SPENT THREE YEARS IN
JAPANESE POW CAMPS DURING WWII
Bertha Rae Evans was born on October 9, 1904, in Portland, Oregon. Following nursing training she reportedly joined the Navy Nurse Corps in 1931. Historical records are fragmented concerning her, but it appears she was assigned to the Naval Hospital in San Diego during 1934-1935. She was later assigned to the Naval Hospital at Canacao, Philippines, as records show she was here when the Japanese invaded the Philippines when World War Two commenced. It is well documented that then Ensign Evans was among the eleven navy nurses who became POWs on January 6, 1942, when the Japanese seized the Manila area.
The eleven Navy nurses, who became known as the “Sacred Eleven,” were initially assigned to the Santo Tomas POW Camp where they, along with captured Army nurses, administered to over 3,000 civilian internees. In the camp all the internees were forced to give up their civilian comforts and their privacy. Bathing became a special indignity as groups of prisoners had to crowd near single shower heads and take turns stepping under the water. As an internee described it, “You just close your eyes and pretty soon you just kind of keep closing down and closing down because you can’t stand it.”
On May 14, 1943, the eleven navy nurses were transferred to a new POW camp in Los Banos. Here the nurses soon faced even worsening shortages of goods and services. The nurses and their colleagues lacked equipment and many of the necessary furnishings, and were forced to function with whatever they could find such as old cans in modified form which became bedpans, and fabric scraps the navy nurses fashioned into bandages. As conditions worsened by late 1944, the Japanese supply system collapsed due to the successful sinkings by Allied attacks at sea. Food rations diminished and all internees were faced with hunger, malnutrition, and weight loss.
At about 7:00am on February 23, 1945, U.S. Army paratroopers and Philippine guerrillas mounted a surprise attack on Los Banos which was about 25 miles behind enemy lines. Fortunately, they found the Japanese guards engaged in their regular morning calisthenics and managed to quickly kill nearly all of them as the surviving Japanese personnel fled the scene. Very quickly the battle was over and soon, after the eleven navy nurses had attended patients and treated rescuers, they were sped away to nearby safety before the estimated 7,500 Japanese forces in nearby areas could respond. The operation has been celebrated as one of the most successful rescue operations in modern military history.
After a short period of recovery, the eleven nurses were flown to San Francisco and then enjoyed 90-day leaves before being reassigned to nursing duties. Available historical records do not identify Evans’ duty assignments but it is known that she remained on active duty in the Navy, married Egean Andre St. Pierre who had served in the U.S. Navy during World War One, and eventually retired from the Navy in November 1955 with the rank of Commander. She was reportedly awarded the honorary rank of Captain because of her experience as a POW.
Bertha Rae Evans St. Pierre died at the age of 97 on October 22, 2001 and is interred at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon, with her husband who predeceased her in 1983. Her memorial marker carries the inscription: CDR - US NAVY - WORLD WAR II - KOREA.
BRONZE STAR CITATION
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Bronze Star Medal to Ensign Bertha Rae Evans (NSN: N-64744), United States Navy, for meritorious achievement, while in the hands of the enemy from 6 January 1942 to 23 February 1945, in caring for the sick and wounded.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
