Marcela Viray
My mother was born on October 6, 1927. She is the middle child of Alejandra and Pedro Viray. She has two sisters, Balbina and Christina. She grew up in the Malate district in the capital city of Manila. Manila is on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. My mother was thirteen when WWII began. Fearing for his family's safety, my grandfather took the family out of the city and into the province of Laguna.
During the war, my grandmother became ill and a lot of family responsibilities fell upon my mother's shoulders. She was forced to grow up fast. My mother endured hunger, fear of rape by Japanese soldiers and the constant struggle to survive in a war torn country. Luckily, my mother and her whole family were able to survive until the war ended in 1945.