Yesteryear Once Again

Holding on to sweet memories of happier times helped Geraldine Bender Concepcion survive the chaos of war. Widowed, she hid with her four children in the dense jungles of the Philippines during World War II. Like so many others on the fateful day of December 8, 1941, Jay, as she was affectionately known since childhood, could not have foretold the events that were to change her life forever.

Hers is a life of tragedy and triumph, of good times and despair. Born of a German-Irishman whose family were among the founders of Carrolltown, Pennsylvania, and a humble Filipino laundress, Jay led a young life of privilege. Her American father died of malaria before the conflicts in the Asian-Pacific and her uneducated mother was left to care for the children and his estate. What remained of his financial domain eventually waned and all was lost at the start of the war.

She married at 16, running away with Ben, a poor carpenter who dubbed himself "Her Prince." Their happiness was shattered when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. The Japanese Imperialists seized the municipal records in Santiago, Isabela and discovered that the Bender family was American with substantial business interests in the area as well as in Manila. The Japanese enlisted the help of the Hukbalahop, alleged Filipino traitors, to find and destroy the Benders.

She lost her husband, younger brother and uncle all captured and killed by order of the Japanese. Jay was left to fend for herself and her children, traveling at night, ducking and hiding in the jungles with her mother and other family members. Her brothers, leaders within the highest ranks of the Filipino guerrillas, managed to provide clandestine, but only sporadic aid.

Chilled to be within reach of Japanese soldiers, Jay never dared to look at them. Her round American eyes would have revealed she was not purely an islander. She risked her life many times to get food and maps to American P.O.W.'s. She even taught her children Japanese songs so they would sing and play within the sight of the Japanese soldiers to divert their attention as she pulled food and other items from the hem of her skirts and pushed them through the prison fences.

Each night during the war, Jay reflected on her life and recalled all she knew of her parents and their heritage, including what she remembered of her father's stories of his family's travels from Westphalia, Germany to Pennsylvania. With unwavering spiritual faith, Jay managed to re-build her life. She met Manuel Lopez, a Mexican who became an American citizen on a calling to fight for the United States. He was only 19, but was willing to care for a young widow with four children. They married in San Francisco. Once in the States, Jay's new life began.

Here, a history of growing up in the Philippines and surviving World War II is shared as Jay tells her story to her daughter, Rosalie Lopez, a writer and lawyer. This is Jay's yesteryear once more.