Today, the numbers of Black women in the armed forces are steadily on the rise, and the work of past veteran pioneers is regularly celebrated. However, that wasn’t always the case
Lt. Margaret “Peggy” Nash was a U.S. Navy nurse who served in the Philippines where she was held as a prisoner of war and the recipient of a Bronze Star.
In honor of Women’s History Month, here is a story of valor, honor, and perseverance: the story of the Angels of Bataan, a group of U.S. Army and Navy nurses held captive by the Japanese in the Philippines for three grueling years during World War II.
A recruiting poster for the Navy Nurse Corps (NHHC)
The story begins on 8 December 1941, sometime in the predawn hours. Business was usual in the U.S. military hospitals located across the Philippines. But the nurses and other medical staff at Canacao Naval Hospital, Sternberg Hospital, Fort Mills Hospital, Camp John Hay Hospital, Fort McKinley Hospital, and elsewhere were about to receive the news that would change their lives forever.