First of all, we send our prayers and deepest sympathy to
everyone affected by the terrorist attacks in America. Such events always serve to remind us of the
preciousness of loved ones. We had just
completed our 11-day tour hosted jointly by Valor Tours and the World War II
Museum in New Orleans when we heard the news about Boston.
Because we have so many pictures from the tour, we decided to
try something different for this newsletter.
Rather than describing the trip in text, we’ve used captions below each photograph
to tell the stories.
You will see several photos featuring Jeanne Rubin, a navy
nurse in the Pacific during World War II, along with Elinor Kessel, who served
as a navy nurse shortly after the war. Jeanne
turned 95 a couple of days after the tour. You will also see Fay Hendricks, a “liberator”
who was in northern Luzon and Manila while the war was still ongoing in 1945. Also, Michael Coon, a Native American, was
here to honor his father Philip, a Bataan Death March survivor, who is no longer
able to travel this far, but is still active in “spreading the word.” Michael’s mission also included honoring each
member of their tribal nation who served here in the Philippines. We look
forward to viewing their upcoming documentary which will tell the stories of
these men and Michael’s trip.
The reason that we did not get these photos out sooner is
that we were busy with visitors who arrived one day after our return to
Corregidor. Author John Lukacs was here
with a crew to film scenes for the documentary to go along with his book,
“Escape from Davao.” And Peter Parsons
was here with his team for photos and to record Steve narrating pieces to be used
in their upcoming documentary tentatively titled, “The Road Back.” It will include many video clips of WW II
veterans, including three men close to us; Steve’s father Walter, and our
friends Everett Reamer and Dick Adams.
Note: Tour photos with titles including the letters “OG”
were taken by our accompanying photographer, Ojie Santos. Those of you who have traveled with us on
previous Valor Tours will remember him well, and can appreciate the fun he had
posing with the local Aeta group outside the Clark Museum. He said it’s pretty rare for him to feel
tall.
Steve and Marcia on the Rock
