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By
December 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor and suddenly, the Philippines was fighting
in a war to defend the United States
of America in Asian territory. Had the Independence Commission’s proposal
for an independent Philippines instead of a Commonwealth been positively acted
upon immediately, the Philippines would probably not have been embroiled in
the war.
The
Japanese invasion of the Philippines sounded a first call for Helena to exercise
civic leadership behind the scenes of battle. Helena was chairperson
of the first Central Committee of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (1940),
but the Japanese government did not recognize either the GSP or the Philippine
Red Cross. So, in 1942, Helena led the formation of the Volunteer Social
Aid Committee (VSAC), better known as the Girls in Blue. Theirs is a
tale of courage among an unlikely group of fine ladies bred in exclusive girls’
schools.
Miss Helen starts off her reminiscences about
the Second World War with this inspiring vignette titled
“PWU
Swimmer Saves a Life” which
relates the events after the ship that several PWU students had boarded struck
a mine. A parallel story tells of a simple act of courtesy that makes
for “An Everyday Heroine” of another PWU student leader. She points out the
courage and selflessness demonstrated by these Philwomenians, traits that
Mrs. Francisca Tirona Benitez herself personified
in times of peace and war.
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