The Drainpipe Diary

The Drainpipe Diary, first published in 1957, is the moving account by an American nurse of her internment at Santo Tomas in Manila during World War II. She began her detailed diary on January 5, 1942, the date she was to have married her fiancé, but which instead marked the beginning of three long years of internment in the Santo Tomas Camp. As the war turned against the Japanese, conditions in the camp steadily worsened, food and medical supplies became inadequate, and deaths among the internees increased. The author's diary recounts day-to-day life and concerns in the camp, with Cates determined to document her experience despite the dangers it posed if discovered. The diary continues until liberation of the camp by American troops in February 1945, and ends on June 24, 1945, when she and her fiancée finally wed before returning to the United States. Tressa Cates passed away in 1991.