Hers was Dec. 8th.

Nothing further to report on Nanay’s funeral arraignments.

Since today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, I wanted to share a short little piece of history that was passed on to me about my grandmother.

As the relationship between the United States and Japan deteriorated, this country felt that an attack by Japan would be committed against their installations in the far east and not in the mid Pacific. That is probably why the bases in the Philippines had the only Japanese decoder outside of Washington. (Well, the British had a couple too.) Pearl Harbor was dealt the first strike but the Philippines was hit shortly after, eventually becoming occupied by the Japanese.

My grandmother’s family was well off during the American Imperial period. From what I was told, they were wealthy land owners. When the Japanese came, the local population fled into the mountains. Two of three of my Nanay’s sisters were killed. Their lands were taken away. At the end of the war, there wasn’t much left. She married eventually and started a large family. So large, that I’m only aware of two aunts, two uncles, and three cousins. I’m sure there’s tons more but I won’t even attempt a count.


A military installation, Wallace Air Station, sat on a peninsula near San Fernando, La Union where Nanay lived. My father was stationed there and that is where he met my mother. Years later, he would be stationed there again. That time, though, we lost her. My mom is buried in a cemetery that overlooks the South China Sea. I wonder if my grandmother will be buried there as well. I hope so.