LOST LIMBS RESTORED

 

Three, young Chamorro women lost either a leg or a hand, thanks to World War II.

Two were sisters, entering their teens. Isabel Mendiola Iglesias was just ten years old when the war started, and her younger sister Magdalena Mendiola Iglesias was just nine.

Rosario Benavente Pablo was a bit older. She was nineteen when the war started. 

During the battle to retake Guam from the Japanese by the Americans, Isabel lost a leg and Magdalena lost a hand. Rosario lost a leg. Sisters Isabel and Magdalena were injured when American shrapnel exploded on August 2.

From Rosario's children we know the story. Rosario and her family were hiding up north on Guam when the Americans returned and severe fighting began between the Americans and the Japanese, who constantly moved north. Rosario's family started to move southward and spent the night in an abandoned structure in Liguan near Dededo. An American bomb hit the house; more than one family member was injured but Rosario's leg was severely damaged. They made it to the American lines and Rosario was taken to the American field hospital and her leg was amputated.

MARE ISLAND

MARE ISLAND NAVAL HOSPITAL

Right by Vallejo, California, not far from San Francisco, the US Navy operated a hospital with a special division; an Orthopedic Department opened to care for thousands of American soldiers who lost hands, arms, feet or legs in warfare.

Somehow Isabel, Magdalena and Rosario were able to receive the same kind of care at Mare Island, courtesy of the US Navy.  The American Legion also donated to the cause. The three ladies were part of a group of nine young men and women from Guam who were sent to Mare Island by the US Navy to have lost limbs restored artificially. They arrived in San Francisco in December of 1946 aboard the Navy hospital ship the USS Haven. A Chamorro interpreter went along with the group.

First, the three ladies had to be looked over to see what artificial limbs could be designed for them. Once made, the artificial limbs had to be fitted to the ladies' natural limbs. Then the ladies had to be trained how to use their artificial limbs, such as how to walk with an artificial leg to appear as natural as possible. Magdalena was taught how to use makeup on her artificial hand to match her natural skin tone.

The good news is that all three ladies lived long and happy lives. Isabel married Juan Crisóstomo Mafnas; Magdalena married Clemente León Guerrero Dueñas and Rosario married Terencio Lim Villaverde.

Others mentioned in the group were José Taitingfong, age 16, lost his right hand and wrist, and also needed treatment for his left eye blinded by incendiaries in June of 1944.

MARIANO ANDERSON ALSO TREATED

Lost a leg when the Japanese bombed Sumay in 1941

Two older members of the group were not injured by American fire power but by the Japanese earlier than 1944. Mariano Aguon Anderson, age 37, lost his left leg when the Japanese bombed Guam on December 8, 1941. A Japanese surgeon later amputated the injured leg. Francisco Cruz Dungca, also 37, was forced by the Japanese to work in an agricultural project. Some angry Japanese soldier clubbed his left leg and it was so badly injured that it, too, was amputated by a Japanese surgeon.

Before they were fitted with artificial limbs, you can see in this photo taken upon their arrival that the girl on the left, more than likely Isabel Iglesias, is missing a leg.