Mr. Hilliard is a Marine Corp veteran of the Philippines and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of The National WWII Museum. His lifetime of experience and devotion to the subject of WWII is unique in its staggering scope. Mr. Hilliard flew as a tail gunner in an SBD Dauntless dive bomber over Luzon in 1945. Our 3+ hour conversation, captured in the heart of the WWII Museum, is something to behold.
Rod is a truly remarkable survivor and witness to the Manila massacres of 1945. On January 20th, Rod and his family were arrested by the Japanese Secret Police for a radio found in their home. His story of unimaginable loss and bitter survival is utterly heartbreaking while also a testament to the will to live, even in the darkest of days. Rod sadly passed in January of 2022, this production is extraordinarily grateful for having interviewed him in April of 2021.
Ryan's grandmother has one of the most extraordinary stories of WWII. Her life shattered, she chose to fight back. Determined to live on her own terms she used her considerable strength to do so. At what cost? Ryan's relationship with his grandmother offers a hitherto unseen side of this Filipina farmer hero, her life, her times, what drove her. Illuminating her path from dressmaker... To freedom fighter. One whose name, rightly, struck fear in the heart of Japanese invaders.
Mary Lou Hedrick was 13 and living in Cebu City, the 2nd largest city in the Philippines, when the Japanese attacked. One day the City jail was opened, the convicts let out, and then it was re-filled with POWs. Mary Lou and her family among them. They went from living in luxury to sleeping on rotted jail floors full of rats and bed bugs and roaches with little water and less food.
Dr. Antonio "Tony" Quiroz was a teen living in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked and occupied. He witnessed many life-changing events; some edifying, some terrifying. Throughout his long career in America as a sought after cardiologist, Dr. Quiroz never lost the twinkle in his eye while talking about his home province of Pampanga, a farmland that he calls the "Rice Granary" of the Philippines .
Angus Lorenzen was 9 when he, his mother and two siblings left Manchuria to escape Japanese imprisonment. They made it to Manila in 1941 thinking they would be safe because of the American presence. When the Japanese took the city they were placed in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. Angus remembers not being able to walk up the stairs to his room due to starvation rations, he was 11 at the time.
Jim Zobel is known by those who know as the world's preeminent scholar on Douglas MacArthur. He has been the Archivist at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, VA since the early 90s. A Strike at the Sun's Archival Producer, Bonnie Rowan, has said that every archivist in the country looks up to Jim for his second to none collection and organization of everything MacArthur over the past 30 years. Jim is also a great guy and a dear friend of the show. Our 10+ hour interview recorded over the course of 2 days is nothing short of a marvel and testament to Jim's unrivaled knowledge, commitment and passion for his chosen subject.
Dr. Ricardo Jose of the University of the Philippines Diliman is the world's leading expert on the Philippines during WWII. His peerless scholarship on the subject is front and center in this detailed interview that covers the WWII era in the archipelagic nation and beyond. From his passion for his chosen subject to his ever-present empathy for those who lived through these impossible times, Dr. Jose's contribution to the scholarship on this subject and to this documentary series are simply priceless.
Carla Escoda Brooks is the granddaughter of Josefa Escoda. Josefa Escoda is one of the most accomplished and lauded Filipinas of the 20th Century. She started the Boys and Girls Scouts of the Philippines, she was instrumental in Philippines women's suffrage and she was a powerful force in working with US and Filipino POWs during WWII. Carla's stirring accounts of her grandmother's heroism are contagious.
A writer, historian, and film producer based in Manila. Desiree (also a Producer on this series) is one of the foremost voices today working to preserve and communicate the history of the Philippines during the Second World War. She is co-founder of the Philippine World War II Memorial Foundation (est. 2017), where she serves as Vice President for Research and Education. She is also Secretary of Memorare Manila 1945. She is the author of Honor: The Legacy of Jose Abad Santos and recipient of the 2019 National Book Award for Best Book of Nonfiction Prose in English in the Philippines. Desiree was the first person contacted when The Battle for the Philippines began. She has been a dear friend and confidant ever since. She is a driving force on this series, producing Philippines production shoots, archival access, interviews and more. We are Honored to partner with Desiree on The Battle for the Philippines.
Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestseller, James M. Scott is the author of Black Snow, Rampage, Target Tokyo, The War Below, and The Attack on the Liberty, and co-author, with Jack Carr, of Targeted: Beirut. In addition, Scott, a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard, is a sought-after public speaker, who leads battlefield tours and lectures at institutions around the world. James' contribution to and authority on this subject are extraordinary. Rampage opened many eyes to a WWII that they had never seen. He has an uncanny ability to distill the incredibly complex into compelling and digestible stories, a talent on full display in The Battle for the Philippines.
Steve Ellis was a young officer on a Landing Ship Tank or LST during the re-invasion of the Philippines. His boat, LST 751, landed in the Philippines with MaArthur on January, 20th, 1944. That was the day that the Battle of Leyte Gulf began, the largest naval battle in history. Fighting in Leyte, Steve witnessed, firsthand, the first Kamikazes of WWII.