share my, my everything, my knowledge, for travel kind of jobs. I shared with them. I don’t go all the time. I have to go to set up court, you know, for court trials, I said I teach you. I show them what to do and I teach them how to deal with everything so that they can do it if I tell them to go. I’m not greedy. I’m generous. I like to share.

JM: It’s a Filipino thing, right?

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 26 END OF VIDEO FILE 8

START OF VIDEO FILE 9 JM: So, when you remember World War II, immigrating to the United States, how do you feel about your experience, your memories? What do you

LM: Oh, I love those memories. Everything. You know, I was writing my thing, I could feel like crying, you know. Even though it’s difficult to move from one place to another. We have fun. We enjoyed anyway, singing. We’re afraid from Japanese, hiding from Japanese, but we get there or here [pointing]. We here, they go somewhere else and we don’t know. We go sing and love. It’s just the relation, the, uh … it’s different. We loved differently. [wiping tears]

LR: My grandparents they were [singeros?]. They were sugar cane planters. The people around us will help us. So, when she said the Japanese are here [pointing] the people that were helping us were part of our sugar plantation, they will move [pointing other direction] all the things for them. So, what they do is just they follow, where they are. So, everything was easy for them to move. There’s somebody that will lead them to go there. They said, “Ok. It’s ready for you. It’s there.”

CL: Because we had a Japanese soldier friend, that whenever the soldiers are coming he would say he’s [inaudible] he’s a Japanese soldier. We are coming this way, so you guys we want you to move that way, or you go this way because the soldiers are coming this way. So, he was our, our, you know, savior, or something like that. (2:17)

JM: So, this was someone married to an auntie?

LR: Yeah. He was married to one of our aunties.

LM: Where there were lots of centipedes. We got bitten.

LR: This is just hearsay because we didn’t know

JM: Ok. So, when times were very hard with the war, you felt a lot of love from the people in your community.

LM: Yes.

JM: And that’s what makes you cry.

LM: Yes. [smiles]

JM: What do you want the young Filipinos here, in the United States, to know about that?

LM: They are different. You know here, in Skyline, we have a lot of Filipinos. They are everywhere. Lots of them here in the dining room, but there are also people on staff, and um, we’re happy, you know. I ask them, there’s a woman in the bistro, who gives me my breakfast

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 27 every day. He knows what I want. One day he wants to know everything what goes in my oatmeal. When I say I want the scrambled eggs, she knows what goes in my scrambled eggs, and, you know, toast, or whatever, but she works there and her mother works upstairs, but I met her and she, she came down, and I said you look so young. She doesn’t look like someone’s mother. You know, she’s ok with that.

JM: So, you know a lot of Filipinos here. They don’t know very much about the war, the Philippines and the Japanese and the war. What do you want them to know? What is your message to them?

LM: Well, try to learn as much as you can about what there is around you and be, oh I’m just thinking about love all the time. Be loving. There’s no problem, if you love everybody, the world will be ok. You can’t be the same. I say to Lester all the time [your granddaughter] is just another person. She’s got her own thoughts and everything about life and probably doesn’t think the way you do. You think way back and you think you want them to do what you want, but not always. And he said, “She lacks respect.” He wants his granddaughter to respect him. I said, “Well she does. I’m sure she loves you, but we have different ways now than they do.” And they talk back. He doesn’t want anybody to talk back to him. I said, “Well, she’s got her own mind.”

CL: That’s the modern times.

LR: Yeah and that’s the difference between the filipinas. In the Philippines we are so different. When my grandfather say “You’re gonna be a …” whatever

CL: Yeah, that’s it. You don’t say anything, even though you don’t really want to go that course. My grandfather said, “You’re gonna be a concert pianist.” Just because I was studying piano. He thought that I was really awesome and so he enrolled me before [inaudible] and yes I had a hard time for the first year, but then I, you know, second year, and then I graduated, but we don’t have any say. If you have sisters, all the sisters will be nurses. If you have a guy that wants to be a whatever profession, you know, it’s their say. It’s not ours. You cannot say, “Grandpa, I want to be a …” No. This is what you’re gonna be. Actually, I wanted to be in the medical field. Right? My grandpa says, no, you’re gonna be a concert pianist

LR: And then, when you’re in college, you’re over.

CL: No boyfriends.

LR: Then he will say, “Ok. After college you can have boyfriend.” But still when in college, no boyfriend.

CL: It’s all like you are hiding. Hiding love letters in your shoes. You don’t want that to be seen. When you don’t want your grandpa to know, holding hands in the dark. Everything was just like, oh my God. And when I came back, when I went back to the Philippines I saw all these young kids kissing right in the park. I said, “Oh my God, that’s not the way were.” Just to touch our boyfriend is just like, you know, make us sweet, you know. That’s the difference between now

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 28 and before. It was more exciting before because it was like a stolen kiss, a stolen hand-holding or whatever, you know, away from everybody. (8:42)

LR: [inaudible] This time he came and everybody was there, so grandpa entertain him. He said, “Oh, I’m [inaudible] Ramos. I’m a student.” And he said, “What are you taking?” “I’m going to school. I’m taking medicine.” And then my grandpa said, “Ok. You go to school and when you’re done you come back.” [laughs]

CL: He’s interviewing all our boyfriends. “So, what’s your name?” “Manny, sir.” “Ok. So, you’re in school?” “Yes sir.” “What are you taking?” “Medicine.” “Oh, that’s good. So, you finish your medicine, and then when you’re done, you come back.” That’s how strict our grandparents was.

JM: So, did he come back?

LR: Yeah, he came back. He came here. I married him here.

JM: Then your grandpa was right?

LR: Yeah. Of course. I never had a boyfriend. When I was in college, no, no, no.

JM: Well, that’s the end of my questions. Is there anything else you want us to know. I’m going to give you a copy of the video so that your grandchildren can see. What do you want them to know?

LR: Her grandkids and her kids

LM: I want them to know that they have to be loving to each other and be kind to each other. Be kind to people and don’t try to manipulate. Just be yourself and let them be, you know. You can’t be, oh I don’t know.

LR: She is loved. They love her a lot.

LM: And try to help when you can. Don’t be so greedy, you know. Try to share your things. And if you can help, help. And when you give, don’t that, that … you’re giving it for love, you know, to help. My husband and I don’t agree. When I try to help my little kids, my little babies, even my great-grandkids, I try to provide a little something. Share. So that, when they go to school, they won’t have a problem. So, I put them in a 529 thing, so it will grow and it’s like that would help them. It’s little, but it’ll help them. I mean, it might not be anything, but it’s something that you feel good about doing, you know. I do, I, when I die, I hope I will be able to accomplish what I have in my mind, be able to provide somebody with what I have. Whatever I have, they can have. I don’t care about being wealthy or smoething, you know. There’s a lot of things here, the kids that work here, you pay, you don’t give them tips here. No tipping. They serve you just as loving as they can. Really kind and everything, and so, they deserve something, and I always try at the end of the year put my money to help them. [inaudible] will raise like every year, to give like, well, over $200,000. People here have lots of money. (14:12) They previously are,

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 29 previously important people. You know, they are retired here, but they got lots of everything. Here, everything is very expensive. Well, you cannot live here without buying. You have to buy your apartment. You pay a whole lot. For, like, for instance, for a one bedroom apartment, you’re probably not less than $150,000. Oh, more than that, I’m sure because we paid $800,000 for our two bedroom apartment on the thirteenth floor, and then, but, every month we have to pay maintenance for all this help and all the [inaudible] and everything, like $6,000 a month, but, well, if we want to live here, if you got sick here, they move you to, you go around, there’s another apartment there for when you got sick. You are cared for. You don’t pay anymore, but [inaudible] they require it, and different, you know, things, but that’s better than sending you to another room, you know, nursing home, than the one that you have here, because they are close. You can go there. They can come here, for the caregivers, you know. But I think, I’m certain that I’m END OF VIDEO FILE 9

START OF VIDEO FILE 10 LM: cared for over there. Cause you know, when you think about money, that’s when the problem begins, when you think about money all the time. I’m ok with just a little. I don’t need a whole lot.

JM: Ok

LR: The end?

JM: The end

Lucy Haynes McCants July 2019 Transcript – Page 30 APPENDIX D – JOSEFA PARILLA SANGALANG INTERVIEW

Date: October 15, 2016 Interviewee: Josefa Parilla Sangalang Interviewer: Jeannie Damon Location: Seattle, Washington Transcribed by: Jeannie (Damon) Magdua

START OF VIDEO FILE 1 Jeannie Damon: Ok. First thing I’m gonna have you do is state your full name, if you could, for me please.

Josie Sangalang: My name is Josefa Parilla Sangalang.

JD: Thank you. And do I have your permission to use your words and image in my research?

JS: Yes ma’am

JD: Thank you very much. Ok. So I’m gonna go through a series of questions, um, because you’ve told me that you’re not the actual World War II bride, I’m going to kind of modify my questions so it might take me a little bit to try and change things.

JS: sure

JD: Great. Alright. So, you grew up in the Philippines. Correct?

JS: Yes. Until I was 15.

JD: Ok. So can you tell me what it was like growing up in the Philippines?

JS: Well, at that time, World War II came in 1940. I was 7 years old then, and, before that, to me as a kid, I had a good life, mean that we’re not rich or anything like that, but, compared to others, we ate a bit more [laugh]

JD: Ok

JS: Ok. And my grandmother was really an influence in my life and most of the time we either stay, my mother and I would stay in another barrio. I’m from Ormoc City, Leyte.

JD: Leyte

JS: Yes.

JD: Ok

Josefa Parilla Sangalang Transcript – Page 1

JS: Yes and I enjoyed my childhood, simple pleasures, climbing trees, fruit trees, that type of thing and, uh, World War II came and that all began to disappear. Uh huh, and then we have to adjust our lives to a new situation in the Philippines. And, as I said, I was seven years old and then our town occupied, you know, Japanese and, somehow we were still good when the first occupation of the Japanese we’re ok. They were very good to us, the first occupiers, and then the second wave of Japanese occupiers, they were not very gentle to the civilians anymore. Ok? And then, Pearl Harbor came, was a Sunday bombing. So, we were at church, first we run to the mountains, and of course, we run to the mountains. Luckily we were together, the family. And it was the beginning of our evacuation from our town. Ok? So we went to the mountains. And then after that, the Japanese said that if you have children that are school aged, you must come back to town because people are not there anymore. Hardly any people in town. So the Japanese are looking for people that will live in that town. So we have to come back because of me. See? Because I have to go to school. So, ok. We went back. Well, I went to school and then, let’s see, oh because the Japanese occupied our military school. So, we were attending the Catholic school, the St. Peter and Paul, but we were not taught by the nuns, but the civilians, regular teachers, but because it’s so small, there are so many students, they divided us, morning session and afternoon.

JD: Ok

JS: Yes and then it was like that until the War got worse, so we have to leave town, we have to evacuate again, run again to town and that was my childhood. But, they go back and when we’re in town we’re like prisoners there because we cannot go out of town. We’re not permitted by the Japanese to go out of town. However, they were good enough to escort adults that will go out of town to pick vegetables, harvest rice, they’re to guard because the guerillas also in the mountains, they see civilians with Japanese and then they always think, they think we are also in favor of the Japanese and as kid I have to help, like harvesting rice. And then one time there was shooting and we have to run and cross the river and on the river they put barbed wire and I had this slice of my leg here and, uh …

JD: Who put the barbed wire, the guerillas or the Japanese?

JS: The Japanese, uh well, the Japanese and the guerillas, Filipino guerillas in the mountains, yeah, they were shooting, because there were less civilians that were harvesting rice. They were hungry, too.

JD: Right

JS: So, we were with my folks, because they another hand could get a little more rice. See? So, anyway, we scrambled from anywhere and then we happened to be crossing the river and then there were barbed wire embedded under the water. So, I scratched myself here and, you know was bleeding, but we were lucky, that was about the only thing, but there were some that hit the bullets, especially the men. There was also somewhere between the Japanese and the guerillas and so from then on we never did that again. Yeah, it was too scary. So, we were there and, uh, in our town, as I said, like a prisoner, but the Japanese, I have to give them also credit, they were good to us because they knw that we cannot go out and get food because they could not

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understand why the guerillas, these Filipino guerillas were shooting at us, also civilians, but see the guerillas, but also because we were also prisoners, the Japanese won’t let us go out. So, we were caught in between.

JD: yes

JS: But we were able to practice our religion, go to church and everything. I was still going to school and then, uh, the war just got worse. So, we have to abandon our house, everything, move again. That was part of my childhood. World War II.

JD: Where did you move to?

JS: Oh. to the mountains. I have my grandmother there, but is more land, little bit, and we evacuated there, but we could not stay there very long, because the Japanese was getting really worse. Yeah. But the Americans were really beginning to bombard our town in the Philippines.

JD: When you say it was getting worse, how was it getting worse, in what ways?

JS: Well, uh, the Americans were coming in, they were having a dog fight already when the Japanese could still do it and the civilians, of course, we have to hide. And then, we keep moving, moving toward the jungle already. Yeah. And then, slowly and slowly we’re losing our food, clothes, but it’s a good thing that Philippines is warm [laugh], and it’s warm we don’t need a coat. But as far as food, we got to the point where our food we hide it at night when some kids of my age, because we are small, so they use us, adults. So, we hide at night and then we would retrieve it very early in the morning. Well, one time, we were trying to put our stuff there with these other kids like my age and there were some Japanese walking around. Ah! Oh it scared me and I’m telling you I was … So, it’s a good thing that we didn’t run. We just keep still and then when they all left, we took off also. See, what the Japanese does is they go up the coconut tree and they look around, see they look around, and also there were snipers. See? Oh yeah. And, so, it got worse as far as food is concerned and, uh, in fact some Japanese would get some kids my age, but there is, of course, but I was, my parents of course they were afraid that they would take me also. So, dig yams, that type, you know, the boys would climb the coconut, but some of them they don’t come back. See? So, we were there in the mountains and to make a long story short, uh, cause we were desperate for food. In fact we were started to chew on the guava, you know what guava is? On the young leaves, very young leaves, because there is no more fruit. Because, when there is a little fruit, they pick it and they eat it because they’re hungry. So, that’s what they were doing and then we decided, my parents decided, my grandmother decided, that my mother [inaudible] because my father got separated. Yeah. They were in another area of Ormoc, our town. So, but there were some civilians that came along with us. So, um, we would try to stay in caves where they would allow us to sleep, just maybe a day or two like that and then we would move again to another place, but one time we were already, my … especially my mother, she was already determined that we have to leave. We have to go to town, because we were hearing already people, civilians who already going to town, the Americans were already coming in to town. See? So, we did that and what we did, we traveled by night. Yeah, but there were kids, there were some small kids that were with us and when we traveled by night we have to, we traveled by the river because that way we don’t meet Japanese. Because one thing also, the

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Americans were already bombing Leyte cause they did that first because there were so many Japanese there.

JD: Right

JS: Well, stop me if it is too long.

JD: No, you’re fine. You’re doing fine.

JS: Well, anyway, and then, uh, so we … oh. Let me just give you something that is very, very, to me, it’s important because one time we were able to get some yams. Ok?

JD: Ok

JS: Because there were some civilians and other people that were with us and they were able to dig some yams and we were in this hut that collapsed and so we build fire and they found a big pot, clay pot, and they put the yams in there, cook it, when I hear some Japanese were also starving, of course, and they saw the smoke, so they came and they just helped themselves. They removed the [inaudible] and everything and then when the yams was already cooked, because we have a little girl in there, maybe she was three years old, so we got her one yam to her. Well, one Japanese took it from her. We did not eat because they all just helped themselves. See? I’ll never forget that one. So, anyway, going forward, we were already on our way toward town, but we have to lie about going toward the downtown, but to another barrio because there are Japanese there. Because if you are telling the truth if the Japanese ask you, oh yeah, they know that the Americans are in town, they’ll kill you. They will massacre. It’s happen. So anyways, we were walking and then these Japanese soldiers stop us and then he ask us to line up like this and one of the Japanese had a bayonet and he went over this way for our bags that really it was nothing, we just pretend to carry something to make it look like we’re really moving out. See? So, there’s nothing there, just dirty clothes like that. Cause they were looking for food. Like this. Like this. And then it reached my grandmother. My grandmother’s devoted to St. Anthony and she always have her rosary around her neck. So, this sargent for example, asked her to open the bag. My grandmother did that and he saw the statue of St. Anthony. Believe it or not, he bowed reverently and back off. He did not just “Ah, let’s go.” No. No. He bowed very reverently. END OF VIDEO FILE 1

START OF VIDEO FILE 2 JS: And then, from there on, I know he told this guys, let’s go. They left us alone. And then, um, from there on, we were able to proceed to town. We never met anymore live Japanese, but dead ones only on the way. And, uh

JD: And why do you believe that was the case that nobody bothered you after that?

JS: Oh, St. Anthony help us. The Holy Spirit. Because we are devoted Catholic and we believe and we always pray, especially my grandmother’s Holy Rosary is always around her neck and sometimes she stop and say the rosary … oh sometimes she say the rosary while we were walking, my mother would tell her. And after that I remember going down and we could see

Josefa Parilla Sangalang Transcript – Page 4

civilians rode the highway and the Americans, you know, busy. But then, there was a small airplanes, um, at that time they tell us they are observation planes. I guess, they’re just watching if we were civilians or pretending or Japanese pretending to be civilians like that. But he cannot guided us, because we were looking, looking up. And then, finally, we reach there and told us where to go, what area, because there was a place there were civilians were assigned. They cannot go to town because the Americans were there. See? And so that’s how then we lived there a little bit until we were sent on and it was ok to go to different places. We cannot go to our town and our house was demolished anyway.

JD: Wow.

JS: Yeah. Because the Americans bomb it. Yeah. Because I tell you the Japanese were plenty there in Leyte. That is where McArthur liberated Leyte first. See? And that’s how I grew up as a kid and it is very fresh in my memory about that, my experiences.

JD: I’m sure. So, the Japanese you said at first they were ok, when the war first started. They weren’t cruel or anything in the beginning and things got worse. They were not as gentle. I’m imagining you witnessed brutality of some kind?

JS: Yeah. Because the second wave they already have like a garrison. They’re using the large, big houses to garrison, to torture, investigate, suspected civilians they are spies.

JD: Spies for the Philippines or …

JS: For the Americans

JD: Ok

JS: For the Americans. Or the Philippine Army at that time. So, they were torturing a lot of men. Ok? In fact, I will tell you something too that really, uh, I was so scared I guess I was growing up I have nightmares because, um, the, what do you call this, I was a kid and so we were, we have a little place my mother, a little place there in the market selling vegetables and then we befriended some Japanese. They come. They buy vegetables and all that and then some of the girls, if I remember correctly, they want to bring food to some of those civilians that being tortured, the relatives or something, but they permitted me to go because because I’m a kid. See? I could bring the food. Well. Ok. I did but hear cause the windows were open cause it’s in the marketplace are like a square thing. So, I start walking. I’ve got this food in my basket and I could hear screaming coming out from the house. I tell you I could not go on. I was shaking. I could not go. I was not a brave kid. Yeah. because I could hear the screaming. Oh my goodness the beatings. So, I turn back. I didn’t go up the stairs. No. I turn back.

JD: So, you went into the house where you could hear the screaming or it was a nearby house?

JS: Well, you see, this is a marketplace here and then there’s a huge house there where they are the garrison and a house there, one some big ones, it’s like a plaza type thing, marketplace and then they asked me to go because I’m a kid because I can’t do a thing about any spying about all

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that stuff, but I was scared. I was scared. As I said, I could hear screaming because the windows are open to intimidate the people. That’s what it was. So, I turn around. I don’t go in. I was shaking. Let me tell you. I was shaking. So, that was before really we went out, you know, evacuation, but this is the second wave of Japanese. Now, in all fairness to the first wave of Japanese. Of course, I guess they have to make the civilians feel confident towards them. You know. Try to win our confidence towards them. So, the captain was Abi, his name was Abi, but he was good. The people really, a lot of people, even as a kid I admired him. When he was goes through a church when there is a meeting, he never wears his uniform or his sword. You know how the Japanese are? They wear swords. No. He just wear his khaki uniform and a white shirt. That is it. [inaudible] have his sword here or his gun, but his second in command. Oh wow, he’s always dressed up to the … he was military man. His long sword dragging behind him and oh that was his demeanor, but then Abi was transferred. So, that’s when the second wave came in.

JD: I see

JS: Yeah. Then they have garrisons all over town. Of course, we’re all, most of the men there they were all suspects. And even civilians, they would punish the civilians. What they would do is, like a lamp post in the Philippines, they would tie them around the lamp post like this all day, all night. Because, you know, kids, we grew up like that at that time and we see them, because it’s part of our environment. That was our part of the … that’s how we grew up fast in a way not fast as, like doing adult things. No. For the war.

JD: I see

JS: Yeah. You have to learn. I learn how to cook rice at 7 years old so that I can bring the food to my, my mother, my aunt to the market so that they can eat. I have to learn that. I have to learn the simple cooking. But I have to learn that. See

JD: I see. So when the Americans came and they started rooting out the Japanese on Leyte, how did you feel towards the Americans because you had good and bad experiences with the Japanese, how did you feel about the Americans?

JS: Oh, they were our liberators! Hooray! Yeah. They were … oh yeah. We welcomed them right away and, um, in fact, when we were able to, we build. My mother, my grandmother, we build a hut in town, we build a house already we were able to go in there. And then we befriended some Americans, they, because I’m a kid and probably some Americans they have children, you know. And this one American guy, he is kind of big, he was a baker. Oh my gosh he was my favorite. He always bring a big box of still hot bread or whatever that he bake in there and he called me Lucy. Maybe that was his kid here in the States. Oh he was very good. They were very, when I was sick, he had a doctor come to the house, brought me blankets. Let me tell you. And then, my mother and my uncle did some laundry for some of the Americans then there was uh, that was nice. Oh yeah. They were our liberators. You see? And then my, going forward, my step-dad’s company, mostly Filipino company, you know that most of the Filipinos here in the States, they volunteered a whole regiment to go to the Philippines. So, he happened to be assigned in our town. And then my Aunt had a friend visitor, a Filipino visitors, and then, according to the story, cause I wasn’t there, my mother was just coming in going to our house,

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our yard and, my step-dad saw my mom and said that, “oh, who is she?” And then my aunt, cause the first cousin, they live across the street from us. “Oh that is my cousin da da da da “ and he invited her. Well, anyway, to make a long story short, they got married. At first, of course, I didn’t like it [laugh]. I think that’s a reaction you know. But then there was nothing I could do. I was a kid [laugh]. So, anyway, they got married and then he was assigned to Manila and then they asked me to go along with them. And then, when we live in Manila it was really late. School started. So, when we try to, they try to register me in school. They said, “Oh it’s too late, we cannot accept her anymore.” We went to Pangasinan, the province of my step-dad. And in Pangasinan, in their town, his dad is the, he is like, not a big [inaudible], but they respect him. They know him very well So, I was there. I stayed with them and then they say that, ok, we went to Manaoag Military school, they registered, mean they took me right away. I was fourth grade or fifth grade and then I was there for one year in Pangasinan and that’s how I met my husband.

JD: So, you met him there in the Philippines when you were a child?

JS: In the Philippines

JD: Ok. Also, if I can back up a little bit. Your mom met your step-dad. He was a U.S. soldier. Was he a Filipino? He was one of the regiment.

JS: Yes. I will show you a picture.

JD: Ok. So, he was a Filipino member of the U.S. military. Um, was it San Francisco they were based from?

JS: I think so. I’m not sure about that part.

JD: So, he had grown up probably in California.

JS: Well, he came here, you know, a lot of Filipinos came here to work like in Hawaii, that type of thing

JD: Like migrant farmers.

JS: Migrant farmers and then he went to California, mostly California where he stayed, and then when the war came, most of the Filipinos here, they are strong, young and able, they volunteered.

JD: Ok and so he went to the Philippines, married your mom, brought you to Manila, but that didn’t work. So then you went to Pangasinan. Ok, then you lived in there for a year.

JS: For a year or so.

JD: Ok. And then, if you don’t mind, go on with your story.

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JS: Yeah. Ok. As I said, that’s where I met my husband, because, what happened was that his uncle and my step-dad were good friends when they were kids. So, when we were there visiting, they invited us for dinner and it so happened that my husband was there vacationing. Actually, his relative was the aunt, the wife, but he lives only in another town, just close by called San Jacinto and so, little kids play around and all this and then they had a social box they had a dance under the mango tree [laugh]. The social box, you know what a social box is? Where they put chicken in the box and they pay that to dance and then they pay like one box is two pesos, that kind of thing. And then it so happened that my husband, Philippi, he was there, of course, you know, and then his uncle were there, he didn’t have any money, he was a kid [laugh]. So then his uncle bought my box and then, of course, he give it to him. Yeah, we danced and all that

JD: and how old were you at this time?

JS: I would say, maybe thirteen and a half, somewhere in there, or fourteen. Because I came here exactly I was fifteen. END OF VIDEO FILE 2

START OF VIDEO FILE 3 JS: Ok. I was there in Pangasinan for one year, went to school there, and then after that, I went to Manila and with the school there in sixth grade. Yeah. And after that, after finishing sixth grade, then we came here. We came to America and they tagged me along.

JD: Ok

JS: Yeah, they tagged me along. So, that was nice. So, we came here by military ship. Yeah.

JD: So, you were all on the military ship? You and your mom and your step-dad.

JS: Yeah and my brother was born there. My other brother, my younger brother.

JD: He was born in the Philippines.

JS: In the Philippines, but he was only, what, four or five years old. So, yeah. We all came together.

JD: Ok. So, let me ask you a few questions about, uh, let’s see. What is your first language?

JS: Say that again?

JD: What is your first language?

JS: Oh my first language? Well, I would say English really. Filipino, I can speak, my dialect, Visayan, and then Pangasinan, my husband, that’s why sometimes I can speak better in Pangasinan than my Visayan. Why? Because when my husband was still alive, that is what we speak here at home, Pangasinan and English. Now, the Visayan, I can only speak when we go to

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events or we belong to an organization. So, it was kind of mixed up where I was not sure anymore.

JD: Right. Well, you left Leyte when you were how old?

JS: Fifteen. Oh Leyte? I was um, maybe I was thirteen? Something like that?

JD: When did you learn English?

JS: Oh in school in the Philippines. That is how they taught us.

JD: All of instruction was in English

JS: Oh yes.

JD: So, can you describe what that was like, if you can remember. Because you were speaking Visayan up until you started school. Or were you speaking English at home before you started school.

JS: No, was Visayan, our dialect. Our dialect.

JD: So you had to learn English.

JS: Not very much, pick up a word like that kids. Yeah, I started school and all in English.

JD: Can you describe any lessons that you learned in English? I’ll give you an example. My mom is also, um she is Visayan. She is from Samar. So, she remembers little songs that they taught her when she was learning English. Can you remember any?

JS: [singing] I have two hands, the left and the right. Hold them up high so clean and bright. Clap them softly, one, two, three. Clean little hands are good to see. [end singing] and I even teach my grandchildren. Yeah, that is we learn and, um we do not, we didn’t have kindergarten. We should start on first grade. First grade.

JD: Correct.

JS: and we learn writing and arithmetic

JD: That almost made me cry cause that’s the song my mom used to sing to me. And [singing] I have ten little fingers, I have ten little toes [end singing] do you know that one?

JS: Oh, well the one I remember is [singing] good morning to you [end singing] I teach that to my grandchildren [laughs]

Josefa Parilla Sangalang Transcript – Page 9

JD: Ok. Alright. So you speak Visayan and Pangasinan. Do you speak any other Filipino dialects?

JS: No. The Ilocano they were trying to teach me, but somehow, I was not into it. But I pick up Pangasinan fast. I don’t know why. But, my husband teases, oh because you didn’t have anybody to speak Visayan, only Pangasinan. But I learned it fast. They said that Pangasinan is a difficult dialect. That’s what they tell me, but somehow I picked it up and I’m glad I did.

JD: Very good. Did you learn Tagalog.

JS: Oh yeah, when I was in Manila already, they started, we have to take Tagalog classes. That was required. But before that, no Tagalog. No. Just in Manila. Ok. I was speaking outside Tagalog. I was not good at it, but just enough to get by and of course, in school, you have to … oh, I take it back. In Pangasinan, I think is where I started those Tagalog classes. I think so. And then in Manila mostly. And then, after that, as I said, after sixth grade, they came here because there, the Philippines, after sixth grade you go to high school and you’re just a kid, but they said they change it now. There’s seven, eight, nine, twelve. Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. That’s what they told me. I said, ok, that’s good.

JD: So you learned Tagalog

JS: My Tagalog is not that great.

JD: So, when you are with other Filipinos here do you speak English or do you speak Tagalog

JS: Well, mostly English

JD: Ok. Well, that makes sense. Ok. So, you were learning English as a child. Why do you think Filipinos learn English in school?

JS: Because we were under the American. Remember. Spain and America had a deal. My history is kind of faded. I like history. Because after Spain, it was the Americans who took over the Philippines. Yeah, so that taught us in English. But, that was the legacy they left the Philippines. The legacy of Spain was religion. That’s how we got Catholic religion. But, it’s ok. That was fine.

JD: So, having those, I mean, in a way it was imposed on the Filipino people, but you’re ok with that. You think that was a good thing. The religion and the language.

JS: Oh, you mean the Spaniards. Well, I was a kid, but the older folks had to learn Spanish. Our prayers were in Spanish. I wish I could remember some of them because sometimes I can hear Spanish in Hail Mary.

JD: Ok. So, you came with your mom and your step-dad and your baby brother on a military ship. What was that like?

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JS: Oh. Sick! [laugh] Sea sick. Oh yeah. But I can’t remember how many days it took us. And, um, we have to, um, [inaudible] we have our dinner and everything with upstairs and we are with the civilians. It was not too bad I guess. I was a kid, but I was sick a lot. Seasick! Seasick a lot. So, people were just lying down on that deck an everything. Oh my gosh. But we arrived in San Francisco and after that they bus us to, um, Pittsburgh, where they processed us.

JD: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?

JS: No. No. Down in California.

JD: Oh ok

JS: Down by San Francisco. Yeah, by San Francisco. All the military wives. We all were bused there there in Pittsburgh. And that’s where some of the husbands met their wives that came by themselves. Some of them. And some are sorry they had met them. Yeah. So I heard. So I heard. You know, they talk. They talk. Yeah, but we were bused there and um and then we went to L.A. because my dad used to be in L.A. and he had an older brother that lives in L.A. and they got us an apartment there. And then, we kind of settled a little bit. And then I started _____ Jr. High in L.A. Yeah. And I had a very good English teacher and she was very nice to me. Cause she said my husband was in your town. Cause he was telling her stories. And I’ll never forget her last name was Mrs. Nelson. And so I lived in L.A. I went to Jr. High. And then, oh I think junior, and then we moved. My dad re-enlisted in the army and assigned here at Fort Lewis. So, we came here in about, oh, 1949.

JD: Ok

JS: Yeah, and we met the worst blizzard here and that was our experience. And then, we stayed here until 1951 I guess. Because Korean war broke in 1950. Oh, in the meantime, I was attending Clover Park high school. And then my dad went to Korea. He went to Korea in 1950. And then I was with my, just my mother, my brother and, um, oh and then my sister was born in 1950. My dad was already in Korea. So, he just received a telegram from Red Cross. So, anyways, we lived in Tacoma in World War II housing. That’s where we lived there. And, before my dad left, he tried to teach me how to drive. Ok? He was teaching me, but luckily, the cars, the highways before are nothing [laugh] compared to what there is now. So anyways, he taught me how to drive. I learned a little bit, but when he went to Korea, I was forced to really drive because, my mother she just had a baby. In fact, she was hospitalized for several months. And my baby sister has to leave the hospital and they said, “Hey, this baby here is going to grow up in the hospital.” So, I had to take care of her.

JD: And how old were you when this was …?

JS: Let’s see. I was about eighteen. But now I was eighteen and then luckily we had some family/friends whose husbands also went to Korea so they rented a house and they helped me take care of my baby sister while my mother was still in the hospital. Cause she could not leave cause she was paralyzed. And then

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JD: You stayed with them with your baby sister.

JS: Yeah. They really helped me. I don’t know anything about how to take care of babies. They say, “Oh, the baby was crying and crying and you didn’t wake up.” [laughs]

JD: Ok. So, this family that you stayed with. This was Filipino family?

JS: Oh yeah. Married to Filipinos or so. Military.

JD: Also military?

JS: Military

JD: Ok. So, describe the Filipino community you came to. So, first you arrived in San Francisco and lived in L.A. for a bit. Was there a Filipino community that you connected with at that time?

JS: Not really, but this [inaudible] some Filipinos were married to caucasians and they were great help to us. They were the ones who bought us things, you know.

JD: The white families

JS: the bi-families. My older brother was married to a really German lady. They all came from Arkansas because they were four sisters all married to Filipinos.

JD: Ok

JS: Yeah. In L.A. So, they were the one who take care of us, showing us how to do things in America. How to do dishes and everything.

JD: I see

JS: Yeah. Gave us clothes, cause we don’t have jackets or coats. So, we lived in L.A. … oh! They are very good experience, kind of funny in a way. So, ok. We were in L.A. and we were in a Filipino restaurant. They took us there. The name was Leyte Cafe. Downtown [inaudible] downtown L.A. So, ok. Our eyes were burning so we were going like this. Ok? There at the restaurant while our order was being cooked and then the waitress or some Italian lady married a Filipino guy. And then we were tearing. And then after that because we became friends because we lived in the same apartment. And so, “well you know what? I really feel sorry for you guys because you were crying when you first went to the restaurant. You probably miss your country.” Crying? Miss our country? No! Because our eyes were burning. The fog. The smog.

JD: Oh, the smog

JS: The smog in L.A. was so thick before. Oh if you’re not used to living in L.A. Oh yea

JD: Ok

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JS: [laughs]

JD: Ok. So, it wasn’t really the Filipino community in California that helped you transition.

JS: No

JD: It was the caucasian

JS: Caucasian families married to Filipinos.

JD: Ok. So, when you moved up to Fort Lewis here.

JS: We were kind of on our own. Yeah. We have relatives here in Seattle. The Zapatas. We went to visit them. My dad END OF VIDEO FILE 3

START OF VIDEO FILE 4 JS: was able to buy a car before he went to Korea so we visited them and they visited us at the American Lake Garden where there was, uh, what do you call this, the housing. So, they came, but we were kinda really on our own.

JD: How did your mom handle that, being on her own?

JS: My mom is not very, um, how shall I say? It was mostly where she doesn’t express her feelings, but as far as being practical, it was mostly I did the housework, and though, um, and at that time we had coal heat.

JD: Coal

JS: Coal. Uh huh. And everything, there was electric stove. Nothing. We knew take a shower, you have to wait for the, you have to heat the heater first and then it will connect to the water heater, then you can take a quick shower. [laughs]. Really, that’s how it was. My dad would do it in the morning because he wakes up first. I cannot really describe how she feels, but, because she, I did most of the work. That’s why. Because, being the oldest, I have to do everything. You know? So, as I said, after she get out from the hospital, that’s when we left and then we hired, she hired a couple of Filipino farmers down in Sumner. We befriended some Filipinos there already. And she asked that if they could drive us to L.A. and then she’ll pay them and then she’ll pay them for the bus fare coming back to Washington. Because I couldn’t drive really. I didn’t have a license and then I have a little sister and my mom was still have the brace. So, I did all that taking care of the

JD: Was it just one trip down to California or was that a regular ..

JS: Oh no. Just one trip. Leaving Washington for good.

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JD: Oh

JS: Yeah. When my dad was in Korea. Cause he was in Korea already. So, that is why, as I said, we have friends already. Farmers. And they were very good. They were kinda young yet, you know. They could do a lot of long drive. And then when we arrived to California, that they give us an apartment there. And, again, my uncle, the older brother of my dad, send his wife. They were helping us. Oh and then we were living in this apartment. The owner, or the manager, she’s the sister of my uncle’s wife. Yeah. As I said they’re four sisters all married to Filipinos. All very nice. Very nice people. She helped us. We had an apartment. We live there in L.A. Close to downtown L.A. Yeah and we just kinda lived there and we moved downstairs where it was a bigger place, and stayed there and I attended Belmont high school and that’s where I graduated. And then, after that, I went to Los Angeles, L.A. college. Well, I got married.

JD: So, when did you meet up with your husband again.

JS: Oh. Ok that’s a good one. Ok. I’m glad you asked that question. In 1955, my mother decided, ok, let’s go for a vacation because she was so miss my grandmother, they’re very good, they’re close. She really … and so, but me, cause I was already going to Los Angeles City College. I was working during the day and going to school at night. And I didn’t want to go yet. I said I want to finish, but she insisted. I was really upset. I didn’t want to go. But ok, to make a long story short, so, well, I could not, I took the civilian ship already. I could not go with her because I was over 21. Ok? So, ok, went to the Philippines, arrived there and then we went to Pangasinan and his aunt asked me, “Oh, did you see Pepe there?” I said, “Pepe? No.” “Oh, he’s in San Diego.” I said, “Oh, really?” Well, come to think of it, maybe we’re just passing by, you know. His ship, Navy ship coming here and I was going [laughs]. Ok, so I came back and, I came back on a civilian ship also, I was already 21 and the lady that runs the apartment met me in San Francisco. They drove all the from L.A. to San Francisco to meet me and when I was already finished with immigration she hand me a bunch of letters, but before she give that to me, she asked me, “Josie, did you get married in the Philippines?” “No.” [laughs] “Well, you got a letter here from the same guy, same name.” [laughs]. It was from my husband. See, I didn’t know. So, anyway, I got that and then, I didn’t know that my best friend in L.A. was a relative of my husband. Ok?

JD: Ok

JS: So, he went to L.A. and stayed with her and her family. Well, my best friend called me. “Hey Josie. Pepe is here. Da da da.” So, I could drive already. I had a car. I drove to her place in Silver Lake in L.A. Well, from there on, well, history. [laughs] We got married in 1956.

JD: Oh. So that’s only, that’s less than a year.

JS: Uh huh. Yeah really. I came here 1955. Then, he said, “You must get married.” and I said ok. [laughs]

JD: So, when did he become a member of the military?

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JS: Oh from the Philippines. Because in those days, they recruit Filipinos. Soon as they pass physical and mental. You know, they have to take a test and then the physical, of course, make sure they’re free of any illnesses. So, he passed that then you will see more to come. Yeah and so that’s, um, we got married in 1956 in L.A. and just across from my high school, Belmont high school, was my church, Filipino Church, very tiny. In fact, they say it used to be a firehouse before it was converted to a godly church. So we got married there. And, yeah, we were married for fifty six years and eight months.

JD: Wow. That’s beautiful

JS: Thank you

JD: Ok, so, um, let’s see. You said he speaks Pangasinan. Did he also speak Tagalog?

JS: Oh yea, he was better because he studied in Manila. And he said, “Oh I was good at Tagalog. Sometimes they cannot even tell that I’m not …

JD: Not pure Tagalog?

JS: But then he lost it all [inaudible]

JD: Ok. And, um, let’s see. Trying to modify my questions. Ok. So, your mom was a war bride here and, um, you were able to see what it was like for a military bride to come here and you have seen Filipino women come to the United States not a military bride. What would you say is the difference in immigrating to the United States? Would you say it is better to be a military bride or better to not be a military bride when immigrating to the United States.

JS: Oh. Good question. Um, you know I can’t that part because I was what, 15 years old? I couldn’t really tell much. But, um, probably was easier for military, when the men bringing their wives here. Probably not easier. I mean before it was a lot easier when you are married to military.

JD: In what way?

JS: Well, they process the papers, I guess. Quicker, yes. Well, for me, I was a kid, so I think my status, really when I came here, was like a visitor and so every six months, I have to report to immigration. And then, you have to stay five years and apply for citizenship. So, I became a citizen in 1955 in L.A.

JD: And what about the transition, getting used to the United States? Do you think it’s easier for military brides or for civilians?

JS: Well, military brides, because she, some of them, they are were not so expose, they didn’t have much education, like my mother, not very much. Few grade schools at that time. So, it was probably a little bit harder, but the ones that are civilians coming here, they’re more educated.

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JD: Ok

JS: Yeah, and so probably easier, but as far as immigration is concerned, the military brides, it’s easier because the process quicker, the paperwork because they are military, take them first.

JD: Ok. And going to current day. President Duterte is there and, um, there are some tensions between some diplomats in the U.S. and President Duterte. How have you viewed those tensions?

JS: Ok. The only time I’m exposed to Duterte was in the Facebook. As I said, I’m no longer a Filipino citizen. I’m not saying that I’m not, it’s not, how shall I say, I didn’t pay much attention to during the election because that’s theirs. That’s theirs. I know about about the Catholics, see? I’m no longer involved. I’m involved here. My life from when I came here. So, now, I’m seeing a lot of good things about Duterte, but you know he’s kinda rough in some edges, but you have to understand where the Filipinos, the Filipinos coming from also being drugs. That really shocked me. I didn’t know. Even in my town. The mission in his cell phone about a particular town area in my home town. Whoa! Some of these people are being investigated. I said oh! So, the drugs there are very rampant. Now, as far as the tension [inaudible] well, Duterte has said something about, not very nice, and Duterte explained that because probably I don’t want to rationalize because I wasn’t there, only what they say on tv that he out of the blue that he say da da da and it was, of course, the media already related it that he called him a son of somebody.

JD: Yes. That was all over the media.

JS: That was all over the media and then they tried to translate what he said cause in Tagalog and he sometimes when he speaks English though, I think I have to listen very carefully. Very, very heavy accent. I mean, I should not be prejudiced, because I’m living here I’m used to listening to American accent already, but really very heavy. But I don’t make judgment, but then a lot of people went to the Philippines already. Some of them are just fresh and when they come back, they like it. It’s so peaceful. They say it’s just so easy to go around. Yeah, that’s what they say. They’re cleaning it up. I said well then that’s good. Then, even this gal who is a member of our organization said oh you know I tried to give a tip to this guy at the airport because he had to push my mother from the airport, I don’t know where they were going. And the guy said no I cannot accept that. I don’t want to be taken out from my job. And my comment is, you know well that is good, I said, but in those days oh they’ll take it right away. He’ll even ask for more, but then now they are disciplined. They are, they had to think about their jobs, their families, so I said oh that is good. They said it is cleaning up. Of course they accuse him of killing people, these drugists, what do they call these people, the drug lords, and they said this people here, they said, well, the police is trying to arrest them, but they fight back END OF VIDEO FILE 4

START OF VIDEO FILE 5 JS: So, the police try to do away with them also. So, the result right now it is peaceful. Yeah. That’s what they said. I wasn’t there, but all I see is here is people are coming back. That is what they relate. I have to believe that because they were there currently. You know?

Josefa Parilla Sangalang Transcript – Page 16

JD: Ok. I think it was in 1992 the U.S. military had to leave. They had to close their bases in the Philippines. Um, they’re starting to, or they already have begun to rebuild bases in the Philippines. There are five I think active U.S. military bases in the Philippines now.

JS: Clark?

JD: I believe Clark is one of them. Yeah. I know Subic Bay is not one of them.

JS: Oh it’s closed? Oh that’s right.

JD: So, not that one, but there are some others. Um, how do you view this rebuilding of U.S. bases in the Philippines.

JS: Well, oh gosh, I don’t know because I haven’t been reading about that, but you’re asking me about how I view it. There’s some good to it and, uh, well, the best thing is that, how do the people there feel about the Americans rebuilding. In a way, they will give them jobs. Ok? That is good. And also protecting the Philippines from the Chinese because I think the Chinese are trying to grab an area there somewhere in the Palawan area there

JD: In the South China Sea

JS: In a way that is good that we can help each other protect that place because I think there is oil there someplace. That’s what they said, so I’ve got keep up with that. And, as a matter of fact, this is the first time I’ve heard that they’re rebuilding. That’s good news. I’m learning.

JD: So, you view it as a positive thing that they’re rebuilding.

JS: To me, it’s positive because it is, uh, will give them jobs and, um, it is better to have the Americans there than some other, um, countries that will just really, really take advantage and then control them. Because the Philippines is once under Americans. That is my opinion.

JD: Ok. Great. That is all my questions. Do you have anything you’d like to add?

JS: Are you interested in some things I will show you?

JD: Absolutely.

END OF INTERVIEW

Josefa Parilla Sangalang Transcript – Page 17

APPENDIX E – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR FILIPINA WAR BRIDES

● Describe to me the town or city you grew up in. What size was the town? Do you know what the population was? How close was it to another major city? ● Describe to me the house you grew up in. Who lived in the house while you were growing up until you left the home? ● What language/dialect did you speak at home? Which language do you speak at home now? ● If not Tagalog, when did you first learn Tagalog? Who taught it to you? ● When did you first learn English? Who taught it to you? ● Describe your experience of learning English. Was it difficult or easy? Why or why not? ● How many kilometers was it to the nearest military base? Which base was it? What is your earliest memory of the base? ● Have people in your family worked for, or been involved somehow with, the U.S. military? ● What was your opinion of the U.S. military while growing up in the Philippines? ● In what year did you meet your husband and how did you meet? ● What is his first language? If he is Filipino, do you both speak the same dialect? ● If he is Filipino, did you meet his family in the Philippines? ● How did your family view your courtship? ● How did his family view your courtship? ● Why did you and your husband decide to leave the Philippines and move to the U.S.? ● What is the most memorable reaction your parents had to your announcement that you were leaving for the U.S.? ● Can you describe what you had to do to get ready to leave? ● In what ways did your family prepare for you to leave? ● Can you tell me what that last day in the Philippines was like? ● What did you expect the U.S. would be like before you came here? ● How did you decide where to move to in the U.S.? ● What did you do on your first day in the U.S.? ● Did you already have family/friend connections when you arrived? ● Did you have to seek out a Filipino community? If yes, how did you do that? ● How did being connected to a Filipino community, or not being connected to a Filipino community affect the way you adjusted to living in the U.S.? ● What would you say was the most difficult thing to get used to in the U.S.? ● Describe what you think might be the difference between your immigration experience as a military wife and the immigration experience of a non-military wife.

● The U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to rebuild military bases in the Philippines. How do you view this new agreement?

APPENDIX F – PREAMBLE TO WAR BRIDES ASSOCIATION Brief History Page with Preamble. 60th Anniversary Tribute Program Book

APPENDIX G – PWBA PAGE IN PAMANA Filipino Community of Seattle’s Pamana Book, 1986. Pages regarding Philippine War Bride Association History

APPENDIX H – TABLE: ORIGINS OF WAR BRIDES

Table – Origins of Wives Admitted Under the War Brides Act, All Regions

APPENDIX I – EXERPT OF TABLE ORIGINS OF WAR BRIDES

Table – Origins of Wives Admitted Under the War Brides Act, Asia Only

APPENDIX J – EFFECT OF LAPSE OF P.L. 271