Captain Nieves Fernandez is a Filipina heroine. Born 1906. Alive to the date of this geocache's placement.
Captain Nieves Fernandez was a Filipino guerrilla leader during World War II. Working with guerrillas south of Tacloban, Miss Fernandez rounded up local men to resist the Japanese invasion. She commanded 110 men, who killed more than 200 Japanese with knifes and shotguns (“paltiks”) made from sections of gas pipe and whatever else they could pilfer from the enemy. Nieves and her squadron made life hell for the Japanese invaders. The Japanese offered 10.000 pesos for her head. She was wounded once. There is a bullet scar on her right forearm. Her grassroots campaign to fend off the Japanese invasion of The Philippine's jungle mountains is largely looked at as a success.
Her weapon of choice was a bolo, a large knife used mostly for clearing vegetation. Her method of sneaking up and attacking the throat resulted in a silent and swift kill.
Below shows a rare historical photo showing Captain Fernandez demonstrating for an American soldier her famously lethal tactic responsible for killing hundreds of invading Japanese soldiers in the Philippines during WWII. Image taken by Stanley Troutman, 7 November 1944, Mabuhay Las Piñas, Leyte Island, Philippines.
