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While enemy forces bombed a hospital on Easter Morning, Father William Cummings stood resolute, defying the destruction around him with prayer and faith.
Thus, the tale of Bataan’s Easter morning miracle.
And…he also coined the phrase “There are no atheists in foxholes.”
This is the story of a small, ailing Catholic priest determined to join the soldiers on Bataan – and defied the odds to become a guiding light during the final dark days on Bataan.
Photos & Maps
Sources
- William Thomas Cummings entry, “U.S., World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, 1941-1945. ARC ID: 212383, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 – 10/2007, ARC ID: 731002, Records of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Collection ADBC, ARC: 718969, National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, accessed 7 June 2023; Robert Logan Hudson, “Draft Rosters of Army POW’s Showing Transfers from Bilibid Prison to Other Camps in 1944 or Earlier,” west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/HudsonFast/BilibidDbf.htm, accessed 7 June 2023.
- William Cummings, 24 October 1930, Quebec, Canada, “U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data: numerous, see database main page, accessed 7 June 2023.
- William J Cummings family, San Francisco, California, “1910 Census | 1910 US Federal Census Records,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2006, Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., accessed 7 June 2023.
- Father William T. Cummings, MM – Archives (maryknollmissionarchives.org)
- St. Patrick’s Seminary & University – History (stpsu.edu)
- William Cummings family, San Francisco, California, “1920 Census | 1920 US Federal Census Records,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2010, original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920 (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C, accessed 7 June 2023.
- “Priest Given up for Dead,” The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, 27 Jul 1945, page 8, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023
- “Bataan Priest Hero Is Reported Dead,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, 27 Jul 1945, page 7, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- Maryknoll History (maryknollsociety.org), accessed 8 June, 2023.
- Maryknoll Society Ordinations & New Maryknollers
- William Cummings family, San Francisco, California, “1930 US Federal Census Records,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 7 June 2023.
- William Cummings, 24 October 1930, Quebec, Canada, “U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960,”
- Wm Cummings household, San Francisco, California, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 7 June 2023.
- “Priest Safe in Islands,” The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, 29 Mar 1942, page 8, online at Newspapers.com
- Father William T. Cummings, MM – Archives (maryknollmissionarchives.org)
- 1Lt William Thomas Cummings (1903-1945) – Find a Grave Memorial, accessed 7 June 2023.
- William T. Cummings, Monthly Report, December 18-31, 1941, Cummings Papers, RG 247, National Archives and Records Administration, quoted in David Crosby, Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in WWII (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1994), pages 20-22.
- Sidney Stewart, Give Us This Day” (Great Britain: Staples Press, 1956) 34-41, online at Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive, accessed 8 June 2023.
- United Nations Avenue – Wikipedia
- Maryknoll Normal College, Manila, Philippines, June 19, 1936 — Calisphere;
- “Maryknoller Says Mass Daily for Men at Bataan,” The Tablet, Brooklyn, New York, 18 Apr 1942, page 6, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- Donald Crosby, Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in WWII (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1994), pages 25-27.
- “Famed Priest Disclosed as Victim of Japanese,” The Lawton Constitution, Lawton, Oklahoma, 07 Oct 1945, page 11, at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- “Chaplain Who Originated Famous Slogan Drowned in Prison Vessel,” Oroville Mercury Register, 27 Jul 1945, page 2, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- Juanita Redmond, I Served on Bataan (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1943).
- “Priest’s Heroism Related by Nurse,” The Tablet, Brooklyn, New York, 20 Jun 1942, page 4, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 7 June 2023.
- “New Book on Philippines of Historic Value,” The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, 07 Feb 1943, page 19, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- “Fear Felt that Gallant Bataan Priest Was Lost When a Prison Ship Sank,” The Peninsula Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 29 Mar 1945, page 14, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- William T Cummings entry, “U.S., World War II American and Allied Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 7 June 2023.
- George Weller, Chicago Daily News Foreign Service, “Jap Hellship Ends Voyage of Horror,” The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, 25 Nov 1945, page 8, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 8 June 2023.
- William T Cummings entry, “; 1st Lt William T Cummings, Personnel Profile, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 1st Lt WILLIAM T CUMMINGS – Service Member Profile (crmforce.mil), accessed 7 June 2023.
- 1st Lt William T Cummings, Personnel Profile, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 1st Lt WILLIAM T CUMMINGS – Service Member Profile (crmforce.mil), accessed 7 June 2023.
Image Sources
- Father Cummings: David Crosby, Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in WWII (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1994), pages 21.
- Painted Ladies: Painted Ladies San Francisco January 2013 panorama 2 – Painted ladies – Wikipedia
- Sideny Stewart: Sidney Stewart, Give Us This Day” (Great Britain: Staples Press, 1956) back cover flap, online at Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive, accessed 8 June 2023.
- Chaple and Jungle ward images: Elizabeth Norman, We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan (New York: Random House, 1999).
- Hospital #1 photos: Juanita Redmond, I Served on Bataan (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1943).
