House of Taga
  • Home
  • Prehistory
  • Colonial Period
  • World War II
  • Miscellany
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Prehistory
  • Colonial Period
  • World War II
  • Miscellany
No Result
View All Result
House of Taga
No Result
View All Result
Tan Esco

‘We drank our tears’

Lexi Zotomayor by Lexi Zotomayor
4 years ago
in World War II
4 min read
0 0
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via e-Mail

Huddled together in a cramped cave during the Battle of Saipan, they wept to slake their thirst.

In an interview back in 2011, Tan Escolastica Tudela Cabrera said they were out of food and water inside the cave in 1944. For 19 days their family lived inside the cave as Saipan was in the midst of intense fighting between the Japanese and American forces. Even with a spring next to where they were hiding, they couldn’t risk being hit by errant bullets or bombs. Over extreme hunger and thirst, they resorted to drinking their tears to get by.

Found by an American soldier, their family was relocated to Camp Susupe and on the way there, Tan Esco said they saw dead bodies on the road. At the camp, she said they slept on the sand and they had no privacy. After six months, having been all cleared to move about the island, the U.S. forces opened the gates of the camp. The Tudela family went to Chalan Kanoa village, the area where the Japanese sugarcane company housing for employees were.

Before the war

Nan Esco with Captain Oba actor and daughter Linda.
Nan Esco is photographed with the actor who played Captain Oba in the latter’s biopic that had its premiere night on Saipan in 2010. With them is Linda Cabrera, Nan Esco’s daughter.

Born on Feb. 10, 1930, Tan Escolastica or “Esco” to her store’s patrons, grew up on Saipan during the Japanese period. She went to a Catholic school and later moved to the “kogakko” or Japanese school for Chamorro and Carolinian students.

This reporter was surprised at how sharp her memory was. When she sat for an interview in 2011, she was 81, and she could still remember the names of her Japanese sensei, teachers: Kaneko, Tominaga, and Sugaruma. Of the three, she disliked Sugaruma-san as he often used corporal punishment to his students.

Nihongo or Japanese was the official language of instruction, and it was imperative that they speak to their parents in Japanese.

Not long after, she graduated at the top of her class, and her diploma had Emperor Hirohito’s signature. Sadly, this and other memorabilia were lost during the war.

Just as Japan was ramping up efforts to prepare Saipan for war, many local residents were conscripted into working at a proposed site for an air base, located in what is present-day office of Toyota all the way to the police station in Chalan Kanoa. Women toiled at the site, digging every day with no pay at all.

As the war was imminent, everyone scampered to safety and sought refuge in caves.

Time to earn a living

Tan Escolastica Tudela Cabrera shows a copy of a photo of hers when she was still younger during an interview in 2011 at her residence on Capital Hill, Saipan.

With this reporter, she talked about how she began her business after the war. At the age of 15, she decided it was time to earn a living and leave school. She initially volunteered to work as a seamstress for Commander Victor Schauss’s wife in As Matuis, and later she worked for Commander Smith.

Soon, she found a job at the commissary answering phone calls at a beauty salon where she earned 35 cents a day or $8.50 a month. Then the opportunity to buy the salon equipment came and she did with a $500 loan from Bank of America, and the Escolastica Beauty Salon opened in Chalan Kanoa until 1953, following her marriage to police officer Gregoria Cabrera.

She tried selling clothes and bread. But later, she would be remembered more as the pioneer of bento lunches, serving lunch and snacks to Mt. Carmel and Hopwood students with each bento sold for 10 cents.

She said she and her husband would start their day at 2 a.m. preparing the meals. There was a time she also served coffee and snacks at the Saipan International Airport. But she never felt tired, she said. She just wanted to earn a living for 13 children.

An opportunity knocked to own a piece of property on Capital Hill, next to the Trust Territory government headquarters in 1959.  And this was a good investment as she welcomed the employees of the Trust Territory government as her frequent patrons.

In 1969, the store was severely damaged by Typhoon Jean and it took them two years to rebuild. Despite this setback, life went on and she was able to keep the store operating.

All her life she worked and worked hard. When she passed on in 2013, the islands had lost a cultural icon, a pioneering businesswoman.

She led an exemplary life that had endeared her to the community.

In her deathbed, she told her children, “Follow in my footsteps. Love and take care of each other.”

Tan Esco's store
People mill about Tan Esco’s store
Tags: SaipanWar
ShareTweetSend
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Saipan casino sits
on a Pre-Contact Period settlement

Next Post

Fr. Hezel: Ship-borne diseases, not acts of violence, precipitated depopulation

Lexi Zotomayor

Lexi Zotomayor

She lived on Saipan, in the Northern Marianas Islands for 11 years as a full-time print journalist, PR specialist, magazine manager and advertising agency's production coordinator. She was active with Stellar Marianas, a non-profit organization that has been empowering young women in the Marianas. In 2014, she was chair of the media relations committee of the 70th Anniversary of the Battles of Saipan/Tinian. For her support of environmental causes, including the campaign for the designation of a vast swath of submerged lands and water in the Marianas as a national marine monument, she was Pew/Ocean Legacy Engaged Citizen Awardee in 2008. She has a BA degree in Asian Studies and was close to completing her MA in Asian Studies when she relocated to Saipan in 2004. She was a recipient of a scholarship grant from the Jose Rizal-Sun Yat Sen Society in 1994.

Related Posts

Guam
Colonial Period

Guam’s prewar ‘Recorder’

by Lexi Zotomayor
June 9, 2020
0
235

If one were to conduct a research on prewar Guam, The Guam Recorder would be an ideal starting point. The...

Read more
Gertrude Hornbostel
Colonial Period

Trudis Alemån’s liberation
from Santo Tomas camp

June 2, 2020
280
WWII Maritime Heritage Trail
Miscellany

WWII Maritime Heritage Trail

June 1, 2020
390
Filipinos
World War II

Guam-born Earl Hornbostel
praised Filipinos’ kindness
during WWII

May 24, 2020
297
Isely Field
World War II

From Aslito to Isely Field, 1944

May 20, 2020
217
Enola Gay crew
World War II

Tinian, Seabees, and the bombs
that ended WWII

May 19, 2020
464
Next Post
Agana, Guam

Fr. Hezel: Ship-borne diseases, not acts of violence, precipitated depopulation

USMC Ret. Lt. General Lawrence Snowden: Freedom is never free

USMC Ret. Lt. General Lawrence Snowden: Freedom is never free

Saipan’s octogenarian barber

Saipan's octogenarian barber

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

June 22, 2019
2 groups of early Marianas settlers

2 groups of early Marianas settlers

June 2, 2020
Ancient Chamorro teeth

What do Pre-Latte Chamorros, Vikings and Native Americans have in common? Dental modification.

June 5, 2019
Remarkable prewar Japanese structures on Saipan

Remarkable prewar Japanese structures on Saipan

June 3, 2019
Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

2
Hornbostels in Manila, 1942-1945

Hornbostels in Manila, 1942-1945

1
WWII veteran-airman: ‘Do something for the country’

WWII veteran-airman:
‘Do something for the country’

0
Hans Hornbostel on his way to Saipan

Japanese governor brought home a wife

0
Hans Hornbostel on his way to Saipan

Japanese governor brought home a wife

June 3, 2022
How Hans Hornbostel met Gregorio Sablan in the 1920s

How Hans Hornbostel met Gregorio Sablan in the 1920s

May 25, 2022
Obyan Beach latte site

What Alexander Spoehr found
on Obyan Beach

June 10, 2020
Guam

Guam’s prewar ‘Recorder’

June 9, 2020

Ad:

ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
e-Mail us at hafadai@houseoftaga.com

© 2019 House of Taga
Alexie Zotomayor
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result

© 2019 House of Taga
Alexie Zotomayor
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.