The real Imang as a young woman

This is my mother in law, Maxima Reynaldo, from a photo taken in the 1950s. She was, and still is, quite a looker! As a child in World War Two, she was forced to work in a Japanese parachute factory. It was the only factory of its kind outside of Japan. The hours were long and the conditions were brutal.

Not mentioned in The Yellow Bar is that Imang was also called into duty several times as an impromptu nurse for wounded Filipino guerrillas. She did the best she could, never thinking that if the Japanese found out that it would be her death sentence.

One of her best memories of the war was when the Americans came back and drove out the Japanese. She had never seen an American before, and when one big, giant, white soldier came up to her and gave her a Hershey's Chocolate Bar, she about peed in her pants! She has loved candy bars and Americans ever since. "Imang" will be 85 in December 2012.