Dorothy (Scholl) Armold - Granddaughter of William M. & Sarah Scholl

We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese

On May 6^th the Japanese arrived. The Japanese did not know what to do with the women. So they kept the women and wounded in the tunnel until June 25, then brought them to topside of the building for four days. Dorothy was then moved with nearly 100 other nurses to Santa Tomas where she interned except for a short period at Santa Cantalens, a convent.

The nurses and the Army women were brought back to Manila, where the nights still smelled of gardenia. They were joined by four thousand civilian P.O.W’s at the National University prison camp. It was her home for two and half years. At the camp 500 to 800 women shared three showers and five toilets. There were only two bathtubs in the whole camp. For the first eighteen months, life was tolerable under Japanese civilian guards.

Then the Japanese began to lose the war and the soldiers came. Black marketers and Filipino farmers who had helped supplement the starvation diet of rice and mush with fresh vegetables were banished from camp. Dozens died of malnutrition and a doctor who refused to falsify the cause of death was beheaded. During the last year, when rations were inadequate in the prison camp Dorothy lost twenty-five pounds. With the other nurses in camp she continued to nurse internees, although during the last year as strength diminished from lack of nourishment, they were able to nurse only four hours a day.

In all the time she was imprisoned Dorothy was allowed to write one card. She sent it to her mother in Independence, who received it. Of Armold she heard not a word.

From February of 1944 on, they were all forced to bow low to the guards and never look at their faces. When the American plans started flying over they were forbidden to look up. When they started dropping leaflets they were severely punished if they caught them with one.

On Christmas Day 1944 an American plan flew over. In late January another plane flew by and dropped leaflets, saying “Christmas is here”. On February 4, 1945 some of the nurses smelled gasoline. Then suddenly American tanks came rumbling into camp. They could hear the tanks and then they could hear the boys who had come to rescue them. Dorothy said, “This was the happiest sound in the world”.

When General Douglas McArthur returned in 1945 the prisoners were liberated. On February 12^th, they were headed for home. They stopped in Hawaii for new uniforms. While here Dorothy was promoted to First Lieutenant. (Dillard, pp 38 - 42).

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