Event & Performance Schedule
Upcoming Events
Hell to Eternity
June 21, 2023 – 7 pm
Bedford Playhouse
633 Old Post Road, Bedford, New York
Catherine will tell the story of the Pied Piper of Saipan, Guy Galbaldon. A young Mexican American man is adopted by a Japanese American family in Los Angeles. Growing up in East Los Angeles, young Guy learns to speak Japanese and comes to love the Japanese culture of his family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, young Guy lies about his age and joins the Marines. The Marines send this Japanese speaking Mexican American to the Pacific Theatre. At the age of 18, this Marine captured or persuaded to surrender more than 1,300 Japanese soldiers and civilians during the Battles of Saipan and Tinian Island. He repeatedly risks his life to save his fellow Marines.
In 1960, the movie, Hell to Eternity, was released. Hell to Eternity was the first movie to chronicle the unjust treatment of Japanese Americans during the War.
A native of East Los Angeles, Catherine was the childhood friend of the children of the Pied Piper. Through Mr. Galbaldon, she was introduced to the experience of Japanese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley. Her involvement with Japanese Americans was rekindled many years later with the discovery of letters written by young women who wrote poignant letters from their internment camps. Their alma mater, Mills College, was very supportive of her students and preserved their letters. The letters reflect the resilience of these young women taken from their communities to isolated camps around the country. Catherine has turned these letters into plays and programs. Catherine is a graduate of Mills College and Harvard University.
Previous Events
May 13 in California
Catherine will have two separate presentations to honor the women of WW2.
The Sinking of the Rohna
December 16, 2022 at 12 noon Confederate Relic and Military History Museum 301 Gervais Street Columbia, South Carolina FIND ON MAP Remember the sinking of the Rohna on November 26, 1943. Catherine will tell the story of the Rohna.
The Big Secret Of World War II-The Sinking Of The HMT Rohna
A Tribute to the sons of Mississippi who perished in the worst at sea disaster in American History Pass Historical Society 201 East Scenic Drive Pass Christian, Mississippi FIND ON MAP October 17, 2022 7PM Mississippi lost 13 sons in the sinking of the Rohna November...
Harry, I would have written sooner but I was too damned drunk
Catherine Ladnier says her mother never threw anything away. So when she died on Mother’s Day, 2001, there were a lot of things to go through in her house in Easley, S.C.
MANZANAR: The Wartime Photos of Ansel Adams
October 20, 2021 Noon EST Upcountry History Museum 540 Buncombe Street Greenville, South Carolina Catherine will share the stories of young Japanese American women who wrote to the President of Mills College from their incarceration camps. These resilient young women...
Dear Sis
Catherine will recreate life on the homefront and front line through the letters of her mother, Eva Lee, and her Uncle Bill.