Nieves Fernandez

Biography

Before the war Prior to the war, Fernandez worked as a schoolteacher and entrepreneur. Little else is known about her early life besides her birth sometime in 1906, probable Waray descent, and possible marriage based on an alleged photograph of hers. Her name "Nieves" is Spanish for "snows", and she was known for being "paler than most native woman in this section". At this time, the Philippines was governed by the United States through the recently established Commonwealth government. Due to poor military strategy and a focus on the European theatre of war on the part of the Allies, the Japanese began quickly taking control of many parts of the country, even with stiff resistance from the Americans and Filipinos. One of the areas taken over was Fernandez's hometown of Tacloban, at the northeast coast of the Eastern Visayan island of Leyte. In her own words, she said, "No one could keep anything. They took everything they wanted." Fernandez, aged 38, was one of many who fought against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Barefoot and often wearing a frock, she recruited 110 native men.

She earned the nickname "Captain Fernandez" and "The Silent Killer" due to her exploits, though the highest official rank she attained was Sergeant. Fernandez trained her men vigorously in manufacturing weapons and conducting ambushes. She was knowledgeable in the use of the bolo during stealth, even demonstrating her technique to Americans who had met her.

Postwar activities The Philippines was finally liberated from the Japanese beginning in 1944, and Fernandez was honorably discharged from the military on May 31, 1945 with the rank of Sergeant, under the unit of Headquarters & Service Company, 95th Infantry, Leyte Area Command.

Legacy Nieves Fernandez's military career was first documented in the newspapers The Lewiston Daily Sun, Associated Press, and Mexican-American Review between 1944-1945. American soldiers visited her after the war; one of them, Stanley Troutman, snapped a picture of her teaching Pvt. Andrew Lupiba how to kill with a bolo. Dustin Koski from Top Tenz listed Nieves Fernandez at #8 on his list of "10 of History’s Most Badass Women".

Ben Thompson made a digital comic of Fernandez as part of his Badass series of blogs and books. She also became the subject of a painting and an article by Nicole Gervacio for the South Seattle Emerald, stating that she "resonates because of her unquestionable braveness, ferocity, and boldness", adding that she "contradicts the stereotype of the submissive woman: leading her men into hostile situations and fighting alongside them to take back their land."

A hospital ward at Eastern Visayas Medical Center in Tacloban was named the Captain Nieves Fernandez Veterans Ward, funded by the local branch of Philippine Veterans Affairs. The ward houses 15 beds exclusively for the medical treatment of World War II veterans, Korean War veterans, and other retired Filipino military personnel.