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Angel of Bataan: The Life of a World War II Army Nurse in the War Zone and at Home
Alice Zwicker was the only service woman from Maine to be a prisoner of the enemy in either of the two World Wars. But there is more to the story than that. Across the nation, wherever one of the seventy-seven Angels of Bataan returned home, there was a hero’s welcome. Those Army and Navy nurses had shown what American women could do and be, even in times of defeat. This is Alice’s story: her growing up in a small Maine town, her commitment to the profession of nursing, and her immersion in World War II. There was Manila, Bataan, Corregidor, and then three long, hungry years when she was held prisoner by the Japanese. For Alice, the terrible legacy of war did not end with her liberation from internment camp, or even with her coming home. When victory finally arrived for Alice, it was achieved in her own soul.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 12, 2025
This is an amazing, sadly real-life, story of a young nurse, Alice Zwicker, in the U.S. Army Corps who had the unfortunate luck to enlist shortly before WWII broke out. She was a musically talented, gifted nurse from a small town in Maine who envisioned service in the Army as adventurous, taking her to palm trees and sandy beaches in the Philippines. She loved to dance and sing and play piano in her free time. The "rumblings" of war in the Pacific had certainly not reached civilians in the States.
But Alice, along with other amazing nurses, soon found themselves in the "thick of things" as Japan's planes flew over the Philippines, bombing Fort McKinley, nearly every U.S. bomber sitting on its airfields, and sinking aircraft carriers nearby. Suddenly, wounded soldiers and civilians were overwhelming the small, inadequate hospital. Surgeons and nurses worked around the clock trying to save lives while the percussion of bombs nearby shook the buildings and themselves!
Alice and everyone on staff found themselves in the worst possible situation with casualties mounting, supplies dwindling, and the Japanese marching closer and closer to their hospital and lodgings. In desperate circumstances, they moved the hospital TWICE, further and further to the tip of the Bataan Peninsula, until finally, they left the main island entirely and escaped to the island of Corregidor.
Corregidor had its own form of hell with the "hospital" and hundreds of casualties hidden underground in the Malinta tunnel. Months passed without the nurses seeing the sky! Communication with the outside world was non-existent, and Alice's family didn't know if she had become a casualty herself.
While administering care to hundreds of patients, many losing limbs or eyes, etc., they also battled diseases brought on by malaria, tuberculosis, and other contagions. Alice was not immune and found herself as a patient at times! This was hell on a grand scale. And THEN, Japanese soldiers were at their door. The entire U.S. contingent surrendered and became prisoners of war and were moved back to Manila.
They were out of the tunnels, but now at the mercy of their captors. Alice and her fellow nurses were relieved to be treated, at least, without brutality. They were not raped, as some had feared, but still worked with few supplies, and less and less food. By the third year of captivity, everyone had lost considerable weight, with less strength to fight disease.
September 21st, 1944, was a glorious day for every POW in the Philippines as U.S. planes flew overhead, bombing Japanese installations, and soon after U.S. troops marched into Alice's POW camp. The end of their horrific ordeal was in sight.
The rest of the book tells of Alice's return to the States with a hero's welcome to her home State of Maine. She first recuperated at a military hospital and began regaining weight and strength. She was thrown parties in her honor and spoke of wartime trials. She felt lucky to have survived and often stated that SHE wasn't a hero - it was the men who were wounded and too many who didn't come home. She wished she could've saved them all.
This was well written and full of humorous stories also, since Alice's personality shone through at even the worst of times. She was an amazing nurse, and more importantly, an amazing woman. I appreciated the several photographs included as well. An excellent read.
But Alice, along with other amazing nurses, soon found themselves in the "thick of things" as Japan's planes flew over the Philippines, bombing Fort McKinley, nearly every U.S. bomber sitting on its airfields, and sinking aircraft carriers nearby. Suddenly, wounded soldiers and civilians were overwhelming the small, inadequate hospital. Surgeons and nurses worked around the clock trying to save lives while the percussion of bombs nearby shook the buildings and themselves!
Alice and everyone on staff found themselves in the worst possible situation with casualties mounting, supplies dwindling, and the Japanese marching closer and closer to their hospital and lodgings. In desperate circumstances, they moved the hospital TWICE, further and further to the tip of the Bataan Peninsula, until finally, they left the main island entirely and escaped to the island of Corregidor.
Corregidor had its own form of hell with the "hospital" and hundreds of casualties hidden underground in the Malinta tunnel. Months passed without the nurses seeing the sky! Communication with the outside world was non-existent, and Alice's family didn't know if she had become a casualty herself.
While administering care to hundreds of patients, many losing limbs or eyes, etc., they also battled diseases brought on by malaria, tuberculosis, and other contagions. Alice was not immune and found herself as a patient at times! This was hell on a grand scale. And THEN, Japanese soldiers were at their door. The entire U.S. contingent surrendered and became prisoners of war and were moved back to Manila.
They were out of the tunnels, but now at the mercy of their captors. Alice and her fellow nurses were relieved to be treated, at least, without brutality. They were not raped, as some had feared, but still worked with few supplies, and less and less food. By the third year of captivity, everyone had lost considerable weight, with less strength to fight disease.
September 21st, 1944, was a glorious day for every POW in the Philippines as U.S. planes flew overhead, bombing Japanese installations, and soon after U.S. troops marched into Alice's POW camp. The end of their horrific ordeal was in sight.
The rest of the book tells of Alice's return to the States with a hero's welcome to her home State of Maine. She first recuperated at a military hospital and began regaining weight and strength. She was thrown parties in her honor and spoke of wartime trials. She felt lucky to have survived and often stated that SHE wasn't a hero - it was the men who were wounded and too many who didn't come home. She wished she could've saved them all.
This was well written and full of humorous stories also, since Alice's personality shone through at even the worst of times. She was an amazing nurse, and more importantly, an amazing woman. I appreciated the several photographs included as well. An excellent read.
January 16, 2020
This book is full of history of anyone we have forgotteen.
Encourage and bravery exhibited by these women was outstanding, never to he seen,again.particularity that should be recognized.Nurses be proud of your heritage.
Encourage and bravery exhibited by these women was outstanding, never to he seen,again.particularity that should be recognized.Nurses be proud of your heritage.
January 2, 2021
Excellent Biography
MacDougall tells an important story about an incredibly brave and compassionate woman. This piece of history about Bataan and Corregidor and the women who served there must my be lost..
MacDougall tells an important story about an incredibly brave and compassionate woman. This piece of history about Bataan and Corregidor and the women who served there must my be lost..
July 10, 2024
Angel of Bataan: the life of a World War II army nurse in the war zone and at home is not a perfect book. However, it is important to never forget what happened to the nurses who did their duty in World War II.
September 12, 2024
Very interesting biography of Army nurse Alice Zwicker's life, not just her time spent as a prisoner in the Philippines during WW2 but how she lives her life after she returns home, very admirable woman.
March 21, 2020
Unknown History
Interesting historical data that typically isn't talked about. Thankful to the women who served in any branch of the military. They are the unsung heroines.
Interesting historical data that typically isn't talked about. Thankful to the women who served in any branch of the military. They are the unsung heroines.
June 16, 2025
Well written - amazing what these women went through.
August 22, 2021
Read for research, and did contain valuable information, but it was also scattered in its narrative, sometimes referencing future events or digressing along alternate topical paths in the middle of an eventful scene. It also failed to really focus on Alice's acclimation after the war, instead focusing on banal details like who she was talking to and where she was going from day to day. It spent far more time discussing some vague short-lived drama between Alice and her landlady and some sort of sonic therapy business idea than it did her second marriage, which lasted until the end of her life. Essentially the book could've used a much stronger editing hand, particularly in the area of structure and cohesiveness.
September 28, 2025
A very good story about an army nurse who served in Bataan and Corregidor in WW II.
She tells of nurses just going through incoming wounded soldiers "with syringes of morphine" and basic bandages. She and fellow nurses were taken prisoner by the Japanese for three and a half years but not treated badly. Except towards the end of the war when everyone, Allies and Japanese alike, experienced severe food shortages. Every day, the cause of death for at least one prisoner was starvation.
She was very personable. Unfortunately, she developed and recovered from TB several times. This is what she ultimately succumbed to upon her return to Maine after the end of the war. She was just 60 years old.
She tells of nurses just going through incoming wounded soldiers "with syringes of morphine" and basic bandages. She and fellow nurses were taken prisoner by the Japanese for three and a half years but not treated badly. Except towards the end of the war when everyone, Allies and Japanese alike, experienced severe food shortages. Every day, the cause of death for at least one prisoner was starvation.
She was very personable. Unfortunately, she developed and recovered from TB several times. This is what she ultimately succumbed to upon her return to Maine after the end of the war. She was just 60 years old.
November 12, 2024
Poorly written. An absolute slog of needless filler. Interviews were clearly done in an attempt to get more material. Important details are often cited with this "may" have happened. If you don't have enough material, don't write the book. This may be the most poorly written thing I've ever read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews