Terry s father, Norris Wadsworth, was sent to help start a
pineapple plantation and cannery on a new frontier in the
Philippines. While the rich, dark soil produced golden fruit, the
Wadsworths and other families built their homes on a remote plateau
at the edge of the jungle. The compound was eventually called, Del
Monte, a namesake to their company. The tropical oasis with a 9
hole golf course and even a grass airstrip became a popular
destination for many government and military dignitaries. As a
young child, Terry s days were full of happiness and adventure.
Life, like the growing pineapple, was sweet. She had a little pony,
attended a small school, and enjoyed playing with the other young
Del Monte children. The only threats to her edenic life were
occasional cobra and python snakes found around, and sometimes even
in, their home. That is, until a much fiercer enemy struck 5000
miles away at Pearl Harbor. Within hours of the surprise attack in
Hawaii, the Japanese military launched a similar assault on the
Philippine islands and began their campaign to overtake the
American Protectorate. Just before the war started the Del Monte
management had helped the U.S. Army Air Corps build an airbase with
two long, grassy runways nearby. Soon, the peaceful skies above
their paradisiacal home were swarming with military war machines.
Terry and her family found themselves on the dangerous battle
front. General Douglas MacArthur, Philippine President Manuel
Quezon and their families, plus many other important people hid
from the Japanese in Terry s remote home as they waited to secretly
fly from Del Monte to Australia. As the fighting intensified, Terry
s family abandoned Del Monte to hide in the dense, mountain jungle
and wait for an opportunity to also escape to Australia. While the
families were in hiding, Del Monte itself became a target of the
Japanese military. Bombs and shells rained down, on the homes,
cannery, and airfield. Eventually the Japanese pushed the American
forces into retreat. Terry and her family found themselves with
only one option. Surrender As they surrendered to the Japanese,
Terry s father counseled her, Live each day to the best of your
ability. Do not get caught up looking so far ahead that, worrying
about the future, you get discouraged and lose hope. The advice
served her well, as the next three years of her interment as a
prisoner of war were full of hardship and suffering. Though
stripped of her possessions and freedom, Terry was grateful to be
alive and to be with her parents. Together, the family hovered on
the brink of starvation, battling deadly infections and disease,
and eluding death at the hands of their captors. Yet, despite these
conditions, they found purpose in living a meaningful life. Each
prisoner had a job to perform and holidays were still observed,
even if it meant singing Christmas carols in the hold of a rat
infested cargo ship or feasting on wormy prunes for Thanksgiving.
Terry s unconquerable spirit, as an eight to eleven year old
prisoner of war, is a reminder that even in the most deplorable
circumstances, life is what you make of it. Meanwhile, General
McArthur and the United States military returned to take back the
Philippines from Japan. Military leaders learned of a Japanese plan
to execute all prisoners of war before they could be freed. A
special American military unit was charged with the dangerous
assignment to pass behind enemy lines, 70 miles deep into Japanese
territory, and liberate the prisoners. Terry s life and the lives
of thousands of other men, women, and children depended on the
success of this miraculous rescue mission
General
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