Jean-Marie Faggiano receives a doll from Private First Class Theo Tanner of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division. Tanner had just removed the doll from a Japanese soldier killed by American troops during the liberation of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, Philippines in February of 1945. (Photograph courtesy of Stars & Stripes, 1945, 2008)
December 7, 1941 –The attack on Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the devastation suffered by many American and British families living in the Philippines. Over 3,600 civilian families were forced to surrender to the Imperial Japanese Army and live as civilian prisoners in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp.
Through My Mother’s Eyes is the gripping account of the life of the Faggiano family as seen through the eyes of my mother, Jean-Marie. The Faggiano family were living in Manila when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and the following month the Imperial Japanese Army began their occupation of the Philippines. The Japanese captured all non-national civilians and forced them to live in prison camps as civilian prisoners of war for the next thirty-seven months. In a world of rampant sickness, starvation, and brutality, daily life within the gates of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp left my mother and her family searching for the strength and courage needed to survive.
They found that strength and courage. This is their story.
Watch Jean-Marie and Michael on YouTube!
Through My Mother’s Eyes is published by Strategic Book Publishing in New York and is available for purchase online through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and on the shelves of many bookstores nationwide, including the top 50 Borders stores in America. It is also available through our publisher’s website by following the “Buy Now” button below.
Mom and I hope you enjoy our book. We would love to hear from you, so please feel free to add your comments below!
Warmest regards,
Michael McCoy
Author, Through My Mother’s Eyes
Also available from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com