Florence Smith, the
daughter of Mrs. D. D. Williams from her first marriage, was in the midst of a cruise
around the world when she was forced to stop in Cebu, the Philippines due to war
conditions in China. Sometime later she met and married Phillip Sanders, district manager
for Texaco Oil Company. She opened a nursery there to aid dependents of the American
military families in Manila. All was peaceful until December 8. She later recalled that
"We were having our usual glass of tomato and orange juice at 6:30 am when we
heard the news about Pearl Harbor ." Soon after they heard the news that parts of
the Philippines were being bombed.
For safety, the Sanders and many of their friends moved into the mountainous
countryside and were able to avoid the invading Japanese. After the war, Florence told her
cousin Mabel Sharp of Sidney that her faithful Filipino servants buried all of their
silver and crystal. The servants found the Sanders after the war and returned every item.
They were finally captured and interned on May 1, 1942. Thus began almost three long years
of confinement. Florence and Phillip pledged to each other their determination to survive
this ordeal - together.
The Sanders and others were initially confined in Cebu. Living conditions were bad, but
the treatment by their captors was otherwise tolerable at first because they were then
winning the war. There was no electricity in the camp. Although there was no water, the
men were permitted to carry in water from a mile away in five gallon buckets.
All the internees organized and divided the duties of the camp among them. Florence
taught school. She and her husband were required to live in separate huts. Late in 1942,
three men from the camp tried to escape. To the horror of all the Americans, the men were
tortured and then killed. Mr. and Mrs. D W. Williams, the parents of Florence, waited back
in Perry Township for word from their daughter. Their last letter had been received in
March, 1942. They feared the worst.