Elnore was born during the first months of World War II, in Guadalupe, Makati City, Philippines. She told me she was born in a tunnel that came from Ft. McKinley into Guadalupe, where the US Army kept the ammunition. She had an older half-brother named Herbie, who was from her mother's first husband, who was an American soldier. Her mother and their step-father raised them both. She later learned her step-father was a friend of her biological father.

Elnore's mother and step-father kept both children in seclusion throughout the years of Japanese occupation. They did not look Filipino. Elnore had red hair and Herbie had blonde hair. Their parents feared that the Japanese would know, if they saw them, that they were children of American soldiers and they might have harmed them. Later in life, her parents told her, "We had to hide you, because your father was in Bataan."

After the war, Elnore spent her childhood in Paco, Manila. While she was growing up, her parent's friends kept telling her how much she looked like Jack. For a long time, she did not know what they meant. The day finally came when she was told that her real father was an American soldier, whose name was Jack McCarson, and that he went to Bataan, and became a POW.

At the age of 17, Elnore migrated to the US with her family. She lived in San Francisco. She continued her education, went to work, as a secretary, and got married, twice. She raised her children in California.

Around 1978, Elnore decided to look for her father, Jack McCarson. She tried to get his military records from the US Army, in St. Louis, but they could not help her, because she did not have his serial number or any other information they needed to locate his records. She even went to a large reunion of people whose last names were McCarson. She met several Jack McCarsons, but none of them were ever in the Philippines. She used the service of a company that searches for people. They returned her fee, because they gave her the same list of McCarsons that she already had. She continued to look for him.

Many years later, Elnore's son, who was in the US Army, was being sent to Korea. He gave his mother his computer. She went on line and began searching for any information on Ft. McKinley.

One night, Elnore had trouble sleeping, so she stayed up all night on the computer and found five different organizations which were related to Bataan and POWs that mentioned of Ft. McKinley. She contacted the five different organizations.

She told me, "The Battling Bastards of Bataan" was the only one that replied, and they did so, within twelve hours. She then reminded me of what I told her the first time I spoke with her, "You told me, 'I'm 95% sure I found your father.' You then told me, 'Here is his number. I will leave it up to you to break the news to him, delicately.'"

The Jack McCarson I found spelled his name differently. His name was spelled Jack McKarson, with a K and that was probably why Elnore had so many problems finding him, all these years. I looked him up in our data base and noticed he was a prisoner in Camp Hoten, in Mukden, Manchuria. I found his phone number. I spoke with him about Camp Hoten and his life in pre-war Manila and based on what Elnore told me, I was convinced he was Elnore's father. Jack was with the 698th Ordinance. Although Jack was stationed in Nichols Field before the war, he would often visit his friends in Guadalupe, just outside of Ft. McKinley, where he met Elnore's mother.

Elnore called Jack. His wife, Marie, answered the phone and passed the phone to Jack. Elnore explained to Jack that he was, probably, her father. Elnore told Jack, her mother's name was Pearl Fillamor, to which Jack replied, "Her name was Perla Villamor and she had a little blond boy named Herbert." Herbert was her older brother, Herbie. Jack started laughing and said, "You probably are my daughter." Elnore, who now lives in Phoenix, promised to visit Jack, who lives in the Sacramento Area, in California.

Elnore kept her word. Several months after the phone call, she visited Jack McKarson. The moment after Elnore walked through Jack's front door, Jack commented, "You look just like my sister, Nora." Jack's children, who were also gathered in the living room said, "Yes! She looks just like Aunt Nora!." Elnor told me, she had a great time, that day, meeting her new family.

Later that same day, Jack told Elnore, he knew he had a daughter. After the war, he stayed in the military and was stationed in Clark Field, in Angeles City. Whenever he could, from 1948 to 1950, he would visit Elnore in Paco and his friends in Guadalupe. He said, her mother had already married his friend and they had adopted Elnore, as their own, not knowing whether Jack had survived the war. Jack recounted to Elnore, how, when she was a child, she use to sit on his lap.

Now, Elnore calls Jack at least, once a week. She has plans for more trips to California to visit with him. Members of her new family call on her and will be visiting her. Elnore is enjoying her new family.

We, in the "Battling Bastards of Bataan," are very happy and proud to have been able to unite Jack and Elnore.

Fred Baldassarre
Your Webmaster