Angelina Trinidad: World War II Filipina Nurse: Liberation!

Everybody was jumping. Some are crying. It was so nice. I even want to remember it. I always try to remember when the Americans landed in a barrio before Sibulan, Calo. It is a small coastal barrio with small huts. Fishermen live there. The Americans landed there. I’m not sure how many, but they landed in landing barges—two or three. When they open the landing barge, I remember very well the American soldiers were all in camouflage uniforms. We were there by the road with the mountains at our back. Juaning Dominado, the husband of Tita Gras is the one who instructed the Americans whether to bomb because they were bombing the mountains because it was the Japanese that were in the mountains now and the guerrillas are down from the mountains already! So he instructs where—to the left, to the right. So we were there beside him and we can see and hear. We saw the Americans came wading in the sea.

I did not see any Japanese anymore after that. After we left for the mountains, I never saw any Japanese any more. When we were up in the mountains, the guerrillas were always watching. They would ambush the Japanese that would come near. There is always a small fight between the guerrillas and the Japanese, but I never saw them.

After they landed and we were able to go back to the house, everyone came to the Big House. We had lots and lots of American officers in the house because Tita Belen was very friendly. They always made parties.

Angelina, July, 2012, looking through the letters Benjamin sent her while he was imprisoned by the Japanese

Angelina Trinidad Locsin, now 96, lives in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, The Philippines, with her two daughters, Maria Teresa and Maria Trinidad, and their husbands.  Benjamin, who she married on March 1, 1944, died in 1997.  So did her only son, Ramon Tomas, in July 2015.  Angelina's four grandchildren, three sons-in-law and eight great grandchildren live in the Chicago, Illinois area.
Her incredible memory continues to amaze family and friends!