Janelle C. (jscrappy) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 59 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This is a straightforward account of the army and navy nurses who were trapped on Bataan and Corregidor when the Japanese invaded in World War II. Some were able to be evacuated, and some spent the remainder of the war in Santo Tomas internment camp in Manila. These nurses were the first American military women to see combat. The book is written by a nurse, and that lends some added depth to the descriptions of a nurse's relationships with her patients, and the accounts of tropical diseases and malnutrition that affected the soldiers and the prisoners of the Japanese. An easy and satisfying read for anyone interested in the war or in pioneering women.
Heather P. (modtone) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on
Helpful Score: 2
An excellent book that I quickly got sucked into. The author manages to focus on the nurses themselves, providing various personal details, without losing the view of their overall place in the war. She manages to weave broad overall events with individual events, as well as providing information regarding many of the nurses after the war. It also contains some very good photos and diary entries from some of the nurses.
sherbearski -
Helpful Score: 2
I had a hard time putting down this book once I started reading it. I really felt like I understood what it must have been like to have been there through the nurses own words and experiences from their daily journals. It was very interesting to hear what life was like while in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp and hear what became of them after the war. I high recommend this book if you like wartime historical history!!
Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Helpful Score: 2
Not only is this an interesting account of the Army and Navy nurses who served under combat conditions in the Philippines in 1941-42, but depicts their experiences as POWs until 1945.
It also covers the nurses who were ordered out at the end just under the Japanese noses. And how they reacted when they were hailed as heroines in the U.S. and their story was distorted. Then it follows all of them through their lives after the war.
I also learned numerous facts about the defenses of the Philippines I hadn't know, and I've read numerous books on this early action of World War II.
It also covers the nurses who were ordered out at the end just under the Japanese noses. And how they reacted when they were hailed as heroines in the U.S. and their story was distorted. Then it follows all of them through their lives after the war.
I also learned numerous facts about the defenses of the Philippines I hadn't know, and I've read numerous books on this early action of World War II.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 1474 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This moving nonfiction story of American Army and Navy nurses trapped in the Philippines during WWII, is astonishing in its raw power. But Norman loses points for burying much important material in the endnotes, and the reader is hard put to differentiate between the women.
Carol V. (seaspiritnw) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 21 more book reviews
I really liked this book. It was interesting to read how they survived those times.
Koren T. (korent) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 5 more book reviews
An amazing story of nurses that were POW's during WWII. I was so amazed at what these women went through. I couldnt put this book down. I felt that I got to know these women and at the end of the book I was sad to find out so few of them are left. The book is 10 years old so probably none of them are left anymore. The author has done impeccable research and told the story in an interesting manner.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 1474 more book reviews
This moving nonfiction story of American Army and Navy nurses trapped in the Philippines during WWII, is astonishing in its raw power. But Norman loses points for burying much important material in the endnotes, and the reader is hard put to differentiate between the women.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Author Elizabeth M. Norman did her research, poring through letters and diaries in addition to tracking down survivors to interview them. In reading We Band of Angels, I learned a lot. The Army and Navy nurses in the Philippines were the first American women in combat. They were also the first American women prisoners of war.
Norman takes readers through the nurses' lives before, during, and after World War II. Many of them told her that the key to their survival was to keep busy. It didn't matter what they did as long as they did something. This book is packed with information, but ultimately, I was never fully engaged in Norman's story. I think it can be chalked up to the fact that I've been spoiled with the non-fiction that I prefer to read: detailed histories that still manage to read like the best fiction. So... consider my very subjective opinion when you decide whether or not to read We Band of Angels. It not only covers an important part of history (and covers it well), but it also covers a very important part of women's history. I'm very glad I read it.
Norman takes readers through the nurses' lives before, during, and after World War II. Many of them told her that the key to their survival was to keep busy. It didn't matter what they did as long as they did something. This book is packed with information, but ultimately, I was never fully engaged in Norman's story. I think it can be chalked up to the fact that I've been spoiled with the non-fiction that I prefer to read: detailed histories that still manage to read like the best fiction. So... consider my very subjective opinion when you decide whether or not to read We Band of Angels. It not only covers an important part of history (and covers it well), but it also covers a very important part of women's history. I'm very glad I read it.
Patty U. - , reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 6 more book reviews
I learned so much about our history in WWII that I did not know before.
Carol F. (cactusflowerwomen) reviewed We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese on + 628 more book reviews
This was a great book about the nurses abandoned in the Phillipines in WW 11, highly recommend it!
easttexmerry -
Wonderful historical book about the nurses trapped on Bataan and Corregidor during WWII. Just fascinating!
