In January of 1941, Margie Bauer is called to active duty in the Army Nurse Corps of the United States Army Reserves, and her mother sadly laments, “You’re a capable girl, but the world’s a dangerous place.” Despite her mother’s concerns, Margie is delighted when she learns her assignment is to Sternberg Hospital in Manila, Philippines—the Pearl of the Orient. She falls in love with the beauty of the island, and the carefree lifestyle of bridge games, tennis dates, pool parties, and dancing under twinkle-light stars with handsome, young doctors. Though rumors of war circulate, she feels safe—the island is fortified, the airbases are ample, and the Filipino troops are training intensely. General MacArthur is upbeat when he announces that everything is splendid.

December 8, 1941, Japanese bombers roar into the Philippines, turning everything in their path to smoldering piles of rubble. Racing to stay ahead of the enemy, the U.S. Army evacuates to the jungles of Bataan where Margie tends to the wounded, sick, and dying soldiers in open-air field hospitals. With the Nips at her heels, she is relocated to an underground tunnel-hospital on the fortified island of Corregidor. Ultimately captured by the Japanese, she is interned in Santo Tomas, a prisoner-of-war camp.

For three years, Margie doubts her survival in the harsh environment where she faces escalating danger, starvation, and loss. Then, an airplane appears in the sky. An American airplane! “We’re here! We’re here!” she calls and waves. But, cruelly, she finds the liberation forces bring with them a danger more brutal than those of her evil oppressors.

A Pledge of Silence is a historical novel based on the experiences of the nurses who valiantly served in the Philippines during World War II and became the first U.S. military women to be taken prisoners-of-war by a foreign enemy.