When We Had Wings

Manila, January 1944

Medical supplies are scarce, and Lita has difficulty getting things to smuggle into Santo Tomas. On her way to the camp, a nun stops her, asking her to treat a sick child. Santa Catalina Convent has been turned into an orphanage for children of those killed in the war. There, Lita sees a young boy who’s gravely ill, and she promises Sister Cecilia that she won’t leave until he’s well again.

Los Baños Prison Camp, January 1944

Eleanor receives a care package from home but no news of John Olson. The prisoners play a game of baseball against the Japanese soldiers; after the soldiers lose a few innings badly, the commandant cancels the game and announces there will be no more baseball. Eleanor recognizes one player as the ensign who greeted her when she arrived in Manila, David Mathis. They meet after her shift and talk until curfew. She sees David’s selflessness when he says he shared the contents of his care package with others in his barracks, and they talk about what they might do after the war; he says Eleanor should come to San Diego.