Brittany Gerhartz

Angela Ortiz

Denise Burkland

U.S. History-Period 3

Corona

March 15, 2002

As a young child living in the Philippines prior to the United States entry into WWII, Tonya Tuplin had not a care in the world. She led a very typical and carefree life as an American-born three year old, just running about and causing trouble. But all that suddenly and dramatically changed as the United States was launched into global warfare that would change her life forever.

Tonya lived with her father, Ellsworth Tuplin who was in the import-export business, and her mother Ruth, in a very well to do style home in Manila, Philippines, known as the "Pearl of the Orient." Because of her age, Tonya never was truly affected by the overseas war at this time, but would eventually be thrown into its conflicts on one particular day in 1942. Soon after the Japanese occupied the Philippines, soldiers knocked on their front door and demanded that all Americans needed to follow them and leave everything behind. Tonya and her family were instructed to bring only enough clothes to last them for 3 days, for that was the intended time until their return to their home. Along with approximately 3,700 other people, Tonya and her mother and father were placed into a prison camp in the Santo Tomas University in the capital of the Philippines, Manila. Later, they discovered that the cause of the capture was to rid the country of all foreigners, particularly Americans.

Upon arrival, the captured men and women were separated and put into different areas of the university, but the Japanese soon discovered this served no real purpose and later allowed for the families to remain together. For a 3-year-old child, this time would be one must assume to be in a state of utter confusion, but Tonya really remembers her mother’s strong protection and shelter from reality. Later, shanties were built, which were thatched huts, which housed individual families including Tonya and her parents. Chores and curfews were established with absolutely no freedom allowed. Continual respect and allegiance to the Japanese military guards was an absolute requirement, for they were constantly standing guard and shouting commands, armed with rifles and bayonets. There were horrifying reminders to be respectful to the soldiers and the consequences of escaping, for if someone would commit such an act, they would be killed and their body hung in the main courtyard for everyone to see as a warning that that behavior was not acceptable. These are gruesome memories Tonya will never forget.

The belief was that they were only going to have to stay for three days, but the time was drastically extended and instead they remained at the prison camp for three years and three months, while the war continued to rage. For the first year and a half, the United States Red Cross was allowed to send medical supplies and the Filipino people from the "outside" sent rations to the camp as well. They were fed meager amounts of food, only enough to survive. Some food included a small banana, several ladles of mush, coffee and coconut milk, all of which contained worms and maggots, along with rats and native birds. Prisoners also ate some vegetables that they were allowed to grow in communal gardens, but that did not last past the first year and a half. However, the children were feed better than the men and women for they were the "future." With the realization that they were here to stay, people began to organize themselves into assigned groups and professions, like doctors, teachers, clergy etc. Organization was the key to survival and Tonya believes that they overcame their obstacles due to "American ingenuity." They never lost their "faith in God, country or cause" according to General MacArthur.

Life basically became a daily ritual for Tonya in which she went to a make-shift school that was set up by the teachers that were also imprisoned and was taught the usual things a young child would learn, in particular to read and write. Disease was a main concern for typhoid fever, malaria, dingy fever, measles and even parasites raged rampidly throughout the grounds. Death was common due to these diseases; however, one was even more likely to succumb to malnutrition, as no one was able to eat a good balanced diet. Tonya did in fact contract amebic dysentery and measles during her stay. One very vivid experience was that she was quarantined in a small crib in an all-dark room for 2 weeks. Only her mother was allowed to visit and thus she now believes this resulted in her claustrophobia to this day. "Life" magazine described the horrors of the camp and stated, "The youths were pale and gangling and the old people were shrunk to the bones. Hundreds of the internees were feeble and sick with diseases of malnutrition. The children who were fed the best were the healthiest."

After that first year and a half, the prisoners were no longer a priority because the Japanese military was becoming weak. The soldiers that were used to stand guard duty were instead needed to fight the battles of World War II. Therefore, the Japanese were planning to kill all of the internees until they learned of the U.S. planned liberation of the Philippines. In 1945, the United States began to bomb Manila, Philippines for 21 consecutive days, in an effort to seize control. Not one bomb touched the Santo Tomas University, but merely destroyed the "outside" city completely. Tonya’s most vivid memory was the bombing of Manila and the bomb shelter of straw and mud that they were placed in. The sight of lighted candles and flickering flames while the Lord’s Prayer was said, the singing of psalms and the Bible read which passed the time, while planes soared outside and the thud of bullets was heard slamming into the mud shelter.

In March of 1945, word had reached the camp that the Japanese had been defeated and that the camp would be liberated, thanks in part by the United States General MacArthur. In actuality, the true heroes to Tonya were the soldiers of the First Calvary Division. These men broke through the gates of the camp, captured Japanese soldiers, and placed an American flag in the courtyards; this was the first sight of freedom and liberty they had seen in 37 months. Later, "Life" documented that, "Everyone walked with the deliberate tread of people whose movements are limited by walls."

Tonya Tuplin and her mother were eventually called to leave and boarded a plane that flew them to the southern islands of the Philippines where the navy ship Admiral Caps was waiting for them. Her father would return to them sometime afterwards. On the ship, Tonya and her mother were kindly welcomed and given some essential luxuries that they lacked before like a shower and a hot cooked meal. Waiting for them when they arrived in Hawaii were the FBI, the Intelligence Army and Navy Customs and Immigration to interview and question them. Finally, on April 8, 1945, Tonya and her mother arrived in her mother’s hometown of San Francisco and to their dismay there were no balloons, banners, or cheering crowds. The only one to meet them at the dock was her mother’s friend who allowed them to stay at her house for a few months while they established themselves. Tonya experienced true happiness at this time for she had complete freedom to have fun, like sliding on banisters, flushing that weird contraption called a toilet that she had never seen before, and eating her favorite food, eggs.

Sometime later, she and her family moved to New York after her father received another job offer. Life would eventually return to normal for the now 6-year-old girl except for the constant reminder of what the Japanese had put them through. Once, Tonya had a horrifying experience after accompanying her mother to the subway for she had seen a Japanese man. She was so afraid that she screamed and hid behind her mother. Occurrences like these would take many years to heal, as it is understandable for someone who has gone through so much.

Today, Tonya Tuplin now Tonya Daggett is 63 years old and living comfortably on a ranch near Cleveland National Forest. She is a graduate of UCLA, married to an attorney and with her husband raised a family of three children. Her career included 28 years of teaching Spanish at several Southland high schools. She now tells her story in order to allow others to learn from her experiences as a child. Asked if she holds any grudges towards the Japanese or reminisces about the past she replied, "If you dwell on the past and are mired in it, you cannot move forward." World War II is also an era that is regarded as having produced the "Greatest Generation" with which she whole-heartedly agrees, for she feels that there is "great courage and strength in this generation" and they are the ultimate heroes who should always be respected. As far as her experience in the Santo Tomas prison camp, she is entirely grateful to her parents for their strength and courage and their willingness to survive and not give up under such a difficult situation. Tonya Daggett truly believes that the experience in that camp had an impact on the values she cherishes today- family, sticking together, enduring hardships and always supporting one another. She sees herself as a survivor of a brutal and comfortless confinement and finds strength in this survival. Her "value of life is ultimately greater" and believes her life is "a free gift from God which should be cherished always."