Listen to Forbidden Diary
Season One: 1941
Prologue: The Story Behind the Story
Listen to the Prologue to hear about the background of this audio drama. NEW! Click See Picture below to view the book upon which this audio drama is based.
(Above) Forbidden Diary‘s cover page includes a picture of Natalie Crouter. Click on the picture to see photos of her family.
The Complete Season One
Binge all six episodes in Season One without the recaps. Does not include epilogues.
1941 - Episode 1: On Pins and Needles in Baguio
It’s December 1941, and the Philippines is in Japan’s crosshairs. They’ve invaded China, Korea, and French Indochina. Will the Philippines be next? If so, when? In the town of Baguio, nestled in the mountains on the Philippine Island of Luzon, Jerry and Natalie Crouter wait and watch along with everyone else, wondering what’s going to happen next.
1941 - Episode 2: The Second Pearl Harbor
Jerry and Natalie see the first bombing of the Philippines from their back door, but no one downtown seems to have heard it. Soon the situation becomes all too real for everyone as the Japanese continue to bomb Baguio and air raid sirens blast day and night. While the Crouters and Nida’s family circle the wagons not knowing where and when the next bomb will land, Jerry hears disconcerting news about Clark Field.
NEW! Click See Pictures below to view drawings by people who were interned with Natalie.
To read more about the artists, click on their pictures.
(Above) Sketch by Helen Frances Buehl Angeny of a paperboy in Baguio just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
(Above) Watercolor drawn by Daphne Bird. Her description reads, “Breakfast in Camp John Hay dining room, December 8, 1941, when the War began.” Daphne and her son are the redheads. She later wrote, “[My son], Derek, refused to eat which delayed all of us going into the next room where a bomb landed.”
Episode 2 Epilogue: What Happened?
On December 8, how did Japan cripple America a second time after Pearl Harbor? Listen to an intimate, hour-by-hour timeline of how General Douglas MacArthur reacted.
1941- Episode 3: Early Days
The U.S. and Japan are at war, but it’s early days and anything can happen. As bombings continue, half of the Filipinos hike up the mountains to safety and the other half down, while Americans cling to their radios waiting to hear word of help from the mainland. Igorots wear Bolo knives in the marketplace, and Japanese civilians are interned at Camp Hay. The Crouter’s new air-raid shelter becomes a hub for exchanging news and rumors, and Natalie begins to see people’s true character.
1941 - Episode 4: Hobson's Choice
Eighty Japanese warships have reached Lingayen Gulf only 18 miles away! As “booms” from ships echo along the coastline and up the mountains to Baguio, Natalie and Jerry watch their last source of income go up in smoke. Jerry confides in Carl about his deployment to Russia and what he learned about Japanese soldiers. The Crouters are given two hours to decide whether to stay or leave Baguio.
Episode 4 Epilogue: Is Help Coming?
While Natalie is hopeful that the U.S. will arrive any day to rescue the Philippines, a much different scenario is playing out in Washington, D.C.
1941 - Episode 5: How to Pack a Suitcase
The rumors are now true. Trails to Lingayen Gulf and the mine’s oil tanks have been blown up, and no one can deny the sound of gunfire coming up from the trails into Baguio. The Crouters pack their bags and stay at Brent School, sleeping on a crowded dormitory floor and waiting for the enemy to arrive. Ismael and Jerry have a surprising heart-to-heart talk. Nida leaves Baguio, and Natalie honors a vow.
1941 - Episode 6: Banzai!
The Imperial Japanese Army has raised the Rising Sun flag over Baguio City Hall. Soldiers are freeing Japanese civilians and capturing Americans and Allies. At Brent School, the Crouters and other civilian prisoners are forced onto the school’s tennis court to hear relocation orders from a freed Japanese civilian standing on a table with a machine gun at his side.
NEW! Click See Picture below to view a sketch drawn by a woman who was interned with Natalie.
To read more about the artist, click on the picture.
(Above) Sketch by Daphne Bird of the internees’ march from Brent School to Camp John Hay. She wrote, “The [Japanese] wanted the Filipinos to line the route and jeer but they did not come out at all (nice of them). [The solders] told the children to set the pace by walking in front of the queue, but [my friend] and I kept our children with us. A small missionary son complained the blanket [he was carrying] was too heavy. His mother replied, ‘Keep walking son and ask Jesus to help.’ He did!”
(Above) Natalie’s first diary. Courtesy of the Crouter Family and the Schlesinger Library